Church Music Director Job Description

A church music director job description can be diverse, depending upon the denomination and size of congregation. However, there are some basic guidelines you can follow if you're looking to discover what your job responsibilities would be if you were to become a music director for a Christian church or other religious organization.

Significance

The church music director plays a significant role in the church, as he is often the person who chooses and orchestrates the musical portion of every church service. With this being said, he can set the tone and mood of the service, and has power over how the congregation is touched or influenced during worship. This is a big responsibility and involves a mature faith and good discernment to match personal music preferences with the worship style and setting of the church itself.

Primary Responbility

The number-one job of a church music director is to select the worship music for a Sunday morning. This is usually done in conjunction with the worship team to select what is appropriate and complementary to the sermon that week. A senior pastor sometimes also has input into music selection, and the music director is often expected to work closely with the pastor.

The music director will also usually be in charge of picking music for special holidays, as well as outreach events and other notable occasions where the church congregation will be in attendance.

Additional Tasks

A music director is usually also in charge of leading the worship team on Sunday services as well as midweek services if applicable. She is also the one who leads worship team rehearsals and approves special music selections featuring soloists, choirs, or any other vocal or instrumental piece.

A church may have a choir director, but oftentimes the music director will serve as teacher and coordinator for the choir as well.

Creating and Composing

Music directors often write music and use this along with traditional hymns and contemporary worship. For this reason, directors often consider finding a balance between original and mainstream music a part of their job description. This also includes researching copyrights and royalty requirements for any song used in a service.

Seasonal Duties

Finally, a church music director is usually in charge of the church Christmas or Easter musical. Also, if a summer outreach is planned and involves music, the musical director will become involved in that planning and overseeing.

References

• Artist's House Music: What a Church's Music Director Does, and How to Become One
• Job Description: Director of Music Ministry
• Church Jobs: Music Minister