As a Christian I would like to have different views on why churches pay musicians or employ them on a full time contract.
I understand that musicians have to eat, but shouldn't we do everything for God free of Charge.
Some Musicians are only committed to the church because of the money and that they are on a signed contract, don't churches have a responsibility of leading everyone to the right path.
In America for example, most churches pay their musicians full salary, sometimes even more than their circular counterparts. These Musicians are fully committed to the church, and they must go for every single rehearsals, service and events that the church holds. Some people believe that if you do something free for God, the Reward will be greater

What is your Opinion, Is it right or wrong to be paid as a musician for your services to the Church

So you think having a salary takes away from the gift? My grandmother is an organist and has been her whole life, she spent many years learning and perfecting her talen, why do you think we are given talents? The church does not expect a person to do them jobs for free out of the goodness of their heart, everyone in the church must stay alive, and work is what gives you that. Having a job isn't a sin, especially if your job is an addition to the church.

Haba! Churches pay pastors, administrators and all forms of workers. Why are you singling out musicians for criticism?

am in with consultant on this.

Ok should we say why do churches pay church workers. I do not have any problem with paying workers, I just want to hear different views on the matter

Because a labourer is worthy of his reward - and church workers also have to eat and feed their families. Note that the Levites were paid in their day.

@consultant doesn't it bother you that some of them come to church just because of the money rather than doing the job wholeheartedly (in the right spirit rather than flesh)

My dear, its hard to question people's motives for doing things, because as the bible says "the heart of man is deep". But remember when Paul was talking about some people preaching the gospel out of false motives? (Sorry, i can't remember the scripture reference) He said whatever their motives, he is happy that the gospel is getting preached anyway.

I reckon it's because many churches function as organisations.
And like all good organisations, they search for the best talent and
pay well to retain them!

Salaried pastors, admin staff, workers, pr budgets, legal teams,
hired guest speakers, worker training, air time, political activism.

It's called church Lord, but not as we know it!


God bless

True!

Salaried pastors, admin staff, workers, pr budgets, legal teams,
hired guest speakers, worker training, air time, political activism.

It's called church Lord, but not as we know it!

You should read Acts 6:1-7. In the beginning of the church, the Apostles concentrated solely on spiritual matters until the widows started to complain that they were being shortchanged when food was handed out daily (in those days, every member of the church sold their possessions and put the money in a common purse, so they all ate together). The Apostle's response to the issue? They handpicked seven deacons to take care of administrative duties while they concentrated on preaching the word. That is why churches need paid workers. Because in addition to preaching the gospel, the church has other responsibilities to fulfil and the Pastors cannot do it all.

Musicians dont do administrative stuff, they minister

Hi Consultant,

Read your post. Thank you. Read the scripture you suggested. Thanks again.

I'll respond, then comment and ask a few questions.

~ The deacons were appointed to ensure that distributions from the common purse were equitably made. The bible does not suggest they were paid staff.

~ The only two offices in the bible are elder and deacon. Simply because "Church" is about ministering to each other spiritually and physically.

Could you please explain, what are these other responsibilities you refer to? And why do they require paid staff,

Your "Pastor cannot do it all" comment. Could you please show me where in the Bible that a "pastor"
(singular) is supposed to head/run a church. Pointing me to a pastor's mandate in the Bible would suffice.


What I see is your reading the scripture to justify your church practice/tradition.

God bless

I am one of four keyboardists in my church, and we are not on a salary. But that's because our church is lucky to have us all around.

There are churches that have instruments and no one to play them. In such cases, the church is free to engage the services of instrumentalists as they wish, but should make sure that such are actually christians, so as not to offer what the bible calls a "strange incense" unto God.

Conclusion? Nothing wrong with paying musicians (how much is the money sef?) but the church has to work on their salvation as well.

A true Christian musician on a salary will not just come to church because of the money he is getting, but will come to play in church because of God.

i'am a chorister i dont get paid pluz the intrumentalist in my church . lol

This is a really controversial issue.

I used to think it is not good at a time. Now? Well, Musicians are human and got to eat as we all do, if they don't have any other job, what will they live on? God bless you? It won't do.

But another aspect is the motive issue. Some people do it because they want to attract people to their church.
Itz like: We have the best music, so come around and worship God with us!

It all depends on motive. I have what I do personally so i don't expect to serve in church because of what I'm going to get, but those who don't shouldn't be stopped from enjoying the labour of their hands.

i believe music is one of the basic thingys that attract peeps to church,
then you have a good musician or a couple of them,
i thinks its fair you pay them,
we have gifts to seperate us from each other and also to feeed us,
web designers wouldn'e design for the church free,
cos we all gats feed,
that the basic point,
get paid to survive.

What about using the gift God gave you to bless him back. I know of a very web designer that did a website for a church free of charge and his business started booming after that.

doshbass:

What about using the gift God gave you to bless him back. I know of a very web designer that did a website for a church free of charge and his business started booming after that.

U can use the gift God gave u to work in his vine yard without pay and that’s for a true Christian and mainly because he's not doing it full time for the church. The  unbeliver  is been motivetd by the salary he's payed.

