Preferences in the hiring of music leaders within Southern Baptist and United Methodist churches in America

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Content PREFERENCES IN THE HIRING OF MUSIC LEADERS WITHIN SOUTHERN
BAPTIST AND UNITED METHODIST CHURCHES IN AMERICA

by

Donna Frenzel Chaparro

A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC THORNTON SCHOOL OF MUSIC
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS
(SACRED MUSIC)

August 2012

Copyright 2012 Donna Frenzel Chaparro
ii
Dedication

For those who desire to serve in the music of the church.

iii
Acknowledgements

In any work of this size, there are many to whom a debt of gratitude is owed.
The following are but a portion of those whose involvement was critical to this
study.
In a study on church preference, it is important to first thank the churches and
church organizations who participated in the research. The overwhelmingly positive
encounters I had with so many of these pastors and church officials were very
encouraging to me as a church worker. Sincerest thanks go to those church leaders
from the Southern Baptist Convention and The United Methodist Church who took
the time to answer the questions honestly and fully.
The professors at the USC Thornton School of Music receive all my gratitude
for their many contributions, among them, chiefly, Dr. Sheila Woodward for her
tireless guidance and advising in this research project, Drs. Magen Solomon, Nick
Strimple, David Wilson, and Jo-Michael Scheibe, for their support and contributions
impacting the study, and Dr. Alison Dundes Renteln, whose political science
perspective was so valuable.
I am indebted to many but must sincerely thank the following for their
support and contributions: Skip Tucker, James Haskin, and Melody Tucker, Esq. for
their assistance on specific sections of this work, Dolan and Audrey Frenzel for their
help concerning Methodism (and for raising me in church), Rev. Tony Hoefner for
iv
his valuable input, and my employers and musicians at First Baptist Church of
Hollywood, who are among the greatest persons in the world. My greatest personal
thanks go to my husband Luis Chaparro, for his unwavering commitment to my
schooling and my sanity, and also for helping in many phases of document
preparation. All of these friends and loved ones assisted in this work in some way,
and I am overwhelmed by this love expressed to me.
And most importantly, no study like this could be possible without help from
above. The largest debt of gratitude goes to God, for all these churches, and these
people, and bringing us together.
Thank you.

v
Table of Contents
Dedication .................................................................................................................... ii
Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................... iii
List of Tables............................................................................................................. viii
Abstract ....................................................................................................................... ix
Chapter 1: Introduction ............................................................................................... 1
Background .............................................................................................................. 1
Problem Statement ................................................................................................... 5
Need for the Study ................................................................................................... 5
Purpose Statement .................................................................................................... 6
Research Questions .................................................................................................. 6
Definitions ................................................................................................................ 6
Chapter 2: Review of Related Literature .................................................................... 9
Introduction .............................................................................................................. 9
The EEOC .............................................................................................................. 10
Church exemptions from the EEOC .................................................................. 14
Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC ....................................................................................... 16
Southern Baptist Convention—brief history and stance on issues ........................ 20
Southern Baptist autonomy ................................................................................ 20
SBC documents .................................................................................................. 21
Issues impacting hiring preferences ................................................................... 23
Southern Baptists and the EEOC ....................................................................... 28
In summary ......................................................................................................... 29
The United Methodist Church—brief history and stance on issues....................... 30
The Methodist “Connection” ............................................................................. 31
UMC documents ................................................................................................ 32
Issues impacting hiring preferences ................................................................... 33
United Methodists and the EEOC ...................................................................... 40
In summary ......................................................................................................... 40
Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 41
Chapter 3: Methodology ........................................................................................... 42
Introduction ............................................................................................................ 42
Sample .................................................................................................................... 42
Target population ............................................................................................... 42
Study participants ............................................................................................... 43
vi
Study Design .......................................................................................................... 44
Instrument .......................................................................................................... 45
Procedure ............................................................................................................... 50
Recruitment ........................................................................................................ 52
Analysis .............................................................................................................. 52
Experimental Validity ............................................................................................ 53
Assumptions ....................................................................................................... 53
Summary ................................................................................................................ 54
Chapter 4: Results ..................................................................................................... 55
Introduction ............................................................................................................ 55
Research Question.................................................................................................. 55
Sample Profile ........................................................................................................ 56
Survey Results........................................................................................................ 56
Verification Questions ....................................................................................... 56
Pastors who Perform Lead Musical Work ......................................................... 57
Title of Music Leader ......................................................................................... 58
Pay ...................................................................................................................... 60
Duties ................................................................................................................. 62
Essential Qualities .............................................................................................. 65
Demographic Qualities ....................................................................................... 66
Church Size ........................................................................................................ 79
Worship Style ..................................................................................................... 80
Musical Instruments Used .................................................................................. 81
Other Results .......................................................................................................... 82
Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 83
Chapter 5: Summary, Discussion and Conclusion .................................................... 84
Summary ................................................................................................................ 84
Discussion of Outcomes......................................................................................... 84
Pastors who Perform Lead Musical Work ......................................................... 85
Title of Music Leader ......................................................................................... 85
Pay ...................................................................................................................... 87
Duties ................................................................................................................. 88
Essential Qualities .............................................................................................. 90
Demographic Qualities ....................................................................................... 92
Church Size ...................................................................................................... 104
Worship Style ................................................................................................... 105
Musical Instruments Used ................................................................................ 107
Drop-off ............................................................................................................ 107
Implications for the Profession ............................................................................ 109
Pastors who Perform Lead Musical Work ....................................................... 109
Title of Music Leader ....................................................................................... 110
vii
Pay .................................................................................................................... 111
Duties ............................................................................................................... 112
Essential Qualities ............................................................................................ 113
Demographic Qualities ..................................................................................... 113
Church Size ...................................................................................................... 118
Worship Style ................................................................................................... 118
Musical Instruments Used ................................................................................ 119
Suggestions for Further Research ........................................................................ 120
Results in light of Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC ................................................... 121
Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 128
Bibliography ............................................................................................................. 132
Appendices ............................................................................................................... 138
Appendix A: Survey Instrument ......................................................................... 138
Appendix B: Script for Introductory Phone Call ................................................ 146
Appendix C: Invitational Email .......................................................................... 147
Appendix D: Mailed Letter ................................................................................. 148

viii
List of Tables
Table 1. Pastors Performing Lead Musical Work ...................................................... 57
Table 2. Titles of Music Leaders................................................................................ 59
Table 3. Pay Status of Music Leaders ........................................................................ 61
Table 4. Duties of Music Leaders .............................................................................. 64
Table 5. Tally of Responses—Qualities a Music Leader Must Possess .................... 66
Table 6. SBC Demographic Preferences .................................................................... 73
Table 7. UMC Demographic Preferences .................................................................. 74
Table 8. SBC Age/Experience Preferences ................................................................ 77
Table 9. UMC Age/Experience Preferences .............................................................. 78
Table 10. Church Size ................................................................................................ 79
Table 11. Worship Style ............................................................................................. 80
Table 12. Musical Instruments Used .......................................................................... 82

ix
Abstract

An exploratory, descriptive study was undertaken to discern church
preference in the hiring of music leaders for Southern Baptist and United Methodist
churches in America. A total of 300 churches from each denomination were
randomly selected and asked to participate in a 10-question online survey. A total of
218 Baptist and 210 Methodist pastors and hiring officers participated. They were
asked about their employment preferences concerning race/color, religion, sex,
national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, and marital status. Other questions
of preference included education, experience, and musical skill. In addition,
questions were asked about pastoral involvement in leading music, music leader title
(such as Music Director, Music Minister, Worship Pastor, etc.), pay, duties, church
size, worship style, musical instruments used, and qualities participants felt were
essential in order for a musician to be considered for the music leader position at
their church. Baptist and Methodist participants alike showed strong preference for
hiring Christians and Christians from their denomination, with a strong bias against
hiring non-Christians. Baptist participants indicated an overall preference for hiring
American citizens, males, persons between the ages of 20-49, those who were from
their state or general locale, married, or of a race that was represented in their
congregation. Baptist participants indicated a strong bias against hiring persons who
were gay/lesbian, and an overall bias against hiring potential applicants who were
x
divorced, mentally disabled, less than 20 or over 60 years of age, or female.
Methodist participants indicated an overall preference for hiring music leaders who
were from their state or general locale, American citizens, or between the ages of 20-
49. Methodist participants indicated an overall bias against hiring potential
applicants who were gay/lesbian, under the age of 20, or mentally disabled. Results
may assist music leaders in efficiently directing their employment efforts.

1
Chapter 1: Introduction

Background
Music has consistently remained a valued aspect of worship in churches
throughout the history of Christianity. Originally steeped in age-old Jewish ritual, the
earliest followers of Jesus retained the importance placed on music, as evidenced in
New Testament accounts. Early believers were active in the singing of “psalms and
hymns and spiritual songs,”
1
early missionaries sang hymns during times of
persecution in prison,
2
and even the Last Supper—the Passover meal led by Jesus
just before his crucifixion—was noted to have been concluded with the singing of a
hymn.
3
Without even taking into account the aspect of church tradition, these and
myriad other Biblical accounts supporting the use of music in worship serve as
precedent enough in justifying the value placed on it today.
Through the ages, styles and characteristics of music in the church have
varied greatly. From the Latin choral chants of the Middle Ages to the elaborate
polyphony of the Renaissance Cathedral and from the highly structured German
chorales of the Baroque era to the simplest unaccompanied tradition of psalm singing
in early American Puritanism, expressions of music in worship have been treasured.

