Seeking and Filling Music Ministry Church Positions
By Rev. Larry D. Ellis, Denver, Colorado
In many ways the process of filling a church staff position
for the church's ministry of music will parallel those of persons seeking such
positions. The church assesses its needs and desires for musical leadership. The
musicians assess their skills and musical desires as well as the type of
spiritual environment in which they wish to work. However, they should both be
examining some of the same issues from their respective points of view. All
should be looking for an enthusiastic match for both sides. This article will
present thoughts on both sides of the process. These ideas are based on personal
experience, conversations with many who have filled these important positions,
some of whom made wise choices in their discernment process and some of who did
not. The goal of this article is to stimulate your thoughts to a great extent
with questions that you must answer in your particular situation. While the
scope of this subject will not be exhaustively explored with this article, the
author has tried to be comprehensive. He welcomes input from readers about
additional areas that should be explored as well as suggestions that would help
both the churches and musicians.
From the Perspective of the Church
Know Your Church
Church traditions especially in the area of styles of worship,
church politics, denominational influences, secular culture of the members of
the particular church, church architecture and church budget all typically play
a major roll in the formation of expectations placed upon a church musician. All
these factors are important. However there are additional arenas that should
also be considered and in some ways are more important than responding to the
felt needs of some of these listed areas. Just as with all church staff
positions, an assessment of the person's character is important. Their worship
and spiritual values must be consistent with those of the pastor and the
congregation. Their theology of worship, music, evangelism, church outreach as
well as their musical skill levels are all very important, but are often not a
part of the church's discernment process. They should be. In successful church
search processes the staffing of the music ministry position should be conducted
very similarly to that of seeking new clergy, except that the entire decision
will rest within the local church, where in connectional churches there are
those outside the local congregation that are an integral part of the process of
selection.
Agree to and Write Down Your Process of Selection
In some churches the pastor who makes the complete decision
and unilaterally fills the position with the person that he or she selects.
However, there is often a search committee appointed by the governing board,
clergy or elected by the congregation, depending upon your church polity (church
government). It is important that the committee consist of representatives of
the major musical institutions within the church that will be directed by the
person hired. This committee should meet weekly first to define their process,
anticipated time frame and formulate a budget request for the search process. If
the search goes out of the city, you should have the church authorities
authorize a budget for funding of expenses related to the search process. This
could be anywhere between a few hundred dollars to several thousand dollars,
depending upon the number of persons that you bring in for interviews and extent
of advertising purchased.
The author recommends preparing a prospectus on the church
along with a written job description and placing it on the church web site. This
provides an excellent place for persons to go to all receive the same
information about the position. If the information is placed there, your
parishioners can also easily link the web page to emails to their friends who
might be interested or have friends who are interested in applying for the
position. You should also have a printed copy of your information that can be
mailed to interested persons and persons who will be friends of your church by
referring others to your church for its consideration. Be very clear as to what
type of person you are seeking, whom they should contact and how they are easily
reached, what your anticipated time frame for moving ahead with the decision is.
The author will present discussion on some of these areas, which will hopefully
stimulate your committee to come to concrete written assessment of your
particular church and its needs.
In order to accurately present information to possible
candidates the selection committee should be absolutely clear about their
process for selection, their areas of assigned ministry responsibilities and
corresponding authority, scope of hours and days which are necessary to be
physically present at the church or other locations, staff meetings schedules,
salary to be provided, continuing education funding provided, vacation and sick
leave policies, benefits to be provided such as insurance and retirement
contributions by the church, church music budget and what expenses are to be
included within the church music budget. When it comes to fiscal areas the
following questions should be processed and answered by your committee. What is
the budgeted amount of money to be invested in one year for the music ministry?
What does this amount include - choral music, paid accompanists, paid soloists,
guest instrumentalists, care and maintenance of musical instruments such as
piano and organ tunings, guitar strings for musicians, drum skins and sticks,
musical copyright licenses, printed programs for special events, publicity on
local television and/or newspapers? If you regularly produce recordings for
resale, how are the production costs recovered? Does the church sound system,
its maintenance and its operation fall under the responsibility of the director
of music?
