RE: Looking back over the years and a little advice for those considering a ministry in music from an old geezer!
I started out nearly 30 years ago, learning the guitar and learning praise songs from the 70's and 80's. They were simple praise choruses that focused our attention on the Lord and His ways. Most were very short and to the point and were not intended to promote doctrine or any denominational slant. They were simply songs of praise, worship and love for the Lord Jesus. Most were 3 to 4 chords and were easy to learn. You really didn't need a guitar or instrument to enjoy them. They could be sung acupelo and still be effective.
My wife and I attended a small home group that was composed of members from our church. We were all young couples with young kids and met on Friday nights for a time of worship and some teaching. We shared our hopes, fears, victories and defeats with each other and tried to find the answers to our questions from the word.
A member of our group led us all in praise songs from his guitar and I told my wife one evening on the way home that I felt like I could do what he was doing. We then saved enough money to buy a used guitar and I started learning to play it. I copied what I saw Homer doing and then recorded the songs to learn them at home. The Lord blessed my efforts and I was soon leading on my own or with Homer.
Our worship leader at church went on to other adventures with the Lord and the church asked me to help until they could find a permanent replacement. I did so for nearly 3 years until they decided they wanted a choir, which I was not wanting to get involved with. I helped them hire someone to replace me and went to another church that needed help. My band mates followed me and helped for a while but eventually decided on doing something else. I was then left with just me and guitar and led like that for a while. This church also decided they wanted a choir so I decided it was time to move on again.
A friend from the kid's Christian School contacted me and asked me to help our leading at their church. I said I'd do a Sunday and let them know. The first night I showed up at practice I was treated rudely by one of the backup singers, the lead guitarist had an amp the size of a loaf of bread and the drummer was very new at what he was doing. I came home that evening and told my wife that I did not think I'd be a part of that band. I did learn their songs and led the next Sunday. When I sat down after the song session, my wife said, “I think they need you here” and I knew then that I had another gig.
I found out that my first impression at the practice was not wholly accurate and that only the backup singer was still a problem (we eventually became good friends). David, the guitarist, was very good and used the small amp because it was a small room and it was easy to tote. He and I soon became very good friends and have remained so since that time. The drummer impoved quickly and, as bands often do, we lost some musicians and picked up new ones over time. We had fun together and became a respected and popular praise band in the Douglasville area. I stayed at that church as the worship leader for over 10 years and enjoyed the band and music immensely. The church grew quickly because of the approach to winning the lost and bringing back those who had strayed and I was hoping that this would turn into a place I could get a salary and retire early to devote myself to ministry. It was not to be. Leadership changes over the years cost us our vision and my dreams of a salary soon vanished. There never was enough money for all we wanted to do in the Kingdom and after so many changes in the pastor's role the church continued to struggle financially until it closed it's doors.
I took some time off after that to recharge my batteries and get over some of the hurt I experienced in seeing a great ministry die. I knew by then that I was meant to work full time (usually working a 2nd job as well as the music) and that the music ministry was to be viewed as a ministry and not as a means to earn income. We visited other churches and found one in Villa Rica that suited our musical tastes and had a great pastor and we spent 3 years there. I had not sat through church in many, many years, so it was an adjustment to say the least. I continued to write songs and work on music in my study though and found some satisfaction in that.
I was then called and asked to help out at a small Baptist church north of Dallas, Ga. and I felt like the Lord gave me freedom to get back into leading a band again. This small church paid me more a week than any of the other larger churches had. It was surprising to me because I had mostly made very little or none at all and led much larger bands and managed much larger programs. But, I was not in it for the money and never complained or mentioned pay. After a year there (I was initially hired for like 6 months), I felt the Lord pulling me away, so I moved to another smaller fellowship who paid nothing. I was with some of my former band mates and enjoyed my time leading there until my health started failing and I had to quit the ministry.
That is a short history of what the Lord has led me through in the ministry of worship. I have been blessed to do it and would do it again. I love the Lord, I love music, I love people and I love to work hard. I am not able to do as much now since the cancer has hit me, but I am looking forward to the Lord healing me and continuing to use me this year in a slightly different direction. I have been blessed to play with some amazing and talented musicians and have felt like a novice in the middle of experts. I do my part and they do theirs so much better, but we put it all together and we give praise and honor to the Lord.
I have made it a point in my ministry and life to raise up younger people to do what I do and continue what the Lord has given us to do. I have seen many very talented people over the years receive their call from the Lord and obediently follow Him. I consider that my greatest accomplishment, to not only lead others in worship but to raise up and help equip another generation to do what I was blessed to do.
My concern for them though, is that I see many of them relying on the church as the only income for their families. The danger is that churches rarely last as long as our carreers do and if they do, will frequently replace the leadership with younger people. I've seen large churches over and over get a new pastor and the first thing he does is replace all the staff with a younger one, wanting to reach a younger audience. I have a friend who was recently fired after serving at a church for a long time, simply because they wanted a younger leader to help reach a younger audience. There's a lot wrong with all of this, but I won't get into that now, but just see it as a warning to young people. We won't stay young. We need to work and work hard for our families and not see a worship leader positon as a place of security.
We lead music for maybe 30 minutes a Sunday, usually borrowing songs that others have written. We spend a great deal of time in practice and planning but I have done it all and still worked a full time job (and usually had a 2nd job in the evening or on my days off). At one church we would meet in a middle school gym where we had to set up chairs, set up the band on stage, do 2 services, break everything down and load everything back into the vans and trailers. At one time we would then do a set at Taco Mac for the youth ministry, unpacking, doing the set, packing back up and unpacking everything that evening when we got home. It was hard work but it was what we could do for the Lord. We were young, strong and healthy and saw it as a privilege rather than a sacrifice.
We need to look on our position more as a ministry than a career. Our jobs can be done on a part time basis and we can still do a very good job. I have a very good reputation as a leader in our area of the state and can say confidently that a man that is willing to work can do a fine job and still raise a family. As a good friend in the ministry has observed, the church will necessarily change in the coming years as our society changes and as God readies His church to win the lost. We are in the last days of planet earth and need to live like we are.
My mottos that I have tried to live by and have found to be helpful:
- Don't take yourself too seriously
- Serve others as much as your strength allows
- Tell others about Jesus
- Work hard
- Teach others to take over your job
- Have fun no matter what
- Have this one sentence as your goal in life, “Well done, good and faithful servant”
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