1
Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16 (New American Standard Bible).
2
Acts 16:25.
3
Matthew 26:30 and Mark 14:26.
2
Today, churches in the majority of the Western world stage worship services using a
variety of soloists, choirs, bands, and other ensembles, each with their own
respective amounts of skill and training behind them. The budgets supporting larger
programs will typically allow for the hiring of more highly skilled musicians to fill
leadership roles. Churches therefore can offer an excellent employment opportunity
for accomplished musicians, such as performers, conductors, composers and
directors.
While it is difficult to determine the number of related church music jobs that
currently exist, the Hartford Institute for Religion Research estimates that there are
around 300,000 “Protestant and other” churches in America
4
—not all of which
employ musicians, but likely all of which do employ music. To meet this demand,
schools of music and seminaries across America have entire programs of study
devoted to developing the church musician. By some estimates, there are over 188
institutions of higher education in America that offer a sacred music degree.
5

However, though certainly helpful, degrees of this type are not always required by
churches eager to seek out skilled talent; it is common that advertisements for church
music positions simply list a requirement for musical aptitude. While generally only
larger churches have a music program staffed with multiple directors, performers,

4
“Fast Facts,” Hartford Institute for Religion Research, accessed January 23, 2012, http://hirr
.hartsem .edu /research/fastfacts/fast_facts.html.
5
William DeSanto, “An Analysis of Undergraduate Sacred Music Curriculum Content in Colleges
and Universities Accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music” (DMA diss., The
University of Oklahoma, 2005).
3
composers, and technicians, churches of all sizes are known to provide a salary for at
least one musician, be that a pianist, singer, song leader, or choir director.
In addition, the church setting has a potential to be particularly stimulating
employment because of the potential opportunity to work across a variety of genres
and with a variety of types of performers. Opportunities within each church may
include participation in different styles (like those that might be found in “blended”
worship) and different combinations of musical forces; choirs, bands, orchestras, and
soloists may alternate in regular opportunities that arise throughout the year.
Furthermore, such employment may be ongoing, unlike the seasonal or short-term
nature of many music job opportunities. The added flexibility of the church
workweek also marks a compelling factor for many musicians who are simply
seeking “additional” employment to complement more traditional jobs they may
already have, as time commitments tend to fall outside traditional working hours
(worship services are usually held on weekends, with rehearsals often occurring on
weekday evenings). In short, at the very least, the musician looking to work in a
church setting can acquire practical, consistent, gainful employment, and the
musician looking to lead a program can experience varied forms of music creation in
one single job.
However, the employment restrictions on churches are known to differ from
the restrictions by which regular businesses in America must abide. The music
student and professional considering church work should be aware of these
4
differences. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has
governance over employment matters in America, and prevents qualifying employers
from taking into account a person’s race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age,
disability, or genetic information when hiring.
6
But the First Amendment clauses
mandating the separation of church and state have long discouraged courts’
involvement in church hiring and employment affairs. Perhaps due to decades of
sporadic and inconsistent litigation and findings,
7
the Supreme Court decided in
2011 to hear a case concerning what lower courts had dubbed a “ministerial
exception” to EEOC laws. Their subsequent decision led to broad implications about
who can be defined as a minister, regardless of the “ministerial” title.
8
This means
that churches may legally express a preference for very specific demographic
qualities like gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, etc. in the process of hiring
church music leaders. These preferences can be as varied as the churches
themselves—even amongst churches belonging to the same denomination.

6
“About EEOC,” U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, accessed January 14, 2012,
http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/index.cfm.
7
Julia K. Stronks, Law, Religion, and Public Policy: A Commentary on First Amendment
Jurisprudence (Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books, 2002), 9.
8
Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC, 565 U.S. ___ (2012). [Note:
unpublished as of writing. Please refer to Alito, J., concurring, 5]
5
Problem Statement
Music is an important and common feature of church worship and may lead
to a rewarding, consistent source of employment for musicians. However, when
making hiring decisions regarding music leadership, there are often specific, non-
musical, demographic qualities that churches require which would exclude certain
individuals from participating in their music ministries, regardless of extensive
training or experience. The extent of these trends in church hiring preferences is
unknown. Musicians therefore might waste energy, time, and financial resources
pursuing employment for which they might not be eligible.

Need for the Study
The literature affords us little information on church preferences in hiring
musicians. While some preferences likely pertain to music qualifications and
experience, others might include non-musical matters such as gender, race, religion,
sexual orientation, etc. Without background knowledge of such preferences,
musicians might expend extensive energy on multiple job applications that might not
stand a chance of being successful. Research examining these church preferences
will provide valuable insights and make it easier for musicians to get the information
they need to efficiently direct their employment efforts.

6
Purpose Statement
The purpose of this study is to collect data on the demographic qualities
preferred by churches when hiring music leaders. The course of the study surveys
churches from the two largest Protestant church organizations in America—the
Southern Baptist Convention and the United Methodist Church—to ascertain bias
based on race/color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation,
and marital status.

Research Questions
The essential research question of this study is: What are the demographic
qualities churches prefer when hiring music leaders in Southern Baptist and United
Methodist churches in America?

Definitions
A few terms will arise throughout this paper, and they are listed here for
quick reference.
Autonomy – The right of a church to conduct its business as it sees fit,
without intervention or oversight from outside governing entities.
Blended worship – A style of worship service that combines both
contemporary and traditional worship music. Any variety of musical combinations
can be found here, and services may include bands, pianos, organs, choirs,
7
orchestras, praise bands, soloists, etc., performing contemporary songs written
recently and traditional songs written over a hundred years ago.
Contemporary worship – A style of worship service music that uses songs
composed in the last 50 years that are similar to “popular music” (or, “Top 40”)
genres in writing and sound.
Demographic – A particular section of a population, grouped by their
sharing of a similar quality or trait.
Denomination – In Christianity, a group of churches who share a name and
formal agreement in areas of Biblical interpretation and hierarchy. The Southern
Baptist Convention and the United Methodist Church are two examples of
denominations.
Drop-off – Refers to the lowered number of participants due to nonresponse.
EEOC – Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The government
entity charged with enforcing employment laws governing illegal discrimination in
the workplace.
Hiring Officer – An installed officer in a church congregation who assists in
decisions concerning employment. Persons in this capacity might include trustees,
personnel committee members, elders, lay leaders, and financial and administrative
personnel.
Music Leader – For the purposes of clarification in this study, the music
leader is the chief musician in charge of the majority of musical decisions in a
8
church. Can also be referred to as the Music Director, Music Minister, or Worship
Leader, just to name a few examples.
Pastor – For the purposes of this study, a pastor is a (generally non-musical)
religious leader of a congregation.
Praise Band – An ensemble generally consisting of guitars, drums, singers,
keyboards, and the like. Praise Bands are often found in contemporary worship
services.
SBC – Southern Baptist Convention. The largest Christian Protestant
denomination in America, which holds at its core a belief in church autonomy, the
inerrancy and sole authority of scripture, and traditional “Baptistic” doctrines such as
baptism by immersion.
Traditional worship – A style of worship service music that uses hymns,
psalmody, traditional music, and the like. Chief instruments used in traditional
worship are often organs and pianos.
UMC – United Methodist Church. The second largest Christian Protestant
denomination in America, which has a governing hierarchy extending to the national
level. Their roots lie in the theological leanings of John Wesley and the values of
Scripture, tradition, reason, and experience.
Worship service – For the purposes of this study, a worship service is the
weekly meeting of a church congregation. It generally contains preaching,
congregational singing, Bible reading, prayers, offerings, and the like.
9
Chapter 2: Review of Related Literature

Introduction
There is little research available on the topic of church preference as it
pertains to the hiring of directors of music. There have been studies pertaining to
pastors—of similar interest may be one on demographic qualities desired in pastors
9

and one on non-demographic traits of effective UMC pastors
10
—however, even
though there is often a spiritual component to music leadership in churches, these
results may not apply to other staff.
11
For a review then, this study examines federal
EEOC regulations, Supreme Court interpretation of the law, and published
statements by the Southern Baptist Convention and The United Methodist Church
pertaining to issues of race/color, sex, national origin, age, disability, sexual
orientation and marital status.
12

9
Adair T. Lummis, “What Do Lay People Want in Pastors?” Pulpit & Pew Research Reports
(Spring 2003), accessed February 12, 2012, http://faithandleadership.com/programs/spe/resources
/ppr/pastorsearch.pdf.
10
Grant John Hagiya, “Significant Traits, Characteristics, and Qualities of High Effective United
Methodist Church Clergy” (Ed.D. diss., Pepperdine University, 2011).
11
Even the Bible sets the role of the pastor apart with a different, more stringent set of
requirements than other leadership roles; though the term “minister” is a modern-day convention, the
distinctive qualifications for this leader versus others can be found in 1 Timothy 3.
12
The issue of “religion” is a component of the study, but a review of it in church literature is
assumed redundant as churches are religious entities by definition.
10
The EEOC
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is the governing
body in charge of protecting employees and prosecuting
13
discriminations that occur
in the American workplace. It was initially created as part of the historic Civil Rights
Act of 1964,
14
which included protections for citizens from discrimination in the
areas of employment, voting, education, and public accommodations. Title VII of
this Act is of particular importance to this study as it specifically granted protections
in the workplace against employment decisions based on race, color, religion, sex, or
national origin. These protections were expanded to include “age”
15
and
“disability”
16
in additional acts passed by Congress in later years. With the additions
of these revisions, the law now clearly states that it is illegal for regular employers of
15 or more persons (full and part-time) to discriminate against a job applicant or an
employee because of the person’s “race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy),
national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information.”
17
Some states
offer additional employment protections through adjusting the number of qualifying

13
The ability to legally pursue offenders was not present in the 1964 Civil Rights Act, but was
granted in the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972.
14
42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e-1 et. seq. (1964).
15
“Age” was granted protection in the ADEA act of 1967.
16
“Disability” as a protection was added in the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, but clarified further in
the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the ADA Amendments Act of 2008.
17
“About EEOC,” U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, accessed January 14, 2012,
http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/index.cfm.
11
employees to fewer than 15, or by protecting other qualities like sexual orientation.
18

The following is a breakdown of protections and statements to their inclusion in this
study:
Race/Color – Race and color describe physical characteristics of persons.
Though distinctive in theory, there is often so much overlap between the issues of
race and color that even the EEOC combines them in discussion:
Race discrimination involves treating someone (an applicant or
employee) unfavorably because he/she is of a certain race or because
of personal characteristics associated with race (such as hair texture,
skin color, or certain facial features). Color discrimination involves
treating someone unfavorably because of skin color complexion.
19

For survey clarity and simplicity, it was determined that the term “race” would be
used in the survey to indicate both methods of physical categorizing (all following
references will place these two categories together as race/color).
Religion – It is illegal for most regular businesses to discriminate based on a
person’s religious beliefs, but as will be discussed later, churches enjoy protections
offered in hiring any persons based specifically on religion. The question of religion
is included in the study (though owing to the obvious clarity of religious views as
expressed by the respondent’s identity in a denomination, further review in the
literature is presumed to be redundant).