  Gift or no gift u not going to eat sand when u working full time for the church, God aren’t going to comedown from heaven and give u money to take care of your needs. its going to take big big faith if u working full time without pay . u  not going to  beg or steal good cloths to wear,  trek to church if u living far away  or tell your   landlord (if u don’t own a house) that u aren’t going to pay your rent because u working full time for God. etc

guys,the beginner of the thread is funny.is it not where you work that you eat?or is it not where you eat that you work?
i think i am getting confused that the dude that started this thread.

baby boy if you check my post, you'll see that im asking questions, I havent actually made an opinion, I'm in the middle, The reason im asking all these questions is to have a decision on this matter through different peoples views and advice.

we should have a lighthearted approach guy.no offence meant.cheers mate.peace

Churches should pay their musicians period. Its like saying don't work on sunday but in some developed places, ssunday work is like everyday. Why not stop the nurses from working on sunday so that if a person is dieing, he or she will die on sunday, Increasingly due to the demand by the society, certain things must be changes. One of which is the notion of paying church workers. They should be paid however i am against paying them a salary wage unless they r full time employee working for the church. In my village we don't pay church singers. They get everything free except their talent. They beg to play for the church becasue that is how they advertise their talent. They eventually start winning contracts to play every weekend in occasions around the village, wedding, funerals etc. they make money this way. Like i said ealier, it all depends on the demand of the society.

@TV01

The deacons were appointed to ensure that distributions from the common purse were equitably made. The bible does not suggest they were paid staff.

They didn't need to be paid then! Everyone in the church pooled their resources together and they all spent money out of a common purse. In the present day, that tradition no longer holds in the church but church workers still have to eat,

~ The only two offices in the bible are elder and deacon. , Could you please show me where in the Bible that a "pastor" (singular) is supposed to head/run a church. Pointing me to a pastor's mandate in the Bible would suffice.

You can liken the role of the Apostles in the Bible to the role of Pastors in present day, i don't see any contradictions here, so what is your point?

Could you please explain, what are these other responsibilities you refer to? And why do they require paid staff, Your "Pastor cannot do it all" comment.

Churches have administrative staff who answer phones, send out letters, schedule appointments, stuff like that. In the case of my church, we also run a christian school, a bookstore, orphanages, food bank etc. The Pastor of the church cannot single-handedly run all these establishments. That's the point i was making.

What I see is your reading the scripture to justify your church practice/tradition.

A beg, wetin concern agbero with overload? I don't have any reason to seek to justify my church's practices. I attend the church i do because i love the congregation and support the Pastor's vision. I didn't start the church, neither am i nominating it for "church of the year". It is of no consequence to me whether or not the workers are paid.

I don't think it is every church that pays there Musicians i mean mine(both in Nigeria and over here) don't.
A musician has a gift and gifts are given to us by God for the edification of the church and the work is for God.If a musician has a Job and also demands payment from the church,then maybe he/she does not really know what he/she is called to do by God.
But all the same i think if a musician is working full time for the church, then there is nothing wrong in paying Him/her.

Deut 25:4 Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn.

Hi Consultant,

In as much as we are trying to air our differing views on the issue, I think these are both informed by differing perspectives/approaches to our common faith.

We could spend forever making points without really understanding each other, and be non the wiser.

So for example, your comment "likening Apostles to present day pastors" does not resonate with my understanding. I personally do not see what you may call the "job spec" of modern day pastors in scripture (neither do I know precisely how it operates in your particular congregation). I see "plurality of elders".

I think we'd all be best served if we talked fundamentals more, as then we would clearly understand the basis for our differing takes.

I appreciate you comments and thanks for taking the time to reply.

God bless

Maybe we should ask the pastors and head of the churches!

I happen to be a pro musician, most of the time when i'm not touring, i play in a church and i get paid for doing so, now i dont see anything wrong with me getting paid for doping my job, Music is like every other profession, you spend money and time to aquire the knowledge, and please note. music is NOT one of the gift of the spirit, you'll have to spend hours on a daily basis to aquire the skill. so getting paid as a musician either within or without the church setting is NOT a sin

So for example, your comment "likening Apostles to present day pastors" does not resonate with my understanding. I personally do not see what you may call the "job spec" of modern day pastors in scripture (neither do I know precisely how it operates in your particular congregation). I see "plurality of elders".

Hmm, in other words what you're saying is that there is no place in scripture for only one person to head up a church in scripture. Well, i guess that is food for thought, though i can't say that the present day disposition really bothers me sha.

Although another way you could look at it is that most churches today have more than one pastor - people you could call "a plurality of elders", but as among the Apostles there was a clear leader (Peter), in our churches too there is typically a Senior Pastor.

Hi Consultant (How long before you pick up the tag "Connie"? )

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

You got me right.
Questions/issues as too both structure & doctrine. Since they are to a large degree entwined, error in one will have to be mirrored by error in the other.

For me plurality goes with equality, although they may have different callings/gifts. It bothers me in as much as I see departure from scripture cause Christendom unnecessary problems.

I won't bore you here with my trouble with that word "leader". Yes, Peter was obviously senior, but I believe James was more of a presence amongst the believers in Jerusalem, while Peter himself acknowledged the depth of the revelation given to Paul.

Have a good one.

God bless.

I think this issue is all about a strive for excellence on the part of the churches.

Some other churches dont care about the quality of music in their service while some others do.

For me, I think its a good omen to get the best hands to do music in churches.
Afterall, it was good music that attracted me to my church and before I knew what I had become a real born again christians after my consistent attendance of the church. I think the musicians are doing a great work for God and since their whole life revolves around this work of God whyu shouldnt they get paid? If they are hungry they wont play good music and they wouldnt have succeeded in converting somebody like me.

Are U wondering what type of church I attend? Well its called Daystar Christian Center - Just along the Oregun road in Ikeja