The most obvious needs to be stated are related to the musical
portion of the position. Is this a single staff, part time position where the
director is to direct one choir for one service per week with no salary or is
this a head of musical staff position where the director will be planning the
musical worship, coordinating other paid or voluntary positions of accompanists,
orchestral musicians and directors of other youth and bell choirs? Most church
music ministry staff positions are somewhere in between these two ends of the
spectrum. What are the absolute expectations musically of the church? Will the
director be expected to also play the organ, providing a wide spectrum of
classical organ literature? Will they be expected to formulate, organize and
conduct a praise band to lead in worship? Will there be more than one musical
style presented in worship? Will the services be blended or will these varied
styles be maintained within distinctive separate worship services? Is a church
sponsored concert or recital series be a part of the responsibilities of this
position and why or why not? Will the musical teaching and equipping of the
saints be individual in nature such as with vocalists and instrumentalists or
will it be ensembles or well developed choral experiences? How well received is
traditional historical classical church music even sung in Latin or other
languages received? How well will new musical works written today be received?
What is the church's level of commitment to support local Christian composers
and musical artists? Does the church seek to employ a musician who comes in and
performs music with their own musical skills, or are they seeking one whose
primary vision is a coach, one who equips the church to sing, play and praise
God with their musical gifts or both?
What level of musical education and experience do you require
and why? It is particularly common to not address this area, but be careful that
you don't place arbitrary requirements that might eliminate suitable candidates
or give overdue credit to stated academic credentials. It is also prudent for
you verify any stated academic credentials with the institutions.
Will the person hired be expected to work within the
denominational activities or in outreach ministry in the community? What are the
pastoral rolls that you want the person to take on? Will or could this be a
clergy position on the staff? It is assumed that the musician will contact the
sick and do pastoral work beyond with those who are active in the music
ministry? Some churches and musicians mutually agree that there be a three or
six month trial period after which the church and musician can part company
without any hurt feelings either way. An evaluation can be made at that point
based on everyone's actual experience together. If agreeable then the position
may be defined as permanent.
As you prepare a church information report and a written job
description that incorporate many of the issues detailed here, it would be wise
to have the church authority that will actually authorize the hiring of this
persons approve your final documents before distributing them outside the
committee. The committee should publicize the job position and solicit resumes.
You then would typically review them and reduce the list to two or three final
candidates. Sometimes telephone interviews can be helpful in this process.
Publicize Your Opportunity
How will you publicize the job opportunity? Will the search
radius be national using denominational employment offices and publications such
as The Diapason and The American Organist or the Hymn Society of America, the
American Choral Directors Association or the Choristers' Guild? Will it be more
local in scope using the local American Guild of Organist chapter, other pastors
and musical contacts such as music teachers, high school and college faculty
persons to assist in your search process? Sometimes even local newspapers are
used for job opportunity exposure. Most denominations have regional and national
publications where these job openings can be publicized at little or no cost to
the church. Identify several musicians in other churches whose ministry you
respect. Contact them and seek any referrals that they might be able to make.
This type of networking is how many positions are filled, both in the church and
also in business. Persons who respect your church will often be eager to help
you when possible on this important task.
Prepare for the Interview
Identify a list of important questions that you will ask each
person interviewed. You should ask them all the same questions so that you
compare answers to the same questions. Identify what are the big issues in the
church that should be disclosed to potential staff persons. What will be the
reception of women on the church staff and worship leadership positions? What
are the skeletons in the church closet? How involved is the person expected to
be in activities beyond the walls of the local church?
Your committee would be wise to formulate in writing ten to
twenty questions, which you will ask each candidate in the interviewing process.
Ask these core questions to each person and take notes on their answers so that
you can later discuss their answers and evaluate these answers against what type
of leadership you are seeking. Be certain to check the references for the
applicants. However, all references will be glowing and full of praise of each
respective applicant. Try to find out information from third parties if
possible. Have the integrity to respond in writing to each person that contacts
your committee. They will greatly appreciate your candor on all levels. By all
means do not get so excited when your committee makes a final decision and the
candidate accepts the position that you forget to immediately notify the
remaining applicants that you have selected someone else. Hopefully, your
committee desires to minister at some level to each of those whom God brings
into your process, not just the one that you select.