18
It is important to note that some states may have additional civil rights laws, not addressed here,
that might provide an additional measure of protection for church employees.
19
“Race/Color Discrimination,” U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, accessed
January 20, 2012, http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/race_color.cfm.
12
Sex – The protections categorized under the heading “sex” include
pregnancy,
20
caregiving,
21
and sexual harassment,
22
but this study looks at the issue
of sex through questions of male and female gender equality in employment.
National Origin – Though there is often overlap between national origin and
color, race, or ethnic identity (or presumed ethnic identity), it is specifically illegal
for most regular employers to discriminate based upon an individual’s citizenship or
immigration status beyond verifying eligibility for employment.
23
The question of
national origin as expressed through American citizenship (alongside a question of
origin within a church’s state or general locale) was included in this study.
Age – The specific age protection in EEOC law only covers persons over 40,
though some states include protections for younger persons as well.
24
Therefore,
questions of employment at all ages were included as a component in this study.
Disability – A person is considered to be disabled if they have a physical or
mental ailment that lasts longer than six months and limits a major life activity, or if
they have a history of such (for example, cancer patients in remission). It is illegal

20
“Pregnancy Discrimination,” U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, accessed
January 14, 2012, http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/pregnancy.cfm.
21
“Employer Best Practices for Workers with Caregiving Responsibilities,” U.S. Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission, accessed January 14, 2012, http://www.eeoc.gov/policy/docs
/caregiver-best-practices.html.
22
“Sex-Based Discrimination,” U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, accessed
January 14, 2012, http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/sex.cfm.
23
“National Origin Discrimination,” U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, accessed
January 20, 2012, http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/nationalorigin.cfm.
24
“Age Discrimination,” U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, accessed January 14,
2012, http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/age.cfm.
13
for regular employers to discriminate against persons who are disabled unless this
would cause “undue hardship” reflected in difficulty or excessive financial costs to
the employer.
25
The question of disability was included in this study.
Genetic Information – The principle of discrimination based on genetic
information has mostly to do with family medical history and genetic testing, with an
eye to the increased risk a person may have of getting a disease, disorder, or
condition in the future.
26
The question of potentiality is difficult to ask others to
conceptualize, and is also not something that would be easily apparent in an
interview process, therefore it was omitted from this study.
Sexual Orientation – Sexual orientation is not covered in federal EEOC
protections as of this writing,
27
but is protected in some state and municipalities,
therefore it was included as a component in this study.
Marital Status – Marital status is not included in the federal EEOC
protections,
28
but is protected by some states and municipalities, therefore it was
included as a component in this study through questions of divorce, married, and
single-person status.

25
“Disability Discrimination,” U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, accessed
January 14, 2012, http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/disability.cfm.
26
“Genetic Information Discrimination,” U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission,
accessed January 20, 2012, http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/genetic.cfm.
27
“Facts About Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation, Status as a Parent, Marital Status, and
Political Affiliation,” U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, accessed January 15, 2012,
http://www.eeoc.gov/facts/fs-orientation_parent_marital_political.html.
28
Ibid.
14
Church exemptions from the EEOC
While EEOC compliance is national law, the workplace protections of Title
VII include a special exception for churches and other religious bodies, in section
702:
This subchapter shall not apply to… a religious corporation,
association, educational institution, or society with respect to the
employment of individuals of a particular religion to perform work
connected with the carrying on by such corporation, association,
educational institution, or society of its activities.
29

Two distinct exceptions are provided here within Title VII: the Religious
Organization Exception, and the Ministerial Exception. The Religious Organization
Exception covers churches, and is broadly defined such that it is not limited to only
the religious activities of the organization; when it comes to non-clergy positions
(like custodian or secretary), a church can choose to hire only people of like faith,
but they are not allowed to discriminate based on any other factors.
Religious Organization Exception: Under Title VII, religious
organizations are permitted to give employment preference to
members of their own religion…This exception is not limited to
religious activities of the organization. However, it only allows
religious organizations to prefer to employ individuals who share their
religion. The exception does not allow religious organizations
otherwise to discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color,
national origin, sex, age, or disability. Thus, a religious organization
is not permitted to engage in racially discriminatory hiring by

29
SEC. 2000e-1. [Section 702]
15
asserting that a tenet of its religious beliefs is not associating with
people of other races.
30

The exception that is of chief interest to this study is the Ministerial Exception:
Ministerial Exception: Courts have held that clergy members
generally cannot bring claims under the federal employment
discrimination laws, including Title VII, the Age Discrimination in
Employment Act, the Equal Pay Act, and the Americans with
Disabilities Act. This “ministerial exception” comes not from the text
of the statutes, but from the First Amendment principle that
governmental regulation of church administration, including the
appointment of clergy, impedes the free exercise of religion and
constitutes impermissible government entanglement with church
authority. The exception applies only to employees who perform
essentially religious functions, namely those whose primary duties
consist of engaging in church governance, supervising a religious
order, or conducting religious ritual, worship, or instruction.
31

The EEOC summarizes that a “ministerial exception” bars Title VII claims
by employees who serve in clergy roles. But when it comes to the definition of a
“clergy role,” it would seem the Supreme Court has taken a much broader
interpretation than many churches themselves.

30
“Questions and Answers: Religious Discrimination in the Workplace,” U.S. Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission, accessed January 20, 2012, http://www.eeoc.gov/policy/docs/qanda
_religion.html.
31
Ibid.
16
Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC
The “ministerial exception” as an idea had been cited frequently in lower
courts, but it was not until 2012 that it was officially recognized by the Supreme
Court in a landmark case concerning church and church-employee rights. In the
decision for Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC, Chief Justice Roberts wrote:
Since the passage of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.
S. C. §2000e et seq., and other employment discrimination laws, the
Courts of Appeals have uniformly recognized the existence of a
“ministerial exception,” grounded in the First Amendment, that
precludes application of such legislation to claims concerning the
employment relationship between a religious institution and its
ministers. We agree that there is such a ministerial exception.
32

Chief Justice Roberts then cites the two religion clauses in the First
Amendment that make up the foundation for the separation of church and state. The
first, the Establishment Clause, states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an
establishment of religion.” And the second, the Free Exercise Clause, states,
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting
the free exercise thereof.” The Chief Justice writes,
Requiring a church to accept or retain an unwanted minister, or
punishing a church for failing to do so, intrudes upon more than a
mere employment decision. Such action interferes with the internal
governance of the church, depriving the church of control over the
selection of those who will personify its beliefs. By imposing an
unwanted minister, the state infringes the Free Exercise Clause, which
protects a religious group’s right to shape its own faith and mission

32
Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC, 565 U.S. ___ (2012). [Note:
unpublished as of writing. Please refer to the Opinion of the Court, 13]
17
through its appointments. According the state power to determine
which individuals will minister to the faithful also violates the
Establishment Clause, which prohibits government involvement in
such ecclesiastical decisions.
33

In their unanimous decision, the Supreme Court finally put to rest speculation that
had tied up lower courts for years concerning government intervention in church
matters. But the decision has additional, specific applications to other church
workers outside the traditional role of pastor, preacher, or priest.
At the heart of the debate in Hosanna-Tabor was the employment of a
teacher, Cheryl Perich, who taught elementary school until a disability caused her to
vacate her position. As the school was run by the Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical
Lutheran Church, Ms. Perich had been responsible for some prayers and religious
instruction totaling less than 45 minutes a day, and was responsible for leading about
two chapel services per year.
34
The vast majority of her employment was in general
teaching duties. When her case reached the Court of Appeals of the Sixth Circuit, it
was put forth that the religious leadership aspect of her job was miniscule, and that
court decided in her favor, that she did not qualify as a “minister” under the
exception. However, on appeal the Supreme Court decided that the Sixth Circuit,
did regard the relative amount of time Perich spent performing
religious functions as largely determinative. The issue before us,
however, is not one that can be resolved by a stopwatch. The amount

33
Ibid. [Note: Opinion of the Court,13-14]
34
It is of interest to note that in carrying out this role, Ms. Perich took her turn choosing the liturgy
and selecting the hymns.
18
of time an employee spends on particular activities is relevant in
assessing that employee’s status, but that factor cannot be considered
in isolation, without regard to the nature of the religious functions
performed and the other considerations discussed above.
35

The fact that Ms. Perich led in any religious activity as part of her job was critical in
the eyes of the Court. This and other factors led them to conclude that she was a
“minister” and therefore, not protected by the EEOC.
Of chief importance to this study, the Supreme Court clarified their stance on
the ministerial exception further, stating that “while a ministerial title is undoubtedly
relevant in applying the First Amendment rule at issue, such a title is neither
necessary nor sufficient.”
36
In the concurring opinion written by Justice Alito, it is
remarked that the ministerial exception does not only apply to people titled
“ministers,” but includes those in worship leadership, among others. No less than
four times does he reiterate the importance of conducting the worship service in this
exception, including:
The First Amendment protects the freedom of religious groups to
engage in certain key religious activities, including the conducting of
worship services and other religious ceremonies and rituals, as well
as the critical process of communicating the faith. Accordingly,
religious groups must be free to choose the personnel who are
essential to the performance of these functions.

The “ministerial” exception… should apply to any “employee” who
leads a religious organization, conducts worship services or

35
Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC, 565 U.S. ___ (2012). [Note:
unpublished as of writing. Please refer to the Opinion of the Court, 19]
36
Ibid. [Note: Alito, J., concurring, 5]
19
important religious ceremonies or rituals, or serves as a messenger or
teacher of its faith.
37

His opinion, joined by Justice Kagan, offers repeated interpretations of the
ministerial exception that go beyond those with the title “minister” and clearly
include those involved in worship leadership. Therefore, even though a church may
not expressly confer the title “minister” on an employee (or even allow such a title to
be conferred), Hosanna-Tabor finally made it clear that as far as the law is
concerned, a variety of roles fall under this exception, and therefore, out of the hands
of the EEOC.
Since churches have freedom to hire those employees based on any criteria
they deem valuable, it becomes important for the job seeker to look at internal
church documents to see if one can determine those choices in advance. When it
comes to the chief EEOC attributes surveyed here, the two denominations involved
in the study—the Southern Baptist Convention and the United Methodist Church—
have published statements that address certain of these topics. The following is a
general review of those relevant documents.

