Job Description

In a small church, I would recommend only obligating an unpaid music minister to approve songs for worship, practice with choir, and play for the choir during regular worship (the standard/main service) OR Sunday School.

We just began searching for a new musician (who we may not can pay), so we keep our standards as reasonable as possible. We wanna keep 'em...lol.

J5Grand

 

A paid music minister oversees all the musical activities of the church, including but not limited to planning the music for the worship services, conducting the music for the services, choir, orchestra, accompanists, children choirs, youth choirs, praise and worship groups, handbell choir. He/she is responsible for special music for Sundays and the holiday seasons.

He may have assistants to help him if the church is large enough.

Usually, the pianist or organist plan the music for preludes, offertories, and prayer time music, but the music minister may have input.

At our church, we have another person who conducts the handbell choir, children's choir, and orchestra, but the music director is over them. Our music director donates his time, but we have money in the budget for a paid music director.

 

Our Minister of Music is paid. He is in charge of the regular choir, the senior adult choir and handbells. He also is our Minister to Senior adults and goes on all their trips. He's single and in his early 50's or late 40's. He gets paid like our other pastor's with a housing allowance and generous salary.

Diane

 

In today's culture, I believe it to be a waste of money to have a full-time music person alone. Bob is right in that the preaching elder or pastor is the worship planner, and folks can serve as adjunct to the elder/pastoral team. At best, I think you could have a combined position (music/youth, music/education, etc.).

 

What about in a very large church tho Tom? We have over 80 in ONE choir, 50 in the senior's choir, a very large handbell plus youth handbell choir, two guitarists and a drummer. The regular choir practices both on Sunday afternoon and Wednesday night. We have a number of ministers too! Membership is over 1,000.

I think, with those numbers, that it's necessary to have a full time minister of music!

Just my layman's opinion!
Diane

 

I see your point, Tom. Our Music Minister has a full time job (private industry) that he works during the week and then he is music minister on Wednesday and Sunday and other days as needed. Our church has 500 + members. He is also one of the Singing Churchmen of Oklahoma.

If he only worked at church, he could then take on other duties.

 

many large churches today are hiring dual position music ministers. They fill the role of associate pastor AND music minister. That way they can pay the music minister a full time salary by offering him a full time position.

 

I have been a member of SBC where the music minister was paid and when the person was not. Of course many churches have positions filled by volunteers. While in the Air Force I served as the youth pastor of the base chapel. I recieved no compensation other than my enlisted person salary for my military specialty. I saw it as service to GOD and to the youth.

 

Paid.

1. Lead the music on Sunday a.m. both services or arrange for someone to do so.
2. Lead music on Wed evening or arrange for someone to do so.

3. Lead choir practice oand praise team practice or arrange for someone to do so.

5. Lead Praise team band practice or arrange for someone to do so.

6.) Lead Senior adult choir or arrange leadership.

 

Plus any other things we decide.

 

our church has a bi-vocational music director/senior ministries director. Interesting thing is the children's choir is under me as the (unpaid) pastoral intern and the music director... Of course we are both scared of the chidren's choir leader (just an inside joke). He is responsible to take care of the music and musicians. Also, he is the social director for the seniors.

 

The job description for a small congegation will vary depending on the needs of the church and the abilities/training of the person who performs this function. The most basic is the overall planning and development of the musical department of the church.
This may include:
1. Selecting congregational music for the services. Usually developed around a theme of some sort.
2. Scheduling solos, duets, trios, instrumentals, etc. Working with these as necessary. Some churches require that all such be practiced/ready for the music minister before actually being sung in church services.
(This is not practical in our church, and is becoming harder to do in many places. Time pressures on people in general)
3. Work with the choir(s).
4. work with worship teams.
5. Sometimes work with children's choirs
6. Plan special seasonal music (Christmas, Missions Conference, Easter, Patriotic, Mothers Day, etc.)
7. Sometimes play piano and or organ for certain occaisions or practices.
8. Sometimes overseeing or running the sound equipment.
9. Locating/analyzing music for special groups - choirs, soloists, etc.
As you can see, this adds up to quite a bit. And there are often many other "small things" that creep in. I believe that even a small church should at least offer a token salary in appreciation.


I am a bi-vocational music/education minister, have a BA in music from a large Bible college (BBC, Springfield, MO) and an MACE (Christian Ed.) from a well known seminary (Dallas Theological). My wife plays piano and organ for us. (She is real good, can sight-read anything I put in front of her.)
My own duties, in addition to the above, include teacher training, teaching an Adult SS class, occaisionally preaching, wishing we had a music budget, coordinating the sound room workers, arranging for substitute teachers as needed, administration of a small Bible institute we have for our people, teaching in the Bible institute, and whatever other things creep in from time to time. (Whew! No wonder I am so tired! )

And for all this I receive the fantastic salary of $150 per month (@ $34.60 per week), which actually comes from the educational portion of my duties. Don't take me wrong, I'm not complaining. We are a small church, and this amounts to the small salary of appreciation I mentioned above. It has also been a great Godsend to my family.

We also usually receive a Christmas bonus of $100, usually the Sunday just before Christmas. As this is often the majority of our Christmas money, it puts a last-minute scramble on to get things taken care of.

 

I'm the choir director of our small urban church. I am paid $200 a month, September - June. I think the main reason I am paid is that old faithful reason - "we've always done it that way." However, much of that goes right back into buying music and accompaniment tracks, since we don't have an organist. My choice, no one makes me do that. We manage to bless those who listen, so I think it's worth it.