Over the past few years a new job has appeared in the megachurch worship world: music director.
This position is usually filled by a twenty-something guitarist who works part-time. He’s not only the best guitarist around but he’s technically savvy – adept at creating tracks, recording in Pro Tools or similar DAW, managing and directing the worship band.
Why the new position? Because of the complexities of modern worship, the worship leader, even if possessing all the necessary skills, simply doesn’t have time for everything it takes to produce that polished, modern worship sound. Clicks and tracks alone can consume hours. Like I’ve said before, over 50% of worship leaders are volunteers and simply don’t have the time for added bells and whistles.
In light of Carlos Whittaker’s post about how worship leader’s jobs are changing, I can see the band leader becoming the only paid worship job position in the future while churches more and more rely on volunteers and part-timers for worship leading. Trained band leaders with specialized music skills worth paying for will be running the ministry, thereby allowing talented volunteers to use their gifts.
Megachurch budgets can handle a new job position but what about the rest of us? If you really want to start experimenting with clicks, tracks and recording, look to your youth group. You just might find a skilled teen who’d make a great (free) summer intern. And if you have a little bit of your budget left over, part-time doesn’t necessarily mean thirty hours – try starting a potential band leader out at ten hours a week instead. There are lots of accomplished (and broke) musicians out there who’d be happy with even a few extra hours a week of income doing what they love.
FREE DOWNLOAD: One band leader I’ve been very impressed by is Seacoast’s talented Micah Nichols. He’s described the various duties of his job in this exclusive PDF. Click to Download Job Description: Band Leader.
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