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Renowned Ghanaian gospel musician, Diana Hamilton, has spoken on the issue of whether church instrumentalists are supposed to be paid for their work.
Speaking in an interview with Happy FM’s Doctar Cann on the Saturday morning entertainment show, Showbiz Xtra, she simply said “The worker is worth their wage”, hence, supporting the notion that they should be paid.
She explained that if it is what the person does for a living on a regular day and they have also been taken by the church to play during services, then they are worth being paid.
“Just as the Bible says, the hand that does not work shall not eat. If you run a church and have prayer meeting on Monday, rehearsals on Wednesday, women’s movement on Thursdays and on Fridays, another programme, and in all cases, you expect the instrumentalist to be there but you don’t pay him, how will he eat at the end of the day?” she quizzed.
Diana continued that, “If he comes to church not looking presentable, you will complain about his appearance too so if he is working as an instrumentalist in the church, you have to pay him so that he can also fend for himself. It is God’s work that he has committed himself to, however, he is using his time so you need to help him to be able to do God’s work well”.
According to the singer, instrumentalists are sometimes underrated because people feel they are only seated, playing whatever they play, not realizing that even before the church service, they rehearsed for hours.
“It’s the preparation that determines that output on that day so it’s important to put all that, including the number of times you need him to do ministry, into consideration. My father used to say that what makes a good church is good word, good praise and worship, good prayer and good sound”.
On this note, the singer concluded that instrumentalists are an important part of a good church, hence, they need to be paid for their work so that they are motivated to keep doing God’s work.
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