O.K. i've had alot of stuff goin on the last few weeks and wanted to bring some questions to y'all church musicians out there... Lets cut right to the chase: What exactly is the big issue about a church musician wanting to get paid for playing? I just don't get it... Its like if a church musician tells someone that they charge to play for a service/etc., all of the sudden folk just look like they saw a ghost... What kills me is that alot of people in the church will even go as far as to lay a guilt trip on you because of the fact that you charge to play for Sunday service &/or additional services at other times of the day/week. Like if you're not doing it out of the "goodness of your heart" then you're ultimately doing a disservice to the Lord (while your gas tank sits on "E" because you live on the complete opposite side of town from your church/religious organization building &/or the site where they're having their special 4-night program is all the way on the outskirts of town)... What gets me is the fact that you have doctors, lawyers, dentists, teachers, cab drivers, cooks, waiters, waitresses, construction workers, executives, receptionists, clothing designers and so many other types of workers in this world... Even a fool would be able to tell you that none of these types of workers &/or specialists work for free, at least not in the United States of America: They provide their skills & talents for a fee so that they can A. be able to pay their bills, B. provide for themselves &/or their family & ultimately C. make a living doing what they do best.... But if you're a musician in the church, some folk just love to act like music just "happens" and it takes no kind of time/effort that should warrant any type payment/honorarium/love offering/etc. in comparison to the time/effort that those other types of workers listed above put into their craft...

So with all that said, my focus question is this: Should a musician (who is old enough to legally work in the United States of America) be expected to play for free &/or play for an extremely small amount of money just because they are providing their God-given skills & talents within the 4 walls of a church? Even when a particular "mindset" is coming from someone within the "high-ranks" of a particular church &/or religious organization, do y'all think that a persons mindset is ethical &/or fair in regards to that person believing that a church musician should agree to play for free (or play for very little) as a means of avoiding "taking advantage of the Lord"? Does anyone feel that by charging a reasonable/modest fee for services rendered as a church musician is symbolic of "taking advantage of the Lord" (especially in circumstances where the musician in question is more than aware of several musicans of a far lesser skill/experience level in other parts of the country who are receiving upwards of 3x that amount for one service on any given Sunday)? What do some of y'all kats hear as far as amounts that kats charge &/or get paid in different parts of the country & how long have those kats been playing? Have any of y'all ever been told that u charge too much or do u know someone who has been told that they charge too much? Do y'all know people that make it a habit of getting stuff in writing when it comes down to playing the role of being a church musician??? Y'all know I usually don't ask so many questions in my blogs LOL but I had a recent experience that was a true turnoff in the eyes of most paid church musicians. I don't want to go into detail because I honestly don't feel like typing it out & moreso I might offend somebody (y'all know I just HATE to do that, LOL)... But as mentioned, the situation was a true turnoff 4 me & kinda made me feel like I just got myself into a preventable situation that I shoulda just continued to avoid completely, just as I have been doing for the last "umpteen" weeks/months/years... Yea, but holla back on here &/or with some private messages, i'm interested to hear what some of y'all come up with.

-J