Making your Selection
It is both smart and almost universal for one or more from the
church committee to observe several candidates in the context of their present
music ministry. Church representatives should exercise caution in their
assessments. Certainly one can gain insights, but many facets of what does in
one context might be very different in a different context. Some of the things
the author did in a church with sixty members were much different from those
activities in a church of six hundred. Resources available, scope of talent and
styles of worship will vary greatly depending upon the context. If you are
interviewing persons working in the musical academic environment, their
circumstances will even be more divergent from those who are presently in church
positions. It is also wise to bring (and pay the travel expenses for them and
their spouse) the final few candidates to your venue and have them lead and/or
play for a typical worship experience in your church. This might be in a Sunday
service but the committee certainly should have them conduct a choral rehearsal
with your singers. At one such event, the applicant learned that they had
"stacked" the choir with several professionals and each choir member filled out
a written evaluation on their impression of each candidate. This was provided as
input to the committee for their consideration. In another position the
candidate was interviewed, recommended and hired by a committee and the church
board when not one person from the choir or those in the music ministry in which
he was to lead, was a part of the selection committee. He was shocked to learn
this fact, but not until after he was employed. Work very hard to disclose to
the candidate the real world environment of your church music ministry. Prepared
audio and video audition tapes by applicants can be helpful, but your committee
cannot substitute these perfectly prepared and edited recordings for the
in-person musical skill evaluation.
The committed along with the person authorized to hire the
individual should prepare a written job offer detailing the scope of work to be
done and the salary and benefits to be paid to the musician. It is normal to
expect a written response if the position is accepted.
Welcoming the Musician into the Church
Once you have made your decision and the person has accepted
the position in the church, it is a good thing to prepare a warm welcome to the
musician and family into your church family. Certainly you should present a
biography of both professional and personal information to the church and the
community via the local newspaper as well as the professional trade
publications. Many churches prepare a special dinner for the entire congregation
where the committee can share some of their selection and discernment process
and the new church musician can share some of the process that has brought him
or her to this new opportunity. A special installation and dedication service as
a part of regular worship might be included. You should pray for the newly
established ministry, the musicians and the new leader of the music ministry.
Certainly a time with the musicians that will be lead by this persons should
have the opportunity to welcome the new person as well in suitable personal
setting. This should present an element of enthusiasm and optimism.
From the Viewpoint of the Musician
Seeking a Position
Assess Your Personal Sense of Call to the Music Ministry
One of the most basic questions that persons seeking church
music employment must answer is what are your musical and worship related
leadership strengths? Are you gifted at being an emcee styled music worship
leader or do your strengths lie in the direction of musical worship with others
in the center exposure in a more liturgically structured environment that is
more independent of the personality of the musician? Most churches will probably
be seeking one or the other type of musician. Some will require both types of
leadership.
We all understand that there are wide variances of worship
within most denominations. Some Episcopal churches sing praise music and use
guitars; some Southern Baptist churches use pipe organs and process with
banners; some Methodist churches sing their congregational hymns with
accompaniment tracks, some Pentecostal churches develop outstanding choral music
programs. Never make the assumption that given a particular denomination you can
expect to have things the way they are in the one church of that denomination
that you know. Every individual church is different and you must make certain
that you discern where you are in this area and learn what is the historical
preference for musical style for each church you are considering. Erring in this
area by either party will probably lead to a short-lived relationship. Almost
all churches, say that they are open to change and want to serve a broad taste
in musical style. Do not believe them. They probably are not nearly as inclusive
and eclectic as they believe that they are. Ask for copies of their bulletins
for the past year and look them over very carefully. See if they have been
practicing what they preach. If you like what you see, say so and why. If you
discover things absent or present that concern you, ask questions about what
they do and why they do it.
You might consider the formation of a small advisory board
consisting of one or two close friends with whom you may share everything about
your discernment process. Hopefully, they will be faithful to ask you the tough
questions and provide their counsel on the decisions that you make. You might
consider using an emailing group with each of them to keep in close contact.
This would even allow you to include persons who may be far away.
Prepare a written Resume
Prepare a short written resume including your vision of music
ministry in a church. Include your academic and private study education as well
as your work experience. You might wish to provide additional personal
information either on the resume or in the interviewing process. There are legal
limitations that preclude employers asking certain questions, but all employers
including churches like to know about your marital status and personal interests
and any special needs that you might have in the area of disabilities. People
often place their resume and additional information on a personal web site as an
aid to their in their seeking a church staff position. You can then provide a
link to the site in your email correspondence and give the web address to
persons who might be able to easily pass along to their friends who might know
of church positions that are open.
Personal Relationship with Staff
Come to grips with what level of personal commitment you want
to make to the other staff persons at the church. Will you be able to build
relationships with them or will you be primarily alone in the leadership of your
ministry. The author has a friend at a very large Presbyterian church in the
south who have several paid assistants, a large choir and orchestra, a large
budget, a pastor who exercises very little control over his music ministry, but
also who does not lead staff meetings and never attends musical activities where
he does not preach. After 20 years on staff he has never been invited to the
home of his pastor. Is this type of staff relationship one in which you can
personally grow or not?