37
Ibid. [Note: Alito, J., concurring, 2; emphasis added]
20
Southern Baptist Convention —brief history and stance on issues
The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is the largest Protestant organization
in America, boasting approximately 16 million members in 45,000 churches in the
United States.
38
In order for a church to be affiliated with the SBC, it must “be in
friendly cooperation with the Convention and sympathetic with its purposes and
work,” and be “a bona fide contributor to the Convention’s work during the fiscal
year preceding.”
39
In other words, in order to belong to the SBC, a church must hold
to the basic tenets of their guiding document—the Baptist Faith and Message—and
give a percentage of their funds to the Cooperative Program (which is chiefly a
missions organization). There are six officially recognized seminaries for training
leaders, but the distinctively “autonomous” nature of this convention makes it
possible to be an SBC pastor without formal training. Additionally, churches are
given the freedom to use whatever style of music they prefer in their services, and
there is no prescribed order of worship that they must follow.

Southern Baptist autonomy
One of the defining characteristics of the SBC is the emphasis on complete
church autonomy—local churches may conduct their business as they see fit, without

38
“About Us – Meet Southern Baptists,” SBCnet: Official Website of the Southern Baptist
Convention, accessed February 6, 2012, http://sbc.org/aboutus/default.asp.
39
“FAQs – Frequently Asked Questions,” SBCnet: Official Website of the Southern Baptist
Convention, accessed February 6, 2012, http://www.sbc.net/aboutus/faqs.asp.
21
intrusion by the denomination. All Southern Baptist churches are technically
independent, and all Southern Baptists are only members of a local church and not
part of a “denomination” in the strictest sense. In fact, it is said that, “A Southern
Baptist church is about as independent as you can get and still be counted a part of a
denomination.”
40
The SBC is a national organization structured into 42 (also
autonomous) state conventions that provide support and training opportunities but
have no governance, local church oversight, or ordination of ministers. Their
constitution states, “While independent and sovereign in its own sphere, the
Convention does not claim and will never attempt to exercise any authority over any
other Baptist body, whether church, auxiliary organizations, associations, or
convention.”
41

SBC documents
The primacy of Biblical scripture is important to Southern Baptists, and is
supported by the Baptist Faith and Message, resolutions (adopted at annual national
meetings), and position statements designed to help guide churches in interpreting
and applying scripture to specific situations. The first section of the Baptist Faith and
Message states,

40
“Why A Denomination?” SBCnet: Official Website of the Southern Baptist Convention,
accessed February 4, 2012, http://www.sbc.net/aboutus/clwhydenomination.asp.
41
“Constitution,” SBCnet: Official Website of the Southern Baptist Convention, accessed February
6, 2012, http://www.sbc.net/aboutus/legal/constitution.asp.
22
The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God’s
revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine
instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth,
without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is
totally true and trustworthy… the supreme standard by which all
human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried.
42

This statement of “inerrancy” is important, but within the framework of autonomy
each church is allowed to interpret scripture as they see fit.
As an additional guide, the SBC meets at a national convention once a year
and adopts resolutions which serve to outline the general SBC stance on specific
issues. While resolutions are not binding on churches, they are officially recognized
and voted upon by the convention at large.
43

The Southern Baptist Convention makes official statements regarding
specific issues by means of resolutions passed at our annual
gatherings each June. Southern Baptist polity views these resolutions
as expressions of opinions or concern which are representative of the
messengers attending the meeting, but are not binding upon any
individual church or successive Convention. Generally speaking,
resolutions are snapshots of views widely held among Southern
Baptists at the time and in the social contest in which they are passed,
but they are not deemed to be doctrinal or creedal (tests of
fellowship).
44

42
“Basic Beliefs,” SBCnet: Official Website of the Southern Baptist Convention, accessed
February 4, 2012, http://www.sbc.net/aboutus/basicbeliefs.asp.
43
“SBC Resolutions,” SBCnet: Official Website of the Southern Baptist Convention, accessed
February 9, 2012, http://www.sbc.net/resolutions/default.asp.
44
“FAQs – Frequently Asked Questions,” SBCnet: Official Website of the Southern Baptist
Convention, accessed February 6, 2012, http://www.sbc.net/aboutus/faqs.asp.
23
In addition to these resolutions, the SBC has put together simple “position
statements” which reflect the actions of the Convention.
45
These three sources of
church documentation—the Baptist Faith and Message, the SBC resolutions, and
position statements—will be chiefly used here to help outline beliefs held by the
SBC as they pertain to different issues examined in the study.

Issues impacting hiring preferences
According to Southern Baptist documents, the following is a review of
statements that may pertain to hiring preferences including issues of race/color, sex,
national origin, disability, sexual orientation, and marital status—however,
statements pertaining to the topic of age were not found.
Race/Color – Racism and racial discriminations in the Southern Baptist
Convention are clearly opposed in official documentation. We see examples of this
in three separate resolutions, the earliest of which states, “We seek to purge
ourselves and our society of all forms of racism.”
46
A later resolution adds, “Be it
further resolved, that our agencies and institutions seek diligently to bring about
greater racial and ethnic representation at every level of Southern Baptist

45
“Position Statements,” SBCnet: Official Website of the Southern Baptist Convention, accessed
February 9, 2012, http://www.sbc.net/aboutus/positionstatements.asp.
46
“SBC Resolutions: Resolution on Racism (June 1978),” SBCnet: Official Website of the
Southern Baptist Convention, accessed February 9, 2012, http://www.sbc.net/resolutions
/amResolution.asp?ID=892.
24
institutional life.”
47
And a third says, “We… unwaveringly denounce racism, in all its
forms, as deplorable sin… we hereby commit ourselves to eradicate racism in all its
forms from Southern Baptist life and ministry.”
48

Sex – Women are limited in the leadership roles they can perform in
Southern Baptist Churches. As it pertains to the issue of women in church leadership,
of chief importance is the statement from the Baptist Faith and Message, “While
both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is
limited to men as qualified by Scripture.”
49
Further resolutions clarify that, “we
encourage the service of women in all aspects of church life and work other than
pastoral functions and leadership roles entailing ordination.”
50
And a position
statement says the following,
Women participate equally with men in the priesthood of all
believers. Their role is crucial, their wisdom, grace and commitment
exemplary. Women are an integral part of our Southern Baptist
boards, faculties, mission teams, writer pools, and professional staffs.
We affirm and celebrate their Great Commission impact. While
Scripture teaches that a woman’s role is not identical to that of men in

47
“SBC Resolutions: Resolution on Racism (June 1989),” SBCnet: Official Website of the
Southern Baptist Convention, accessed February 9, 2012, http://www.sbc.net/resolutions
/amResolution.asp?ID=897.
48
“SBC Resolutions: Resolution On Racial Reconciliation On The 150
th
Anniversary Of The
Southern Baptist Convention (June 1995),” SBCnet: Official Website of the Southern Baptist
Convention, accessed February 9, 2012, http://www.sbc.net/resolutions/amResolution.asp?ID=899.
49
“The Baptist Faith and Message,” SBCnet: Official Website of the Southern Baptist Convention,
accessed February 6, 2012, http://www.sbc.net/bfm/bfm2000.asp.
50
“SBC Resolutions: Resolution On Ordination And The Role Of Women In Ministry (June
1984),” SBCnet: Official Website of the Southern Baptist Convention, accessed February 6, 2012,
http://www.sbc.net/resolutions/amResolution.asp?ID=1088. [emphasis added]
25
every respect, and that pastoral leadership is assigned to men, it also
teaches that women are equal in value to men.
51

Appointing women to other areas of church leadership, like music direction,
is encouraged, as long as those roles are not seen as falling under pastoral functions
(the definition of which is left to individual churches in the spirit of autonomy).
National Origin – Baptists are clearly against discrimination based on
national origin, saying in a resolution, “we deplore any bigotry or harassment against
any persons, regardless of their country of origin or legal status.”
52

Disability – Though there are not many documents on the subject, there exists
a statement of explicit support for encouraging the hiring of disabled persons. A
resolution from 1978 states that, “we believe the handicapped are useful and
employable both for voluntary and salaried jobs. We, therefore, encourage the
various bodies of the Southern Baptist Convention to make use of their talents.”
53

Sexual Orientation – SBC papers are very clear on their opinion about
homosexuality; in fact, it is a touchstone issue. A simple explanation of their views
can be found in a resolution stating, “Homosexual behavior is specifically prohibited

51
“Women in Ministry,” SBCnet: Official Website of the Southern Baptist Convention, accessed
February 6, 2012, http://www.sbc.net/aboutus/pswomen.asp.
52
“SBC Resolutions: On Immigration And The Gospel (June 2011),” SBCnet: Official Website of
the Southern Baptist Convention, accessed February 6, 2012, http://www.sbc.net/resolutions
/amResolution.asp?ID=1213.
53
“SBC Resolutions: Resolution On The Handicapped (June 1978),” SBCnet: Official Website of
the Southern Baptist Convention, accessed February 6, 2012, http://www.sbc.net/resolutions
/amResolution.asp?ID=592.
26
and condemned in both the Old and New Testaments (Genesis 19:1-27; Leviticus
18:22; Romans 1:18-25; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11).”
54
The Baptist Faith and Message
says, “In the spirit of Christ, Christians should oppose… all forms of sexual
immorality, including… homosexuality.”
55
Even their Constitution states that a
church’s differing stance on homosexuality is a basis for their being removed from
membership in the SBC—“Among churches not in cooperation with the Convention
are churches which act to affirm, approve, or endorse homosexual behavior.”
56

Further, when it comes to legal protections, like those offered by the EEOC,
Southern Baptists oppose “laws that prevent the exercise of deeply held religious
beliefs about homosexuality and other unbiblical lifestyles in hiring practices.”
57

