Here’s one of the most disheartening things I hear church musicians (and other volunteers) say:

“I love serving! I’m at my home church a couple Sundays a month, and then I play at this other place once or twice. It’s a really great gig!”

On the surface, it seems noble:

But here’s the thing…

This isn’t how service to the church is supposed to be.

Cultural Conditioning

OK—so what’s up with serving lots of people being a bad thing?

Firstly, it’s not bad. Rather, it’s a fundamental misalignment of how a church is supposed to function, or more specifically, what its members are called to do—especially in their service to the local body.

This idea of how the church functions, which oversees membership and service of its members, is called ecclesiology. And for many Western Christians, especially musicians, producers, and tech professionals, there’s a very loose sense of ecclesiology that needs to be realigned.

From what I’ve observed (and honestly, how I’ve participated in the past), church musicians (this is what I’ll use as a catch-all term for musicians, singers, tech folks, etc.) regard their service as paid into the church-at-large. This means that they could be serving at two, three, or four churches (maybe more) throughout a given month. To them, they’re focused on enhancing the overall community of faith.

And honestly, it’s not that much different from what many of these individuals are pursuing (or have pursued) as part of their performance career in secular spaces. It’s to their advantage to be transient, covering as much ground as possible in order to stay engaged with audiences and not lose momentum. In a practical sense, if one opportunity closes, there are a handful of others that keep them afloat.

This doesn’t have to be exclusively focused on maintaining income; this can be for the sheer desire of maintaining a hobby/passion, or even notoriety and attention. (I know—it seems bad, but sadly, it’s true.)

Still, some others are attracted to what is new, exciting, and moving, so they divide their time between churches in order to be a part of something that thrills and excites. And as long as they’re serving somewhere, it’s OK, right?

Not necessarily.

What Is the Church?

This reveals a mindset that church is a place for “services” and “programs” when instead, church is actually a place of covenant community. It’s a place where services can be held, but you’re framing that within a larger idea of doing life together.

As a local body of believers, each member is called to particular responsibilities:

These responsibilities serve to point us all toward Christ and become more like Him. At times, it’s joyful and fulfilling. At others, we can be frustrated and experience deep disappointment. Yet, we are called to faithfully show up—and this is bigger than once or twice a month.

It begs the question: How can you do life together if you’re only seeing one body of believers once a month? Answer: It just doesn’t work well.

The Role of the Worship Musician

Something that many church musicians miss that skews their view of ecclesiology is that they view church work in terms of:

Sometimes, there’s acknowledgment of spirituality, but that mostly comes through the content or themes of the music they play. Rarely do they view themselves as integral to the spiritual formation of a body of believers.

In other words, these musicians are focused on a product, rather than holistic edification of people.

So, worship musician: Your notes, chords, words, mixes, directions—everything—serves a bigger purpose than just giving people a good time. It’s even bigger than “eliminating distractions through excellence.” You’re shaping culture by helping people tangibly express adoration of our Holy God, all through habits of doxology paired with good theology.

And if you’ve ever attempted forming new habits, patterns, or routines, you know that nothing progresses by only doing it one or times a month.

The Emotional Connection

Even though it’s good to realize that the worship musician helps shape culture with right doxology and theology it’s equally important to realize that in regularly showing up, you forge emotional connections that allow you to minister directly to the congregation in a way that’s sensitive, pertinent, and and meaningful.

A few years back, our church walked alongside one of our long-time members who was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Eventually, he went to be with the Lord—and it was a deeply sorrowful time. I was leading our singing not long after his passing, and we were visiting themes of trust, faithfulness, and provision. I was able to speak into the situation without an undue “spotlight”; but there was a portion of the spoken exhortation that connected to what his family and collectively, our church, was experiencing.

If I had only been coming to the church once a month, I would’ve been nearly completely out of the loop, and the opportunity to speak life would have taken a back seat, simply because the emotional connection wouldn’t have existed. In stark contrast, the Holy Spirit moved among us to reassure us in our hurt and lament, all because words were spoken from a shared experience.

So to the musician who rotates from church to church: When you only appear at a church to serve, you miss connection, and instead, what you’re left with is merely a transaction.

What Faithfulness Looks Like

OK—so what? What if I’m being faithful in my service, even if it’s for multiple congregations? Or, what if there truly is a need for me to be there, even it’s at a minimum level each month?

These are valid objections, and not every situation is the same. For some, this call for “picking a lane” seems too rigid, or even exclusionary. I want to be clear that there are exceptions:

The point of what I’m saying is that for many worship musicians, especially those in suburban and urban areas, being rooted is more important than being a religious freelancer.

From my own experience, when you approach it this way, you’re far more likely to not “get the gig” at places where it’s desirable to serve; leaders will see that the transaction, rather than rooted connection, is the underlying motivation.

Let’s remember this: We definitely are part of ONE church, globally and historically. But faithfulness is lived more fully when it’s realized through “showing up” regularly to serve at the local level, where you have the chance to engage in care, connection, and community.

When this happens, you’re not just showing up on a platform, adjusting faders on a console, or moving a camera angle—you’re belonging to a group of people.

Be blessed 👊✌️