Ministry vs. Money
I really believe that God has given me my talents in multimedia and design... and I always do my best to produce quality work for my church. But the problem is, many people from church come to me expecting that I will do my work for free.
Sure, I don't mind doing the occasional small church production, on top of my regular volunteer work of running the tech ministry. But when someone (or the church itself) comes to me expecting me to do a much larger project for free, that's when I have to put my foot down and say no. Especially for projects that require huge amounts of skill and time. I do have to earn a living in this world, and can't afford to work for free all of the time. Multimedia and design takes far more skill and time than people realize.
Just go into your church office, and look up how many paid staff there are. If your church expects to pay your pastor for working full-time, then they better be prepared to pay you for the same amount of work. It is unfair, unbiblical, and exploitive to use religion to pressure someone into working for free... especially if it's above and beyond their already heavy volunteer work.
So next time your church or ministry leader comes to you with some work, demand to be paid for your efforts. If they want free work, then they can round up some inexperienced and untrained volunteers from the congregation... and they will end up with an unprofessional and amateur final product.
2 comments:
So next time your church or ministry leader comes to you with some work, demand to be paid for your efforts. If they want free work, then they can round up some inexperienced and untrained volunteers from the congregation
Yeah, that's a great principal! And that's what Jesus said to do right? ... do everything as unto the lord... give to those who ask you...
First off, tyour statement makes the assumption that you are not really part of the congregation; kind of more important because you "have skills". And then what, only people with no skills are to offer their time? Sure, Churches should be willing to pay for work sometimes, but some churches don't have the money and if you are part of the congregation, you should pitch in. Don't say no because you should be paid 'cuz you're so great and got the skills, yo; say no if you haven't got the time-period.
Read the second paragraph of the post. But in case you didn't, then I'll elaborate.
I already lead the tech ministry for my church. For free, I do the church sound, I train techs, I create small promotional videos and print material, I create posters, I advise on webdesign, and I have an active part in the Men's ministry.
On top of that, I'm also doing all of those things, for free, for a local church plant.
My post is about that extra work that goes way over and above regular ministry. If the amount of 'free' work requires you to quit your job, then say no. You need to earn a living somehow.
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