Though there are numerous other references,
58
a position statement on sexuality

54
“SBC Resolutions: On Biblical Sexuality And Public Policy (June 2009),” SBCnet: Official
Website of the Southern Baptist Convention, accessed February 6, 2012, http://www.sbc.net
/resolutions/amResolution.asp?ID=1196.
55
“The Baptist Faith and Message,” SBCnet: Official Website of the Southern Baptist Convention,
accessed February 6, 2012, http://www.sbc.net/bfm/bfm2000.asp.
56
“Constitution,” SBCnet: Official Website of the Southern Baptist Convention, accessed February
6, 2012, http://www.sbc.net/aboutus/legal/constitution.asp.
57
“SBC Resolutions: On Biblical Sexuality And Public Policy (June 2009),” SBCnet: Official
Website of the Southern Baptist Convention, accessed February 6, 2012, http://www.sbc.net
/resolutions/amResolution.asp?ID=1196.
58
For more information see “SBC Resolutions: Resolution On Homosexuality (June 1998),”
SBCnet: Official Website of the Southern Baptist Convention, accessed February 6, 2012,
http://www.sbc.net/resolutions/amResolution.asp?ID=610.; “SBC Resolutions: Resolution On The
President’s Executive Order On Homosexual Federal Employees (June 1998),” SBCnet: Official
Website of the Southern Baptist Convention, accessed February 6, 2012, http://www.sbc.net
/resolutions/amResolution.asp?ID=616.; “SBC Resolutions: On Same-Sex Marriage (June 2003),”
SBCnet: Official Website of the Southern Baptist Convention, accessed February 6, 2012,
http://www.sbc.net/resolutions/amResolution.asp?ID=1128.
27
sums up the SBC stance by saying, “Homosexuality is not a ‘valid alternative
lifestyle.’”
59

Marital Status – Baptists have much to say in support of marriage and have
recognized two differing stances on divorce without being internally divisive on the
issue. They are supportive of marriage as “the uniting of one man and one woman in
covenant commitment for a lifetime.”
60
Other resolutions speak on “the permanence
of marriage” and “God’s abhorrence of divorce,”
61
but in a (non-binding) Frequently
Asked Questions section, the topic of divorced pastors is raised and answered thus,
because of the autonomous nature of SBC churches, there is no policy
within the Convention that addresses these matters. Each church
directs its own affairs apart from outside intervention, deciding for
itself how to deal with such matters. Some Southern Baptist churches
have called pastors or elected deacons who had been divorced, but
there is no way of knowing how many have done so. There are
Southern Baptist churches that would not base their decision on the
issue of divorce. Others would want to know if the divorce fell within
the parameters of what some refer to as a “biblically allowed”
divorce. Still other Southern Baptist churches view 1 Timothy 3:2 as
barring any divorced man from pastoral or deacon ministry. Again,
there is no way for us to know the actual numbers, but there likely is a
significant number of churches representing each view.
62

59
“Sexuality,” SBCnet: Official Website of the Southern Baptist Convention, accessed February 6,
2012, http://www.sbc.net/aboutus/pssexuality.asp.
60
“Basic Beliefs,” SBCnet: Official Website of the Southern Baptist Convention, accessed
February 6, 2012, http://www.sbc.net/aboutus/basicbeliefs.asp.
61
“SBC Resolutions: On The Scandal Of Southern Baptist Divorce (June 2010),” SBCnet: Official
Website of the Southern Baptist Convention, accessed February 6, 2012, http://www.sbc.net
/resolutions/amResolution.asp?ID=1205.
62
“FAQs – Frequently Asked Questions,” SBCnet: Official Website of the Southern Baptist
Convention, accessed February 6, 2012, http://www.sbc.net/aboutus/faqs.asp.
28
Again, on the issue of divorce, each church is allowed to decide for themselves,
based on their interpretation of scripture.

Southern Baptists and the EEOC
When it comes to interaction with the EEOC over employment matters, the
Southern Baptist Convention engaged in a dispute that redefined employment laws in
America. In 1977, the Southwestern Baptist Seminary filed suit against the EEOC on
behalf of all six of the SBC seminaries, demanding an exception from employment
reporting due to the ministerial exception. Their suit reached the Fifth Circuit Court
of Appeals, where they were ultimately granted a ministerial exception for
employment of their faculty while still being required to report on non-ministerial
support personnel.
63
Additionally, an SBC resolution adopted at their annual meeting
in response to the impending Civil Rights Act of 1984 requested that Congress,
give immediate attention either to redefining the term ‘recipients’ in
the Act itself or making certain that the legislative history of the Act
clearly exempts exclusively religious organizations, religious schools,
and institutions from being defined as recipients of federal financial
assistance under the Act.
64

The SBC has often appeared to be at the frontline of the debate of EEOC
applications to religious organizations, but has made a statement of general support

63
EEOC v. Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, 651 F.2d 277 (5th Cir. 1981).
64
“SBC Resolutions: Resolution On The Civil Rights Act Of 1984 (June 1984),” SBCnet: Official
Website of the Southern Baptist Convention, accessed February 9, 2012,
http://www.sbc.net/resolutions/amResolution.asp?ID=345.
29
in response to the Civil Rights Act of 1988, saying that while, “Southern Baptists
generally support civil rights for all Americans, particularly in federally funded
institutions” they also believe that “churches and religiously-affiliated institutions
which do not accept direct federal aid should be explicitly exempt from the
provisions of this Act.” Further, they “call upon government officials to continue
interpreting the exemption broadly so as to include those institutions indirectly
controlled by religious organizations.”
65

In summary
The Southern Baptist Convention is a group of autonomous churches bound
by a common statement of belief and contribution to a general missions fund. It has
made statements opposing discriminations based on race/color and national origin,
and statements supporting the appointing of women to roles other than pastoral
leadership and the hiring of disabled persons. They allow for different positions
concerning divorce, and Southern Baptists clearly oppose homosexuality. No
position papers can be found on the topic of age discrimination. The SBC supports
civil rights, but hold that religious institutions should be exempt from certain
provisions.

65
“SBC Resolutions: Resolution On Civil Rights And Religious Institutions (June 1988),” SBCnet:
Official Website of the Southern Baptist Convention, accessed February 9, 2012,
http://www.sbc.net/resolutions/amResolution.asp?ID=346.
30
The United Methodist Church —brief history and stance on issues
The United Methodist Church (UMC) is the second largest Protestant group
in America, with a membership of 8.3 million
66
people in 33,428 churches.
67
It was
created in 1968 by the merger of The Methodist Church and The Evangelical United
Brethren Church
68
and now has 13 seminaries and 122 related educational
institutions.
69
In order to become a Methodist minister, a stringent set of
requirements must be met, including educational requirements and ordination
through both District and Annual Conference Boards of Ordained Ministry. The
United Methodist Church has a theology steeped in the teachings of John Wesley and
his emphasis on Scripture, tradition, reason, and experience, and boasts of a
formalized hierarchical structure with a published book of church laws and
guidelines amended at national conventions held every four years. There is no
formally prescribed plan of worship that churches must adhere to, and individual
churches are allowed to use whatever music styles they prefer, in whichever order
they wish.

66
J. Richard Peck, “UMC 101: How many United Methodists are there?” Interpreter Magazine,
September 2003, accessed February 11, 2012, http://www.interpretermagazine.org/interior.asp?ptid
=43&mid=8600.
67
Cynthia Haralson, Director of Records and Statistics, General Council on Finance &
Administration, e-mail message to author, March 30, 2011.
68
The Methodist Church was a product of a merger with The Methodist Episcopal Church, the
Methodist Protestant Church, and the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. The Evangelical United
Brethren Church was a product of mergers between The Evangelical Church and the United Brethren
Church.
69
“Schools and Seminaries,” UMC.org, accessed February 11, 2012, http://www.umc.org/site
/c.lwL4KnN1LtH/b.6572313/k.586A/Schools_and_Seminaries.htm.
31
The Methodist “Conn e c tion”
The UMC is a highly organized denomination, with an “Episcopal” form of
governance and a council of bishops that provides the main leadership at the national
level. Methodists in America are divided into 5 geographic jurisdictions with 50
bishops presiding over 50 Episcopal areas, select members of which form the
General Conference, a national governing board that meets every four years. At their
national meeting they vote on amendments to church law and elect a nine member
Judicial Council. The UMC’s own materials describe their governance thus:
The church created a system that in some ways parallels that of the
U.S. government... The church has a General Conference, its
legislative branch; a Council of Bishops, somewhat like an executive
branch; and a nine-member Judicial Council, the judicial branch.
70

Methodists enjoy the concept of “connectionalism”—which is defined as:
an important part of our identity as united Methodists. It is a vital web
of interactive relationships that includes the agencies of the Church…
with the purpose of equipping local churches for ministry and
providing a connection for ministry throughout the world, all to the
glory of God. It provides us with wonderful opportunities to carry out
our mission in unity and strength… We experience this connection in
many ways, including our systems of episcopacy, itineracy, property,
and mutual cooperation and support.
71

70
“Our Church: Structure and Organization: Governance,” UMC.org, accessed February 11, 2012,
http://www.umc.org/site/c.lwL4KnN1LtH/b.1720699/k.528D/Structure__Organization
_Governance.htm.
71
United Methodist Church, The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church 2008
(Nashville: The United Methodist Publishing House, 2008) ¶701.1-2.
32
UMC documents
For Methodists, the Bible is the primary source for their doctrine and they
allow for a multitude of views in interpretation, saying, “While we acknowledge the
primacy of Scripture in theological reflection, our attempts to grasp its meaning
always involve tradition, experience, and reason.”
72
Additionally, the UMC has a
compiled and published record of resolutions and governing principles called The
Book of Discipline. When it comes to church documents, the Discipline is “the
instrument for setting forth the laws, plan, polity, and process by which United
Methodists govern themselves.”
73
This guiding document is revised every four years
as a result of resolutions being passed at the national meeting of the General
Conference—the policy-making body of the UMC that is made up of almost 1000
clergy and laypeople.
74
The policies of the Discipline are church law, and the
Judicial Council discusses matters of Constitutionality and relevance when hearing
cases.

