Church & Musicians: To pay or not to pay
- Wale Adenuga
 
My answer to the question? I’m actually adding a twist to the whole matter. I say neither! I’m neither for nor against.

That said, I would like to raise a number of issues which I feel will benefit all and sundry. A bit of history first of all. I got born again in 1988 as a third year civil engineering student at the University of Ife. Then I started attending Christ Love Fellowship (CLF). At CLF, service and selflessness were the order of the day. It was there I started to discover my purpose. I write a song, so what? I say ‘so what’ because there were dozens of us writing amazing songs on a daily basis. Money was not the issue. It was an expression of our love to the Lord. In those days, there were also many of us who played instruments wonderfully. Yet they really had to believe God for an opportunity to play even during the benediction! That’s my heritage.

So I was shocked when I moved to Lagos and in 1994, as music director in my present church I was told to pay a musician. To me then it was incomprehensible! Well that was then.

I have discovered that money is really much of an issue in cosmopolitan cities like Lagos, Ibadan, Port Harcourt and Abuja. I have observed that the most talented and the ‘purest’ musicians reside in towns like Ife, Ogbomosho, Fiditi, Potiskum or Zaria. You might want to send some scouts to such places.

Churches jostle for market share. (I have no apologies for using the term market share). Consequently, they use all they can in order to get people into church. Of course music is always a major consideration. Truth be told, I am unlikely to stay long where the music is not enticing. For there to be good music, we’ve got to have good musicians. And at the rate at which churches are growing in Nigeria, the human resource in terms of musicianship is having to play catch up. So what is happening now is that good musicians are been “headhunted”. It’s a case of “How much are you being paid in church XYZ?” You say N33,229 and then the pastor of church ABC offers to pay N50,000. When these deals are being struck, no consideration is given to the church the new hired hand is leaving and the void being created. The downside of this approach is that since you’re playing the money game, church DEF can headhunt the same guy by offering him N70,000. Some pastors call guys like these mercenaries and prostitutes. But excuse me, I thought prostitution was a two party affair!

There is however another reality church leadership needs to face up to. You can’t say outrightly you won’t pay your musicians. A few weeks ago, the Minister of State for Education announced that out of the 1.1 million youths that took the JAMB exam, less than 300,000 of them can be admitted. So here’s the rude shock: even if we lined them all up the day before their JAMB exam, anointed them with olive oil and did all our usual Pentecostal calisthenics, 800,000 are still not going anywhere. Now out of these 800,000 people, some can play music. At least that’s some gift they have as they remain in that educational gulf. I see absolutely nothing wrong in these people offering their gifts up for some remuneration.

Nevertheless, some restraint must be applied. Think more of investing in them for the long term not the short term. So here is what I have done again and again in our church. We pay musicians an allowance that is not so fantastic. That does not mean we pay peanuts. But we help out with stuff like school fees, housing etc. We counsel them and see how they can be educated alternatively even if they can’t get a university education. The dream I have is that in 5-10 years from the moment I first met them they will be gainfully employed graduates or business owners. Truth be told, most people in church leadership are not concerned about the long term outlook of musicians. They are only concerned about what they can produce now, creating an ‘atmosphere’ for the ministry of the word and miracles. Musicians need to be discipled like everyone else. But then discipleship remains a superficial phenomenon in our brand of Christianity in Nigeria.

Another knotty issue is that of whether performing bands should be paid for ministering in churches. Again, I am not going to take a position. I would just like to shed some light.

Let me now turn to my fellow artistes. Why do you do what you do? I can’t decide that for you. Would you say you are a music minister? That’s absolutely different from being a gospel artiste. If you say you are a minister, then here’s the absolute truth: you cannot allow money to decide where you go. If it’s all about money, what it simply means is that some people can’t afford you. But remember, God is not only the God of the rich. He’s also the God of the poor. And interestingly there are more poor people in the world than rich people. And I don’t think that’s going to change a lot in a while.

Personally, I don’t ask for money upfront from churches. That’s my own decision. Sometimes I think I am an absolute fool. I have had a mixed bag of blessings as a result of this decision. Sometimes, I get a fantastic honorarium. And then sometimes I get a honorarium that depress me! However, God set me free regarding this a while ago. Firstly, He alone is my source. Secondly, these honorarium given to me are not tax payers monies. They are offerings given by God’s people.

Artistes should realize one bitter truth: you will never remain on top of the chart forever. Nobody does. If you always play the money game, once someone who has a better groove than you in your genre appears, you lose your negotiating power and clout. It’s far better to build relationships. Earn your respect over time. One more thing, Lamar Boschman shared a truth with us at the 2001 International Worship institute in Dallas. I will never forget it till my dying day. He said, “You are not who you are because of what you do”. Sometimes we artistes put ourselves under so much pressure because we want to be like the stars. Take off the dark glasses. Drive the car you can afford. Live in the house you can afford. Marry the girl who loves you for who you are. Get the gist? In short, be real! In addition, artistes should consider other streams of income which can easily be theirs on account of the influence and fame they have acquired from being on the stage. I jokingly tell people, I can sell anything except human parts!

In my humble opinion, if a group or an artiste comes to minister in a church, they should be given a good honorarium to the best of that church’s ability. Ground expenses like travelling costs and hotel bills should be the responsibility of the inviting church. Of course, the ability of church XYZ will vary from that of church DEF. Church leadership should not take artistes for granted. Treat them well. There are places I have been to and I have been treated like a king. Excuse me, when they call me some other time, I would not need to pray about it! Groups and artistes also have some expenses to cover. Many times they have to work with musicians who are hired or are session men. This is necessary as you would want them to play exactly or close to what you heard on that favourite song of theirs. I have it on good authority that the session men are often paid a minimum of N15,000 per person per show. I don’t think that is bad. The bottomline is, count the cost before inviting them. If you can’t afford the band and you don’t have a relationship you can leverage on, then play their CD. Just kidding!

I reckon this whole money thing is an American byproduct. But the word ‘American’ is not synonymous with the word ‘right’. We have as many good examples as we do bad ones emanating from America’s brand of Christianity. It is important that we constantly question our way of doing things. I sincerely hope church XYZ would give me a good honorarium. But as I step on stage, I tell God I’m here because of Him and His people. Then I minister, emptying myself of His essence in me. Therefore I ask God to help us all not to minister on a ‘pay as you go’ basis. May we pursue what is right, pure and exemplary. That’s a good place to say amen.