Am I Wrong?

[trackman]

ok... so My family and I have moved to Austin, TX from Michigan. Yesterday (16MAR) we visited our first church. The first thing I do when I enter into the sanctuary is look at the musicians area. I notice that there is no guitar gear so I automatically see this as a potential church. 

Thinking about this later in the afternoon, I realized that one of my necessities for a church home is that I need to play. Am I wrong for this? I'm not sure that it will cancel a potential church home all together for me, but it definitely puts it at the bottom of the list,,,

What do you guys think?

[gtrdave]

I don't blame you for noticing what you noticed when you walked into a new church. As a musician, we'd normally be drawn to the worship team and if maybe there was a hole for us to fill.
That said, I'd be really careful about basing your selection of a new church home on their need for a guitarist and instead base it on the quality of the word, the integrity of the church leadership and what the Holy Spirit is saying to you.
For me, and I say this as someone who works full-time for a church now, playing at church has always been secondary to me. What is more important is 'are these people who I will want to do life with for the next ____ years?' and I would not ever pick a church to serve at that I wouldn't first proudly call my church home.

[lordluvr]

For me, it depends on why you want to play, or why you feel playing is necessary.  For example, a poster in another thread mentioned that he was glad that he played bass at his church because he would be too easily distracted by all of the goings on at church. 
Do you feel playing is necessary for you because you feel like it's one of the ways God has gifted you to be a contributor to the body of Christ, or because you worship through your instrument?  Are there other reasons you want or feel it's necessary for you to play?  If I were you, I'd definitely evaluate your motives before making that one of your decision-making factors for joining a church.
Additionally, as Dave may have mentioned, you certainly want to evaluate other aspects of the ministry- first and foremost, whether or not it's a bible teaching, bible-believing church.  Get to know their doctrine and statement(s) of faith.  Ideally, you'd like to find a church that you'd be happy to join whether or not you had the opportunity to play, for reasons like: you could see yourself growing and being equipped for ministry, etc.  Then, if you're afforded the opportunity to play, it'll be icing on the cake.  Be blessed.

[berbie]

There's nothing wrong with wanting to play and to be involved in the music ministry of a church.  A lot would depend on whether a person wanted to play as a sideline earning opportunity, or just to play for nominal amounts or no money for the sake and pleasure of playing.  Personally, I would try to find a church that I really liked whether they had a guitar player or not, since I fit in the second category.  I'd join there. I would let it be known that I played the guitar, and would play as needed, and for each opportunity that came up.  Word would get around. 

If I were looking for a paying position, I would still look for a church that I really liked, but I would let it be known that I was looking for a church to play for.   I would get with the musicians in the church and let them know. The church musicians in a town tend to know each other, and the word would get around.  I would try to "guest" on programs when possible. 

Bottom line, church for church first.  Music opportunity second (for me and in my opinion).

[trackman]

I should have prefaced my question with: "with all other things being in a good state..."

I am making sure that bible is being taught the right way.

What I did like from the previous comments is what Dave said about wondering if I could spend X amount of time working closely and fellow shipping with these people.

To answer other questions, I want to play because I feel that I have my place in the church as a musician. I also teach Christian Ed on Sundays. When I go to church I love to worship God in that capacity.