72
Ibid., ¶104.
73
The Council of Bishops, Episcopal Greetings of The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist
Church 2008, by United Methodist Church (Nashville: The United Methodist Publishing House,
2008) v.
74
“Our Church: Structure and Organization: Governance,” UMC.org, accessed February 11, 2012,
http://www.umc.org/site/c.lwL4KnN1LtH/b.1720699/k.528D/Structure__Organization_Governance.h
tm.
33
Issues impacting hiring preferences
There is text in the Methodist literature pertaining to each area covered in the
study. When it comes to EEOC similarities, one of the very first pronouncements in
their Constitution bears a resemblance to the EEOC list of protections. Article IV
says this regarding inclusivity:
The United Methodist Church acknowledges that all persons are of
sacred worth. All persons without regard to race, color, national
origin, status, or economic condition, shall be eligible to attend its
worship services, participate in its programs, receive the sacraments,
upon baptism be admitted as baptized members, and upon taking
vows declaring the Christian faith, become professing members in
any local church in the connection.
75

A commentary on this statement by a former UMC Bishop adds, “This makes it
absolutely clear that the doors of every United Methodist local church everywhere
are to be open to all people, and that anyone who bars another on grounds of race or
other condition is in violation of the Constitution of The United Methodist
Church.”
76

The Discipline has more to say on the specific issues at the heart of this
study, mostly drawn from the section that addresses The Social Community,
paragraph 162. The following are a breakdown of statements to these issues.

75
United Methodist Church, The Discipline, ¶4.
76
Jack M. Tuell, The organization of The United Methodist Church (Nashville: Abingdon Press,
2002) 25.
34
Race/Color – The UMC is specific in supporting equal opportunity
regardless of issues of race or color. The United Methodist Convention has a General
Commission on Religion and Race, described as being made up of forty-three
members,
with a strong representation of ethnic minority groups. In general, its
task is to assist in every way the cause of empowerment of ethnic
minorities, including working with non-church-related groups
involved in the same cause. Furthermore, it has a major educational
task in the area of racism and racist attitudes.
77

The section on Rights of Racial and Ethnic Persons states,
We define racial discrimination as the disparate treatment and lack of
full access to resources and opportunities in the church and in society
based on race or ethnicity. Therefore, we recognize racism as sin and
affirm the ultimate and temporal worth of all persons… We further
assert the right of members of racial and ethnic groups to equal
opportunities in employment and promotion… and to positions of
leadership and power in all elements of our life together. We support
affirmative action as one method of addressing the inequalities and
discriminatory practices within our Church and society.
78

The Book of Discipline specifically states that a minister may be charged and
potentially tried before the Judicial Council for discriminating based on race.
79
(The
UMC was tested in Young v. Northern Illinois Conference of United Methodist

77
Ibid., 146.
78
United Methodist Church, The Discipline, ¶162.a.
79
Ibid., ¶2702.3.
35
Church, a case claiming gender and racial discrimination in the refusal to promote a
probationary minister. The case was dismissed under the ministerial exception.)
80

Sex – The UMC is very vocal about their equal employment of women and
men in all levels of church leadership, including as pastors and bishops. There is a
General Commission on the Status and Role of Women which is similar to the
aforementioned Commission on Religion and Race. This committee contains 43
members, “a majority of whom are women and whose president is to be a woman.” It
is to challenge the UMC “to a continuing commitment to the full and equal
responsibility and participation of women in the total life and mission of the
Church.
81
According to recent statistics, 18.5% of all United Methodist clergy are
women, 14% of all ordained elders are women, 75.3% of all ordained deacons are
women, 21% of all district superintendents are women, and 22% of bishops are
women.
82
Further, the section in the Discipline on the Rights of Women says the
following:
We affirm the right of women and men to be equal in every aspect of
their common life. We therefore urge that every effort be made to
eliminate sex-role stereotypes in activity and portrayal of family life
and in all aspects of voluntary and compensatory participation in the
Church and society. We affirm the right of women equal treatment in
employment, responsibility, promotion, and compensation. We affirm
the importance of women in decision-making positions at all levels of
Church and society and urge such bodies to guarantee their presence

80
Young v. Northern Illinois Conference of United Methodist Church, 21 F.3d 184 (1994).
81
United Methodist Church, The Discipline, ¶2102.
82
“Statistics and Firsts for Women,” UMC.org, accessed February 11, 2012, http://archives.umc
.org/interior.asp?ptid=1&mid=2620.
36
through policies of employment and recruitment. We support
affirmative action as one method of addressing the inequalities and
discriminatory practices within our Church and society.”
83

In addition to women’s issues, the rights of men are supported as well.
Because we affirm women and men to be equal in every aspect of
their common life, we also affirm the rights of men. We affirm equal
opportunities in employment, responsibility, and promotion. Men
should not be ignored or lose opportunities or influence because they
are men.
84

A minister may be charged and potentially tried before the Judicial Council for
discriminating based on gender.
85
The UMC has no allowances for male/female
gender bias.
National Origin – The UMC stance on national origin is similar to the EEOC
mandate. The section designated Rights of Immigrants states:
We recognize, embrace, and affirm all persons, regardless of country
of origin, as members of the family of God. We affirm the right of all
persons to equal opportunities for employment… We urge the Church
and society to recognize the gifts, contributions, and struggles of
those who are immigrants and to advocate for justice for all.
86

83
United Methodist Church, The Discipline, ¶162.f.
84
Ibid., ¶162.g.
85
Ibid., ¶2702.3.
86
Ibid., ¶162.h.
37
Age – The topic of age in employment is of particular interest in the UMC,
because there are both statements against ageism and a mandatory cut-off age of
service for pastors. The statement in Social Principles reads thus:
We support social policies that integrate the aging into the life of the
total community, including sufficient incomes, increased and
nondiscriminatory employment opportunities…
87

However, when it comes to their employment of ministers, the UMC has a strict
cutoff age of 72, after which a minister is automatically and mandatorily retired.
88

(This issue was tested in Minker v. Baltimore Annual Conference of United
Methodist Church, and the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals refused to intervene in the
matter as it was clearly another example of the ministerial exception.)
89

Disability – The employment rights of persons with disabilities are supported.
We recognize and affirm the full humanity and personhood of all
individuals with mental, physical, developmental, neurological, and
psychological conditions or disabilities as full members of the family
of God. We also affirm their rightful place in both the church and
society… We urge the Church and society to recognize and receive
the gifts of persons with disabilities to enable them to be full
participants in the community of faith. We call the Church and society
to be sensitive to, and advocate for, programs of… employment. We
call on the Church and society to protect the civil rights of persons
with all types of disabilities.
90

87
Ibid., ¶162.e.
88
Ibid., ¶358.1.
89
Minker v. Baltimore Annual Conference of United Methodist Church, 894 F.2d 1354, 282
U.S.App.D.C. 314 (1988)
90
United Methodist Church, The Discipline, ¶162.i.
38
Sexual Orientation – The United Methodist Church supports the rights for all
individuals regardless of sexual orientation, but refuses employment to ministers
who openly profess homosexuality. On the one hand, The Book of Discipline clearly
states,
Certain basic human rights and civil liberties are due all persons. We
are committed to supporting those rights and liberties for all persons,
regardless of sexual orientation. We see a clear issue of simple justice
in protecting the rightful claims where people have shared material
resources, pensions, guardian relationships, mutual powers of
attorney, and other such claims typically attendant to contractual
relationships that involve shared contributions, responsibilities, and
liabilities, and equal protection before the law. Moreover, we support
efforts to stop violence and other forms of coercion against all
persons, regardless of sexual orientation.
91

To clarify further, they officially denounce homosexuality, but seemingly allow for
membership to be extended to homosexual congregants:
The United Methodist Church does not condone the practice of
homosexuality and consider this practice incompatible with Christian
teaching. We affirm that God’s grace is available to all. We will seek
to live together in Christian community, welcoming, forgiving, and
loving one another, as Christ has loved and accepted us. We implore
families and churches not to reject or condemn lesbian and gay
members and friends. We commit ourselves to be in ministry for and
with all persons.
92

However, the hiring of pastors who are openly gay is disallowed:
While persons set apart by the Church for ordained ministry are
subject to all the frailties of the human condition and the pressures of

91
Ibid., ¶162.j.
92
Ibid., ¶161.f.
39
society, they are required to maintain the highest standards of holy
living in the world. Since the practice of homosexuality is
incompatible with Christian teaching, self-avowed practicing
homosexuals are not to be accepted as candidates, ordained as
ministers, or appointed to serve in The United Methodist Church.
93

It may be of interest to note that a minister charged with “being a self-avowed
practicing homosexual; or conducting ceremonies which celebrate homosexual
unions; or performing same-sex wedding ceremonies” may be tried before the
Judicial Council.
94
While the UMC has a clear stance against the hiring of gay
pastors, there is no official stance on homosexuality and employment in church staff
positions.
95

Marital Status – The Book of Discipline expressly affirms “the integrity of
single persons,” and they, “reject all social practices that discriminate or social
attitudes that are prejudicial against persons because they are single.”
96
Further, they
have clear statements on divorce as well.
God’s plan is for lifelong, faithful marriage. The church must be on
the forefront of premarital, marital, and postmarital counseling in
order to create and preserve strong marriages. However, when a
married couple is estranged beyond reconciliation, even after
thoughtful consideration and counsel, divorce is a regrettable
alternative in the midst of brokenness… Divorce does not preclude a
new marriage. We encourage an intentional commitment of the

93
Ibid., ¶304.3.
94
Ibid., ¶2702.1.
95
For further reading, Tiffany L. Steinwert, “Homosexuality and the United Methodist Church: An
ecclesiological dilemma.” (PhD. diss., Boston University School of Theology, 2009).
96
Ibid., ¶161.d
40
Church and society to minister compassionately to those in the
process of divorce, as well as members of divorced and remarried
families, in a community of faith where God’s grace is shared by all.
97

United Methodists and the EEOC
Pertaining to the EEOC guidelines in general, The Book of Discipline
similarly states that, “We support the basic rights of all persons to equal access to
housing, education, communication, employment, medical care, legal redress for
grievances, and physical protection. We deplore acts of hate or violence against
groups or persons based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religious
affiliation, or economic status.”
98

In summary
United Methodists are a highly structured group with a governing board,
official rules of conduct, and a judiciary. The UMC is against discrimination based
on race/color, sex, national origin, disability or marital status. They have a somewhat
mixed view on age owing to their mandatory retirement age of ministers, and their
views on homosexuality seem to be potentially inclusive on a congregational level
and prohibitive on a pastoral level. In addition, the UMC has a statement that seems
to mirror EEOC protections in many ways.

