Should You Pay Your Worship Musicians?
To pay or not to pay! On the one hand, when you pay someone, you exchange dollars for the higher expectation that your musician will be talented, prepared, and on-time. On the other hand, it’s church, after-all, right? We don’t pay the other volunteers in the church; why should we pay the musicians?
Serving the Lord shouldn’t be about money! Well, I guess except when you’re talking about preaching. We do pay the preacher, and other staff. So, how do we determine if we pay musicians or not?
There are a lot of churches out there that pay all of their musicians, some that only hire on occasions, some that only hire a few key people in their band, and some (probably most) that don’t pay all. However, when is it appropriate to pay?
Having worked with a lot of churches, I think the answer to that question is based on the answer to another question that will shape your entire approach to volunteerism.
Before you decide whether or not to pay, you should ask which team model best fits your ministry.
There are 3 team models with different goals and outlooks, and it’s important to note that one model is not better than another. They’re simply different, but you have to decide where you want to lead your ministry.
The 3 Team Models
1. The Developmental Model’s goal is to develop most who are interesting in joining the team, so that you have a flourishing volunteer community. There is no need to pay anyone in this model.
Of course you can’t let everyone in; however, the cut off is at a different place than other models. Generally, if someone wants in, you will do whatever you can to find a place for them.
Your time is spent developing less talented folks, because you know that a community of musicians will draw people into the church and keep them their. Your music ministry is centered as much around your developing team as it is your public ministry on Sunday morning.
This model is a great fit for a lot of churches, especially ones that are under 500.
2. The Progressive Model is less about developing less talented musicians, and more about improving the overall quality of the Sunday service. You’ll say “no” more often, but you still won’t pay musicians under this model.
This goal puts a little more pressure on the quality of Sunday morning. Because it’s harder to make the cut in this model, and you’ll say “no” more often. However, the average quality of the team keeps progressing higher and higher over time. Talent attracts talent.
Your time is spent pushing your current team toward tougher goals, like really nailing their tone, specific parts, playing with tracks, memorizing the songs, etc.
If someone isn’t at a talent level yet to join in, then you have to direct them toward a different ministry (or music lessons) and encourage them to audition again in the future. As hard as that is, your Sunday service quality will progress. This model is more appropriate for a church larger than 500 or a church that is growing quickly and puts a lot of “stock” in the Sunday morning experience.
3. The Professional Model is designed to hire the best talent who will accomplish the mission with as few roadblocks as possible. That means you’ll be paying musicians each week.
It’s difficult for musicians to make the cut with this type of ministry unless they are very talented, have great gear, know exactly how to dial in the desired tone, come prepared, and readily submit to the direction of leadership. The goal here is to have the highest possible quality for the services.
Many large churches put a lot of their “eggs” into the basket of the Sunday morning experience and accordingly invest their resources there first.
You might assume that this model means that you’ll have spiritually undeveloped volunteers. Not so fast! You can certainly still develop people toward the mission of the church and have a healthy culture under this model.
Remember, you probably pay your Lead Pastor, and he has a lot of qualifications he must uphold. Just because you pay someone doesn’t mean that they are money-hungry. You’re simply trading money for quality. However, you do have to be wise about who you hire and not turn your church culture into a business culture.
Leading worship in the church is a high calling that is much more important than a paycheck, and you need to weed out anyone who shows up for the spotlight or for money.
Combining Models: Some churches combine the Progressive and Professional model and only pay certain musicians.
I know of a few churches that will pay musicians only if they are full time musicians otherwise. If someone is in school, has a job, or is a stay at home mom, for instance, they are not paid. Many churches pay pay a choir director or a music director who has extra responsibilities and leads others.
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Stephen Mann is the founder of Worship Leader Academy, the Worship Arts Pastor at Grace Fellowship Church in TN , and author of “Worship Leadership.”