It really doesn’t matter what you call whomever heads up the music ministry in your community: music director, choir director, coordinator of music ministries, leader, whatever. What really matters is whether or not they have shepherd skills.

The Gospel says, “A hired man, who is not a shepherd and whose sheep are not his own . . . works for pay and has no concern for the sheep.” It’s not hard to spot choir directors and music ministers who function as hirelings, with little or no concern for those whom they purport to lead. They may have mediocre keyboard skills and little interest in improving them. They may give choir members no eye contact, so that the choir is on its own for entrances, cutoffs and dynamics, with ragged results. They may arrive late and fail to warm up; they may be poorly prepared, play wrong notes, or choose music unsuited to their choir or assembly. Everything they do proclaims their attitude: play the notes and take the money.

Folks, that’s not ministry. And it’s not what shepherds are called to do.

Good Shepherds make sure they’re in eye contact with their choirs—because they want singers to feel confident and sing well. Shepherds make sure everyone has the right music. Shepherds work hard at improving their own keyboard and conducting skills in order to serve their community well. Shepherds work on blend and diction and posture, and perhaps mostly importantly they communicate effectively (and often.)

Whether you call yourself a choir director or music minister or church musician, what you really are is a shepherd. It’s not an easy job, but the rewards are out of this world.