97
Ibid., ¶161.c.
98
Ibid., ¶162.
41
Conclusion
The regular governing agency in employment matters, the EEOC, has been
removed from jurisdiction in many church employment matters thanks in part to the
Hosanna-Tabor Supreme Court ruling. The absence of research on the topic of
church preferences in hiring music leaders necessitates a look at Southern Baptist
and United Methodist church documents on the demographic issues of the study—
race/color, sex, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, and marital status.
Obviously with this huge gap in the literature, research that examines hiring practices
is very much needed.

42
Chapter 3: Methodology

Introduction
In order to determine areas of church preference in hiring music leaders, a
survey was created for involvement by two major American denominations, the
Southern Baptist Convention and the United Methodist Church. This chapter is a
description of the methodology including information on the sample population,
study design, procedure, threats to validity, and a brief summary.

Sample
Target population
The Southern Baptist and United Methodist congregations in America were
chosen for the study for three reasons: Firstly, they are both Protestant
denominations, with similarities in theology. Secondly, they are the two largest
Protestant denominations in the United States, so the results would provide a
substantial body of information in this field. And thirdly, their use of music is
similar; there is no prescribed liturgy that has to be sung every service, and there is
no rigid, prescribed order in which song texts must be performed, as might be the
case in other churches. Furthermore, they employ similar styles of music ranging
from contemporary popular music to traditional hymnody. The similar musical styles
43
used by both denominations make it apparent that they require similar musical
abilities in their leaders.

Study participants
As the survey was designed to determine hiring differences, it was imperative
that only persons directly involved in hiring should participate. Commonly, those
persons are pastors and other hiring officers like trustees, personnel committee
members, lay leaders, administrative leaders, and others. Only one response was
allowed per church. To obtain the random sample of churches to be included in the
study, both denominational headquarters were contacted. The Southern Baptists
suggested the use of a specific list broker to gain a random sample of SBC churches,
while the Methodists provided a random sampling in exchange for a copy of the
survey and a signed confidentiality statement ensuring that the names of these
churches would remain anonymous. Samples of 2000 church names were obtained
from each source and further randomized by the researcher to 300 SBC churches and
300 UMC churches. All churches were contacted first by phone in order to identify
the person responsible for hiring music leaders. This representative from each church
was then sent an informational email that contained a survey link and password.
Hard copies of the survey were mailed to those church contacts who indicated that an
online survey would be difficult to access. All responses were included in data. The
total number of participants was 428. Responses are reported based on
44
denomination; Southern Baptists responding numbered 218, and Methodists
responding numbered 210.

Study Design
This was an exploratory descriptive study, using a ten-question survey that
included multiple choice questions, an open-ended question, and two Likert-type
questions that asked opinions on hiring preferences related to the topics of race/color,
religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, marriage, education,
musical skill, and music experience. Multiple choice questions provided some
background information asking about existing music practices and church
conditions, like pastoral involvement in leading music, music leader title, pay status,
responsibilities, church attendance size, worship style, and musical instrumentation
used in the worship service. The open-ended question asked participants’ opinions
on what qualities were essential in order to be a music leader in their church. The
survey was hosted online by a company specializing in surveys, and was pilot tested
using non-practicing ministers and knowledgeable church members known to the
researcher. As a result of the pilot test, specific wording of questions and options for
multiple choice were changed. Furthermore, the Likert-type scale was altered to a
five point scale (with a neutral option) instead of the four point forced-ranking
system that had been in the pilot survey. Once these revisions were made,
participants were contacted and completed the survey online. A hard copy was
45
mailed to participants who were not able to access an online survey, and their
responses, when mailed back, were manually entered by the researcher into the
online database using a secure feature provided by the host. The researcher was able
to collect the data directly from the online survey host. Results were analyzed and
described in narrative style.

Instrument
The instrument used in this investigation was an anonymous online survey
(see Appendix A), with no identifying data other than denomination. A hard copy
was available for those participants without online access. The opening page of the
survey had three questions that determined eligibility of the participant. First,
participants had to choose which denomination they represented. A number of
denominations were listed for deflection purposes, though any answer other than
“Southern Baptist” or “United Methodist” would exit them out of the survey. Next,
participants were then asked to provide the password assigned to their church to
ensure only one response was accepted from each church (passwords were also
coded to reflect SBC or UMC status as an additional identifier). And lastly,
respondents had to then verify that they were pastors or hiring officers of their
churches. If they were unable to correctly verify all of these three categories, they
were denied access to the survey.
46
The first question of the survey was designed to allow for the possibility that
the senior pastor may also perform the lead musical work of the church. If this was
the case, instructions were given to consider the “next highest ranking musician,”
such as a pianist, lead singer, etc. when answering subsequent questions.
The second question asked the participant to identify the title of the person
performing the lead musical work of the church, and was included to help indicate a
perceived “ministerial” role. Participants were able to select from a list of choices
that included Worship Pastor and Minister of Music, as well as Music Leader, Choir
Director, etc., or participants could provide their own title under “other.”
Question three asked the type of remuneration offered this lead musician. It
was simply asked to help determine whether the music leader was a volunteer or a
paid employee. As the study is concerned with hiring of music directors, it was
determined that pay was a helpful way to discern that role.
The fourth question asked about duties for which the music leader was
responsible. The range of responses covered leadership of different types of music
ensembles, congregational leadership, and equipment oversight, but most
importantly, included questions about typically “ministerial” roles, such as
preaching, Biblical education, and pastoral care. The goal was to discern the extent
of the music leader in non-musical, “pastoral” duties, with an eye to the literal
application of the ministerial exception.
47
The only completely open-ended question in the survey was question five,
which asked about the qualities a candidate must possess in order to be considered
for the music leading position at their church. Space was allowed for the participant
to write in their own words.
Questions six and seven were identical in construct and phrasing, and form
the questions at the heart of the study. Five point, Likert-type questions were asked
concerning the importance of a range of demographic qualities, and respondents
were asked to rate their importance in the hiring process: “All things being equal,
how important are the following characteristics in hiring a music director at your
church?” The five Likert-type, selectable categories included essential for hiring, a
plus in hiring, neither a plus nor a negative in hiring, a negative in hiring, and would
exclude from hiring. A description of the questions in each category is provided here:
Race/Color – One question was asked to determine hiring preference on
race/color issues. The question was framed by asking the respondent to rate the
importance of a music leader being of a race that is represented in their
congregation.
Religion – Three questions were asked in order to determine hiring
preferences pertaining to religion. As respondents were selected based on their
leadership of a church in a particular denomination, they were simply asked their
preference on music leaders who were Christian, non-Christian, and Christian from
your denomination.
48
Sex – Two questions were asked to determine hiring preferences pertaining to
gender, either male or female.
National Origin – Respondents were asked two questions about hiring
preferences pertaining to a music director who was from their state or general
locale, and who was an American citizen.
Age – Age was asked in question number seven, so as to include a multitude
of categories, broken down by decade. Six questions asked the participant about their
hiring preferences for a range of ages divided into less than 20 years of age, between
20-29 years of age, between 30-39 years of age, between 40-49 years of age,
between 50-59 years of age, and over 60 years of age.
Disability – Two questions were asked about a participant’s preference in
hiring based on disability. This category includes a wide spectrum of physical and
mental disabilities, so it was decided that both general areas, mental and physical,
would be addressed. Additional descriptors were added to this question to give
participants a frame of reference. The questions asked about hiring preference based
on a music director having physical disability, but is not job impaired (insulin pump
wearer, mobility impaired, etc.), and mental disability, but is not job impaired
(depression, OCD, etc.).
Sexual Orientation – One question was asked pertaining to hiring preference
based on sexual orientation, and it was framed as a question concerning hiring a
49
person who was gay/lesbian. Other typically lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender
(LGBT) issues were not addressed.
99

Marital Status – Three questions concerning hiring preference based on
marital status were asked, to cover the status of those persons single, married, and
divorced.
Additional questions of education, musical skill, and experience were asked
in order to balance respondent perception of the intent of this section. These results
will likely be of interest to musicians and educators alike, but were not the main
focus of this study.
Education – Five questions were asked concerning hiring preferences based
on education, divided into has some formal music education, has a college degree,
has a college degree in music, has a seminary degree, and has a Master’s degree or
above in music.
Musical Skill – Four questions concerning hiring preferences based on music
skill were asked, broken down by vocal, instrumental, conducting, and composing
skill.
Music Experience – Four questions were asked about hiring preference
pertaining to related experience and the following categories were listed: does not

99
Literature specifically addressing transgender issues were not readily found from these two
particular conventions. Literature about bisexuality was less prevalent as that on homosexuality, and
generally contained within documents where homosexuality was already addressed in similar fashion
(there was no distinction between the two issues in church stances).
50
have related experience, has 1-2 years related experience, has 2-5 years related
experience, and has 5+ years related experience.
Question eight asked the respondent to supply the number of persons in
attendance at a typical Sunday morning service, based on attendance ranges as
defined by Christian Copyright Licensing International (CCLI) licensing.
100

Question nine asked simply what kind of music the participant’s church had
on Sunday mornings. Choices included traditional worship, contemporary worship,
blended worship, and multiple services or other.
The aim of question ten was to discern what musical forces and instruments
might be involved in a typical Sunday morning service. A range of answers included
singers, choir, organ, guitar, percussion, etc. and an option of other, please list or
describe was offered as well.

Procedure
In reaching the target population, it was important that sampling be drawn
from the most comprehensive listing of SBC and UMC churches in America. Both
conventions’ national headquarters were contacted directly. The point of contact for
the SBC came through their subsidiary, Lifeway Christian Resources,
101
and the

100
CCLI is the largest company of its type that offers copyright licensing of songs, videos, etc. for
church use in America. http://www.ccli.com.
101
“Record of Revisions,” SBCnet: Official Website of the Southern Baptist Convention, accessed
March 9, 2012, http://www.sbc.net/aboutus/legal/organization.asp.
51
UMC was contacted through their General Council on Finance and Administration.
Both were requested to provide a randomized sample. The UMC provided a
randomized list of 2000 churches, representing a sampling from 100% of eligible
churches, in exchange for an advance copy of the survey (for their approval) and a
signed privacy agreement. They made no requests for changes or additions to the
survey. No phone numbers, emails, or church member names were provided to the
researcher—only a list of physical churches and their addresses. The SBC
recommended a list broker they commonly use for their own in-house research. The
researcher then contacted the broker, who provided a randomized list of 2000 SBC
churches from their database of 23,909 total SBC churches,
102
representing around
53% of the approximately 45,000 SBC churches in America. The two lists of 2000
churches were further randomized by the researcher in order to reduce this list to 300
SBC and 300 UMC churches. In order to be able to contact these churches by phone,
the researcher retrieved further phone and other contact details through online
directories, which were then entered manually into a printed register. The researcher
generated an individual password for each church to ensure that only one survey
could be completed by any one church. This identifiable information was kept
separately from the database of responses, which were entirely anonymous.

