i guess gotta chime in on this. this is one of the fastest growing threads ive seen on LGM.
this pay thing gets outta hand because left unchecked it breeds an attitude of greed and this "everybody owes me" attitude that starts to destroy the image of (1) musicians and (2) christians (because thats what we're all supposed to be and not just the church people are watching)
the way i see it is that there should be no fixed salary. too many times have i seen our organist come in at the last 5 minutes of rehearsal during the week and show up late on sunday morning, but lookin for his money every week. and dont let there be an error with the check. and im like, "why should u get paid for what u didnt do?" and its not like our drummer whos 14, who cant come unless his mother brings him or comes with his older brother, this is a grown man who works for a living. so where's the responsibility? there is none because whatever he do, he gettin paid. dont come to bible study, dont give offering, barely pay tithes, but u want ur money like the church owe you. RIDICULOUS.
our drummer he's a kid. i dont mind that they pay him. they dont pay him nowhere near what the organist gets. but i think what he gets teaches him lessons as he's growing. I try personally to show him how to manage his money and be right with God and not just about playin and getting paid. and automatically i think a drummer should be first compensated for the cost of equipment (like sticks which are a frequent expense) on top of anything else the church wants to give.
me, as the bass player, i dont get paid at all. and i dont WANT to be paid. for 1 i dont need it (the Lord blessed me with a good 9-5) and (2) i dont feel i deserve it. what extra am i doing that i need to be paid? i have to attend every rehearsal - i was already there being on the choir and i would be if im not playing. i gotta be at every service - already did that. i gotta learn the songs - thats just practice time that i was already doing before as i was learning to play. i gotta pay for my instrument and equipment - if i didnt play in the church i would have to do that anyway and was doing so before i was. so what extra would i be doing when playing for my church that i wouldnt be doing not playing? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. so there's no logical reason to get paid. i believe because i'm playing for God, God is giving me blessings that no amount of money the church could give me could match.
my thing is i dont have a problem with a musician being compensated, but every musician that does get paid should act like its a blessing, not something that is owed them. and once u realize u doing this for God and not just for money, God will definitely bless you in your gift and you will give more of yourself too. and if you're going to get paid, learn to be a professional about it. if the boss at your job asked u to stay a bit late or come in a bit early to finish up a project you'll do it, but let the choir director ask to go over the song one more time and its 7:59 and rehearsal is from 6-8.
thats not everything i would like to say about the subject but i'll leave it at that. as for MYCAL's question, i think that if a musician wants to be paid simply to cover expenses, then i think the church should comply. but since equipment expenses arent too frequent (u cant include travel expenses, thats ridiculous) maybe u can get them to compensate u for expenses as they occur, rather than to pay towards that on a regular basis.