Minister of Music Duties

[Pastor Horn, Sr. Th.D.]

Praise to God for your service on this network, I am seeking information in regards to what is a minister of music duties? I have been asked to interview some musicians for our ministry and I would like to have the proper information and wording to handle such a task. I will not sit and interview alone however I do want to be fair in the process of this new assignment that has been giving to me and others that have not ever had to conduct such a task.
*If need be you can personally send me information on my business email [e-mail]

Grace and Peace
Pastor Horn, Sr. Th.D.

[Minister Paul Youngblood]

Pastor Horn let me give you some criteria that you should be looking at in this area.My information is based on 39 years of experience in Music Ministry and 19 years of Preaching and interfacing with Church Administration.To properly do this,the applicant needs to have a resume.The reason being is because you need documented proof of what they have done over a period of time.I will suggest this to you,but it is not totally necessary.You should draft up a form for them to fill out.This may or may not be important,but I will tell you that if they cannot write down what they have done,then there is a good chance that either they have not done enough to list,which says they don't have a lot of experience,or........where they say they have been...they have not been there.Some of the questions that should be asked should be related to their work they have done in Music Ministry,such as where was the last church you were on staff at??How long???What instruments do you play???the number of choirs in any one church that you have had under your Administration??what is your plan for the Music Ministry of this Church???.These are all questions that are normally asked during the interview process.Other questions that you have which are your own Pastorial Concern should be addressed also.The form that I mentioned earlier is for the use of keeping a record of the people you have interviewed.This will be useful when it comes time to make the decision of who you are going to get,because you cannot remember everything about everybody that you come in contact with during the interview process.Last but not least,you should ask them what they are expecting as a salary,because you need to know whether or not you can afford to compensate them based on what you have budgeted for a full-time Music Minister.Since you will have someone else helping you to do the interview,you can spread the questions out amomg the two of you..and there is a reason for this.First of all not commonly known to most laymen or Pastors...most musicians are highly intelligent people,and they don't think like other people do,mainly because their skill set is so different than most people,they have a tendency to have very large egos.And they also know that as strange as this may sound,they know that the skills that they have will eventually land them somewhere,because there are more Churches than there are musicians.Using the second person in the interview keeps them from trying to engage what either one of you is thinking,this is not devious in and of itself,but you are making a decision that will affect your Church body,and you cannot afford to put the wrong person in charge of your people.A lot of churches now do background checks...case in point...a nationally known artist hired a praise dance minister for their praise dance group,only to find out later on that they had child-molesting charges brought against them...and it was a national headline for a minute,and later on the charges sent the praise dance minister to JAIL!!,so if you have doubts,it's best to ask now...than having to explain to your congregation later on what happened.Last but not least the Bible tells us to be fair,decent and in order in whatever we do.As long as you treat them with respect and help them along the way,your choice of Music Minister should be a positive constant in your vision and ministry for your Church.If you need any further information you can contact me here,or email me at [e-mail]..Be Blessed-Min.Paul Youngblood

[Pastor Horn, Sr. Th.D.]

Minister Youngblood;
I do thank you for your expertise regarding this matter and I look forward to further dialogs with you on other music and or Gospel questions.

Peace and Grace
Pastor Horn, Sr. Th.D.

[Lady Minister Ronnelle Brunswick]

As a musician (now the Minister of Music for my church) I recall sitting on the search committee for another congregation in searching for a musician. The search committee was largely made up of people who don't sing, don't play, and don't have a clue... I was placed on the committee because I do sing and play.

We had a young man come who was interested in the position who could indeed play the keyboard and organ but only the songs he knew, other than that his favorite song was "shouting music".

So what I suggested and what they ultimately did was ask each potential candidate to meet with various members of each choir and let them sing a sample of one of their regular songs and see how quickly he could follow and if that was a good match and that they had to play at least one piece of music by SHEET MUSIC... As the commercial once said, Reading is Fundamental!!!!! The young man could not follow our gospel choir (because they had their own way of singing things bless their hearts!!!!) and was of no use to our sanctuary choir because he could not read music and they sang mostly anthems and spirituals... Now he could tear up a Hammond, but that did not meet the total needs of the church.

Secondly, they asked no spiritual questions regarding the persons' beliefs which was an issue because we later found that one of the candidates had a reputation for "scattering the flock or spreading the love as it were"... You need to know the persons background in all areas of life.

Finally, we had to deal with our Pastor's pet peeve... Do you listen to the sermon or do you since you are not playing walk away from the instrument and go outside until it is time for the "hoop"...

[Minister Paul Youngblood]

Minister Brunswick....I agree and concur with you on a lot of the points that you have stated.On the search committee,that function should be relegated to key people in the church body such as the Pastor,the President of the Choir,and others who function as people who will help in Music Ministry.So many times these decisions are made by folk who have no background in Music Ministry,and they don't have the where withall to pick the right people.As far as the young candidate is concerned,he is only one of many of the crop of young musicians who have gotten caught up in the current genre' of music in our churches today,and I have been saying for years that a lot of our younger folk do not have the foundation that is needed to hold a lot of the Minister of Music positions being offered.But the flip side of the coin is that some way ,some how,we need to get them trained,so that they will be able to function in these roles,and although they didn't take him,his chances are good that somebody will,because churches are desperate to just get anybody now.Care should be taken to who you place at the helm of one of the most visible and one of the largest auxillaries in your church.