Some pastors and priests are very knowledgeable about music.
Many are not, but seem to still have strong opinions about music. Some are very
collaborative in their decision making process. Some are autocratic. Some clergy
consider the church staff as personal friends and give and receive personal
friendships that are life-changing. Others see themself as an administrator
whose primary function is to keep the overall organization on the right
direction and toward that end, might find their personal spiritual support
outside the staff. If you both do not have the same expectations here, this can
bring for a great deal of stress an unfulfilled expectations. Know the
environment in which you will flourish. Ask candid questions about this area
with your head of staff and other staff persons should you interview at the
church about this environment.
What are your spiritual goals and in what kind of church
ministry can these be realized? What kind of church will this be for your spouse
and children? Will they be drawn into existing ministries of the church such as
Sunday school, musical groups, and small groups? Will they be uninvested and
actually take energy away from what you are doing if you go to this church?
Locate Music Ministry Opportunities
Just as with the publicity information described earlier for
the churches, those seeking such positions should avail themselves to
professional and denominational publications containing job listings. The role
of personal networking probably plays the largest role in finding a good
ministry opportunity. Identify the church musicians in the area where you wish
to serve, perhaps a few composers and contact them asking if they know of open
opportunities. Give them information about yourself. Most persons will readily
try to assist you in your process or put you in contact with persons that they
know who might know of opportunities. Expect this process to take some time. Be
patient and keep your musical skills polished up.
Your Interview Process
After becoming clear as to what type of music ministry you
wish to lead, prepare a list of questions that you will want to ask during the
telephone and/or in person interviews. Find out why the previous person is no
longer in the position. Attempt to talk personally with them. If the person you
are replacing is not yet departed, and they don't know of this search process to
replace them, stop the interviewing process at that point. If they are moving
out a person that they are not pleased with and they have not been notified,
they might very well do the same to you some day.
.What is the church's position on you having other part-time
work such as writing, composing and private teaching? Will the church facilities
be available for your teaching and your students who might not be a part of your
church? Is there a presumption that you will provided music for weddings and
funerals as a part of your regular workload and without additional compensation,
or will you be free to charge a reasonable professional fee for these extra
professional services? In addition to your salary, will the church provide paid
time off for vacation and continuing education and adequate expense
reimbursement for continuing education? What benefits will be provided such as
medical insurance and retirement contributions?
Ask for a written job description where you can see the best
guess of stated expectations upon your labors. Understand that this is not a
work contract, but the beginning of your understanding of what needs that they
want met by your coming. Prior to the interview ask what is expected to happen
at the interview. The musician should also pursue all the items that were
discussed under the perspective of the church discussed above
Your Response to a Call to Join a Church Staff
If you are selected by the committee you should expect a
direct communication from the chairperson of the committee. Hopefully this is a
phone call followed up by a letter. You should also respond by letter accepting
the opportunity. Be certain to notify any other search committees with whom you
are in close communication that you should not longer be considered for their
position.
Concluding Thoughts
When both the musician and the church committee have come to
an agreement, the church and the musician should finalize the job description
that was tentatively prepared for the search process. In addition it is wise to
have a written employment agreement between the parties. This agreement should
reference the job description that is signed by both parties. It should include
the stated salary and benefits to be provided to the musician as well as the
process by which job performance will be evaluated. It should specify who does
the performance evaluation, how often and state what the criteria will be. This
is usually the written job description. It is also customary to identify the
terms for dissolution of the working relationship should that happen.
Do not forget to commit your entire discernment process to
prayer. Have your friends both inside and outside your church pray for you. Ask
for the Lord guide you through the entire process. Do not be in a hurry. When
things appear to be too good to be true, they probably aren't. Each musician and
every church has both strengths and weakness. All are greatly blessed if we are
honest, open, frank and loving to one another. When the candidates and the
committee meet, work very hard to be natural and well prepared on all levels.
Remember that God works in all things to bring good out of circumstances. There
can be wonderful ministry to the musicians being considered by the churches
interviewing even if all agree that they are not the person to be called to this
position. It is a good thing for a musician to identify challenges for churches
to discuss even if they are stressful. Seek to glorify God in all your search
process with all persons with which you come in contact. The kingdom of God on
earth will be richer because of your process.
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