everhardt
New Member
Some of ya'll have gotten to know me a bit during the past 3 months I've been playing, and it's been really neat to talk in game and on the forums about life and how God is working in different peoples' circumstances. I really hope I haven't been a jerk to anyone, since I've been really stressed with work and sometimes it can affect my attitude (even though I pray against that every day!).
So, here I go, heart, soul, and all...
I could really use prayer for my job situation. For several years, I worked full time as a music teacher in a local school as well as a part-time music director at a local church. 2 years ago, I attended a worship conference and felt led by God to pursue church music as a primary career, which was an answer to prayer since I really did not enjoy my classroom teaching. I quit my full-time teaching job and have still been working part-time at the church I've been at for 6 years.
The past year and a half has greatly increased my faith, since I've seen God provide for my family, despite the financial burden we carry. Without going into details, I have been applying for full-time church music jobs elsewhere since the church I currently work in is not spiritually nurturing and suffers from poor leadership, both administratively and spiritually. During my job search, I've found that there are very few full-time church music jobs out there, since most churches have completely unrealistic job expectations (they expect 40+ hours of work but only pay for 20 hours without any benefits whatsoever).
Ironically, the church position I'm currently in could possibly expand to become full time, but I'm not holding my breath since this has been dangled on the carrot stick in front of me for the past 2 years by our pastor. I'm still putting my all into the job I do have, but I often feel used and taken advantage of, since it feels like they have used bait and switch tactics to get me to take on additional work and I was too naive to see it coming. My current work hours are at least 40 a week but I am being paid <$20,000 with no benefits of any kind. Money is not an issue at our church, since we've remodeled our sanctuary recently and are purchasing new tech equipment, etc. Even if my church did adjust my compensation, I'm struggling with the fact that our church does not value Christian Education (children and adult sunday school) very much and there are basically no avenues for my family to grow deeper spiritually there (Bible studies there are really just social fellowship times). I want my son to grow up seeing the body of believers as a living, breathing testament to God and his faithfulness, but our church is more of a social gathering hub. My wife and I pray about this daily, since we work extra hard to lead vibrant spiritual lives despite everything that our church is not.
I've been interviewed for several full-time positions but have yet to receive any offers - this morning I received another email stating that I was not the right fit for a church that I earnestly prayed for an opportunity to serve and work in. It's been a year and a half now of searching, and I am feeling broken and discouraged through this whole process.
I hope that all made sense, and that ya'll won't think I'm too crazy.
So, here I go, heart, soul, and all...
I could really use prayer for my job situation. For several years, I worked full time as a music teacher in a local school as well as a part-time music director at a local church. 2 years ago, I attended a worship conference and felt led by God to pursue church music as a primary career, which was an answer to prayer since I really did not enjoy my classroom teaching. I quit my full-time teaching job and have still been working part-time at the church I've been at for 6 years.
The past year and a half has greatly increased my faith, since I've seen God provide for my family, despite the financial burden we carry. Without going into details, I have been applying for full-time church music jobs elsewhere since the church I currently work in is not spiritually nurturing and suffers from poor leadership, both administratively and spiritually. During my job search, I've found that there are very few full-time church music jobs out there, since most churches have completely unrealistic job expectations (they expect 40+ hours of work but only pay for 20 hours without any benefits whatsoever).
Ironically, the church position I'm currently in could possibly expand to become full time, but I'm not holding my breath since this has been dangled on the carrot stick in front of me for the past 2 years by our pastor. I'm still putting my all into the job I do have, but I often feel used and taken advantage of, since it feels like they have used bait and switch tactics to get me to take on additional work and I was too naive to see it coming. My current work hours are at least 40 a week but I am being paid <$20,000 with no benefits of any kind. Money is not an issue at our church, since we've remodeled our sanctuary recently and are purchasing new tech equipment, etc. Even if my church did adjust my compensation, I'm struggling with the fact that our church does not value Christian Education (children and adult sunday school) very much and there are basically no avenues for my family to grow deeper spiritually there (Bible studies there are really just social fellowship times). I want my son to grow up seeing the body of believers as a living, breathing testament to God and his faithfulness, but our church is more of a social gathering hub. My wife and I pray about this daily, since we work extra hard to lead vibrant spiritual lives despite everything that our church is not.
I've been interviewed for several full-time positions but have yet to receive any offers - this morning I received another email stating that I was not the right fit for a church that I earnestly prayed for an opportunity to serve and work in. It's been a year and a half now of searching, and I am feeling broken and discouraged through this whole process.
I hope that all made sense, and that ya'll won't think I'm too crazy.