darlingbas:

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 don't see anything wrong with me getting paid for doping my job, Music is like every other profession, you spend money and time to acquire 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

tju38:

When will people understand that church is just a business like any other business?

ow11:

Yes the church should pay their drummers,guitarists and pianists because they keep the flock entertained.

The choir members (who come for rehersals more than once a week), ushers, prayer band members and children's department minders do NOT deserve any monetary reward because the wage bill would be too high besides you do not need any special skills to stand for 4 hours for instance. But the drummer can walk if the price is right and there would be no dancing that sunday.

I would prefer the pastor's to be sincere about this fact and stop this work for God nonsense they are selling. Church admin staff should be paid because its their day job but hell if you pay the drummer, then you should pay all the sunday morning workers because if they walk, sunday service ain't getting done!

bigkev: The issue about paying Christian Musicians can be a real "Hot Potato". Judging by many oline blogs it would appear that there is some really lively discussion about this. I take the opinion that we do not need to spend time "Ranting" and "Quoting" scripture as I do not believe that has any bearing on the subject at all.
A church community will pay their rates, the plumber and all other trade related expenses. They will pay the minister and he will likely get a car allowance a church house supplied and so on. Why single out the musicians. They will pay the solicitor and will have to pay the accountant when they submit their annual tax forms. To be a competant in demand musician requires years of payed study, expensive equipment and intruments and also the maitainence of these instruments. My wife and I sing and play some 6 different instruments between us. We perform music for our own church for free as part of our contribution to that church. We also supply all our own equipment, PA system and so on. We are frequently requested to play at other churches and venues. We do not do this without payment. Our travel expenses must be met, an equipment allowance is calculated and accomadation and food allowance is calculated into this as well. This covers our "legitimate" expenses. If the church wishes to give a "blessing pack" on top of this that is great as it will assist our ministry. Mostly we find that churches are the most "tight arsed" organisations going unfortunately. They will not bat an eye at a $1000 plumbers bill but choke on the need to contribute to simple justified expenses. Unfortunately this attitude is like shooting youself in the foot. Musicians are becoming harder to find and many just give it away as they cannot aford to travel the country side, pay accomadation and costs and be expected to play and perform on fresh air, a clap and if lucky a bunch of posies.