Money can be an awkward issue for churches and guest speakers.

It’s the issue both parties consider; but it’s often the issue around which both parties tiptoe.

It should not be that way. It’s really a matter of biblical stewardship and hospitality. Over the years, I have worked with many churches and speakers (and a few musicians) to establish some guidelines for hosting and paying guest speakers. Keep in mind, these are guidelines, not rigid rules. There will always be reasons for exceptions.

1. 1. Pay with a generous spirit. 

      As your church is able, try to abound in generosity to the guest speakers and musicians. Art Rainer actually developed a formula for paying guest preachers specifically. I think his approach is a good starting point for guest preachers. There will be differences for conference leaders, musicians, and others.

2. Ask the guest speaker for expectations for pay. 

   Don’t be shy to ask guest speakers if they have specific fees or payment guidelines. There is no need to tiptoe around this matter.

3. Pay promptly.

    Your church should have the check waiting when the speaker arrives. Get the W-9 form and travel expense reimbursement form completed ahead of time as often as possible. You should never tell a speaker you will get a check to him later after he has completed his engagement with you.

4. Cover all travel expenses.

    Those expenses would include airfare or mileage reimbursement, rental car, meals, and lodging. There is nothing wrong with being clear about what level of expenses you will reimburse, such as coach fare instead of first-class.

5. Provide reasonable accommodations.

    Most speakers do not like to stay in homes. They are often on the road a good bit and prefer the freedom of being in a hotel and not making up their own beds or engaging the hosts in long conversations.

6. Inform the speaker ahead of time.

    Tell them clearly what the honorarium or fee and travel reimbursement will be on the front end of conversations with them. Outlining these details in writing is also helpful for both parties. Don’t leave the speaker wondering about it after he or she has accepted the invitation.

7. Consider the implications of the engagement from the perspective of the speaker.

    From the church’s perspective, the engagement could be as brief as a 45-minute speaking assignment. But from the speaker’s perspective, he may have to be gone two days from his family due to travel time. Be generous from that perspective.

8. Avoid scope creep and add-ons. 

   Scope creep means you ask the speaker for additional speaking spots after your initial invitation. The church or host often says, “Since you are going to be here anyway . . .” Add-ons refer to other groups trying to get the speaker to do engagements for them since the original host is paying the travel costs. The host church or host should ask for the specific commitment on the front-end and not add to it.

9. Provide a specific point person as their contact and host.

    The speaker needs one person as the contact person for all aspects of the engagement, from travel arrangements to payments to sound checks to meeting them at the site of the engagement.

10. Protect your church’s reputation.

     It does not take long for a church to get a bad reputation for how it treats speakers. Travel can be a wearying experience. The speaker needs to know the host has his or her best interests at heart.

Granted, these guidelines are written largely from the perspective of looking after the speaker. In a future post, I will address specific guidelines speakers and musicians should consider. In the meantime, let me hear your thoughts.

Article taken from ThomRainer.com  and written by Thom Rainer. Thom is the founder and CEO of Church Answers, and online community and resource for church leaders. 

A couple of years ago on our honeymoon in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, my wife and I got to do a couple of five-mile hikes in the Smoky Mountains. To save money and time, we decided to fill our backpacks with a picnic-style lunch and some snacks (mostly candy).

It was so much fun eating sandwiches and cheap bags of chips picnic-style because there was a beautiful view, no one was around to tell me to get my elbows off the table, and I was eating with my new wife.

Another memorable meal was when I was in grade school. Every Christmas Eve my family would get out our fine china, light some candles, and have a fondue night. We didn’t get out the classy dishware often, mainly because my mom was afraid we would break it, but when we did, we knew that it was something special.

We would fill one dish with cheese, one with butter, and one with chocolate, and among our assorted hors d’oeuvres, we would make the most out of the special experience.

As worship leaders, we set the mood for what is expected for the worship experience for the majority of the congregation.

Obviously, there will always be those who are bold or mature in their faith who we don’t need to bring to the throne because they are already there. But for the lion’s share of the church, we set the table and the layout for what is generally expected during a worship service.

We can be the examples of whether or not it is OK to be expressive worshipers.

I know that a meal with fine china versus a picnic will have two different moods—both fine and enjoyable, but different. In the same way, a campfire devo with an acoustic guitar and cajon has a much different feel than a Sunday morning service with a full band. Both are great and both can be incredibly powerful times of worship, but they are different styles.

We are called to do the prep work through prayer, devotion, study, and thought to find out what message we want to convey to our congregation.

Josh Huckabay, a wise worship leader that I interned under, once told me, “Worship ministry is not about telling people where to go, but about leading them as you go there yourself.”  Every week I try to encourage this mindset in the way our team leads.

Whether the position is deserved or not, if you are onstage or have a role on the worship team, you are seen as a leader.

What you do dictates to the majority of the congregation what is acceptable or inappropriate for the service.

However, as worship leaders, we can’t make the congregation do anything they don’t want to do. Just like a table-setter, I can bring you the finest dishes and cups, light the table with candles, and set out fancy silverware, but I can’t make you eat the food or even like it, and I shouldn’t try to.

If our goal is to lead people to worship and we begin to judge our services based on how many people raise their hands, we will become very effective manipulators.  If we take a close look at Scripture, however, we can see that isn’t our job. In Psalm 23, God Himself does nothing more than prepare a table for David in the presence of his enemies, and it is David’s choice whether or not he will partake in the “meal.”

Table-setting is about giving people the tools to eat the meal. Likewise, it is our job to prepare the setting for worship and then get out of the way.

I imagine that our experiences are often like Moses’s after he came down from Mount Sinai in Exodus 19. Moses had a literal mountaintop experience with God and was told to go down and tell the people to prepare themselves for worship. Then on the third day, he led them up on the mountain so they might worship God.

As many worship leaders or “creatives” do, we put a lot of time, prayer, and effort into our weekly services. We map out the flow of the songs so there aren’t any distractions, and we tie them together with the topic or theme we are trying to convey.

As Moses did, we lead people up the mountain. But I highly doubt that Moses would have held the trust of the Israelites had he not first been to the mountain himself and stood before God. You cannot lead someone where you have not been yourself. 

It is easy to gauge a service by how well the band played, how the tech team did, and if the congregation sang loudly or only a few people raised their hands. I fall victim to this mentality quite often, but leading worship is centered around trust in God. 

Craig Groeschel said, “If we blame ourselves when things go poorly, then we will be tempted to credit ourselves when things go right.” 

Table-setting can be scary.

But we can do nothing more than that. So as you plan your service this week, think about what table you are trying to set. We lead our congregation to the table, not by pointing a finger, but by saying, “Come alongside me as we go together.” 

Article written Austin Stone Worship by Creighton Tamerius. Creighton serves as the Worship Pastor at First Baptist Church of Sarcoxie in Southwest, MO.