102
Bill Casey, Senior Account Executive, Infogroup, email message to author, May 24, 2011.
52
Recruitment
The researcher contacted each of the 300 SBC and 300 UMC churches
selected for participation. Churches were contacted initially by phone using a
scripted conversation (see Appendix B). Sometimes attempts were unsuccessful, and
therefore records of contact were kept in order to vary times and days of the week for
subsequent attempts until successful contact was made. The point of this initial
phone call was to identify the correct person to be the participant in the study, and
when successful, email addresses for the identified pastor or hiring officer were then
obtained. The researcher then sent an email (see Appendix C) with a password and
link for the online survey. If no email contact was available, a hard copy of the
survey, hand-coded with their password, was mailed to the individual with a cover
letter attached (see Appendix D). After one week, any online nonresponses were
followed up with a reminder email. After two weeks, if there was still no response,
the researcher contacted the church office again by phone. If multiple attempts at
phone contact were unsuccessful, a hard copy was mailed to the church’s physical
address with a return envelope and instructions enclosed. All surveys that returned
by mail were manually entered by the researcher into the online survey database.

Analysis
Responses were divided by group; Southern Baptist responses were separated
from United Methodist responses and the answers were tallied and reported in real
53
numbers which were also converted to percentages. Results are described in
narrative style.

Experimental Validity
Owing to the massive number of churches in the SBC and UMC
populations—approximately 45,000 SBC and 33,000 UMC churches—it would be
impossible for the results of this study to be truly generalizable. Further, the list
broker providing the list of SBC churches had only a partial list, so every SBC
church did not have an equal chance of participation. However, the results provide us
with some indicators that, together with other similar studies, will contribute to our
knowledge.

Assumptions
The assumption was made that the participant completing the survey was
indeed an individual responsible for hiring music leaders for that church and that
participants answered honestly. Even though steps were taken to verify the
respondent was in the targeted population by asking them to certify they were a
“pastor or other hiring officer,” it was possible that the survey could have been
answered by someone outside the target population, like a well-meaning secretary.
As the survey was anonymous, there would be no way to know if this were the case.
Other assumptions were that respondents would resist being affected by central
54
tendency bias (where respondents avoid extreme “like” or “dislike” responses), and
social desirability bias (which occurs when respondents temper their answers so as to
not appear judgmental in their attitudes towards certain characteristics). However, in
order to encourage participant honesty, surveys were anonymous.

Summary
This chapter outlined the methodology of an exploratory, descriptive study
using a 10-question survey. It described the two denominations selected to
participate, who were contacted at the national level in order to obtain a sample. Data
were collected through an online survey and results were analyzed.
55
Chapter 4: Results

Introduction
This exploratory, descriptive study involved survey research aimed at
determining preferences in the hiring of church music leaders. A 10-question online
survey was distributed to Southern Baptist and United Methodist Churches across
America. Data collection took place during the months of July through October,
2011, during which time responses were gathered and aggregated by denomination.
This chapter provides a narrative description of the data analysis. Results are
reported with real numbers and tables give these results in percentages (owing to
rounding, percent totals may not always equal 100%).

Research Question
This study aimed to answer the research question: What are the demographic
qualities churches prefer when hiring music leaders in Southern Baptist and United
Methodist churches in America? In particular, the study sought to ascertain bias
based on race/color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation,
and marital status.

56
Sample Profile
The target population for the study was pastors and hiring officers from
Southern Baptist and United Methodist churches in America. Randomized lists of
2000 churches in each of these two denominations were obtained, and these were
further randomized by the researcher to provide a sample population of 300 Southern
Baptist and 300 United Methodist churches. Of those who attempted to take the
survey, some were eliminated due to the verification process, and the numbers
reported for each question differ depending on the response rate. Exact numbers of
responses are reported for each question with no deletions for outliers or any other
factors. Where applicable, outliers are discussed in the narrative.

Survey Results
Verification Questions
The first three questions were asked in order to determine the validity of the
participant attempting to access the survey, and required the password, denomination
identification, and a verification that the respondent was a pastor or hiring officer for
the selected church. If this final question was answered in the negative, the
respondent was not allowed to continue on to the survey. In addition, passwords
contained identifiers to verify correct denominational selection, and all responses
were shown to match correctly in each case. Of the 300 invitations to participate in
the survey that were extended to members each denomination, 225 Baptists (75%)
57
and 222 Methodists (74%) answered these preliminary questions. However, owing to
the verification questions, only 218 Baptists (73%) and 210 Methodists (70%)
actually gained access to the survey and were included as participants in the study.
There was a small amount of drop-off and consequently, some of the questions have
a lower participation rate.

Pastors who Perform Lead Musical Work
The first question asked was to distinguish whether the senior pastor was also
in charge of the musical “work” of the church, and 218 Baptists and 210 Methodists
responded. Participants who answered yes were given instructions to answer the rest
of the survey questions with the next-highest ranking musician of their church in
mind. Of the 218 Baptist participants who responded to this question, 14 answered
yes, the Senior Pastor does perform the lead musical work of the church, and 204
said no. Of the 210 UMC participants, 54 answered yes and 156 answered no (see
table 1).

Table 1. Pastors Performing Lead Musical Work
SBC and UMC responses to question 1.
1. Does the Senior Pastor perform the lead
musical "work" of your church?
SBC UMC
Yes 6% 26%
No 94% 74%

58
When the researcher looked only at those 68 responses where the participant
answered yes to this question, it turns out that all of those Baptists and 84% of those
Methodists were from small churches—churches whose attendance is less than 100
on Sunday mornings. The data was compelling when viewed the other way as well:
When the researcher looked only at those responses from participants in small
churches (question eight), 10% of Baptists and 31% of Methodists in small churches
have their senior pastor leading the music.

Title of Music Leader
Question two asked about the title of the music leader, and a total of 216
Baptists and 209 Methodists answered this question. Multiple choices were
available, with an open-ended response space provided. In all, 54 Baptists and 58
Methodists selected the category Music Director and 11 Baptists and 41 Methodists
selected Choir Director. In all, 43 Baptists and 21 Methodists reported the title
Worship Leader while 13 Baptists and 27 Methodists selected Music Leader. A total
of 51 Baptists and 6 Methodists chose Minister of Music and 19 Baptists and 8
Methodists selected Worship Pastor. Also, 25 Baptists and 48 Methodists chose the
category other; written answers included responses like “pianist,” compound duties
like “Choir Director/accompanist,” and ministerial-type titles, such as “Music
Pastor,” or “Minister of Worship.” While only 1 Baptist specified “Pianist” or
“Organist,” 15 Methodists used one of these terms. In addition, Baptists specified the
59
ambiguous designation of “pastor” 3 times, as did 10 Methodists. Baptists indicated
a specific, ministerial-type title (like “Music Pastor, etc.”) 15 times, while
Methodists did so only once. Apart from those specifying “pastor” as the title, a total
of 85 Baptists referred to their lead musician by some sort of ministerial title, as did
15 Methodists (see table 2).

Table 2. Titles of Music Leaders
SBC and UMC responses to question 2.
2. What is the title of the person who makes the
majority of the musical decisions for your church?
SBC UMC
Music Director 25% 28%
Choir Director 5% 20%
Worship Leader 20% 10%
Music Leader 6% 13%
Minister of Music 24% 3%
Worship Pastor 9% 4%
Other (please specify) 12% 23%

In addition, music leaders with a ministerial title were reportedly more often
offered a salary (question three). When the researcher looked only at responses given
by those participants who stated their music leader was called by those titles Minister
of Music or Worship Pastor, 83% of Baptist and 50% of Methodist respondents said
their music leader was offered a salary.
Further, these same participants did not report that the ministerial title
corresponded to ministerial-type duties. Only 56% of Baptists and 64% of
60
Methodists stated those music leaders had at least one of the ministerial-type duties
of pastoral care, Biblical education, or preaching (question four).

Pay
Question three was a multiple choice question dealing with the issue of
remuneration for the lead musician’s services, and a total of 216 Baptists and 209
Methodists responded. They were offered a choice of categories for response
including a volunteer, offered only a budget to cover expenses, offered a salary
(including workers who opt not to take it), and other. As to responses, a total of 84
Baptists and 91 Methodists said their leader was a volunteer. Only 4 Baptists and 12
Methodists said their leader was offered only a budget to cover expenses (which is
actually a likely indicator of volunteer status). A total of 110 Baptists and 89
Methodists selected offered a salary, and 18 Baptists and 17 Methodists selected
other. When the open-ended comments were analyzed, it revealed that most answers
included suggestions of pay, like “part-time salary” and “salaried, but very minimal,”
indicating that participants simply desired to more clearly state their church’s
fiduciary relationship to the musician (and in all of these cases, also indicating that
the music leader was not paid a “living wage”). The researcher then adjusted the
table results to reflect this, adding another 10 Baptists and 10 Methodists to the
salary category. The final result shows that 120 Baptists and 99 Methodists reported
61
they pay their lead musician. Other open-ended responses included items like
“housing allowance” and “receives a love offering once a month” (see table 3).

Table 3. Pay Status of Music Leaders
SBC and UMC responses to question 3.
3. The person in this position is: SBC UMC
a volunteer 39% 44%
offered only a budget to cover expenses 2% 6%
offered a salary (this includes workers who opt
not to take it)
56%* 47%*
Other (please specify) 4%* 3%*

* See comment in preceding section about adjusted figures

Special attention was given to the issue of pay and other categories, as the
presence of pay establishes the employer/employee status at the core of the study.
The prevalence of pay was directly tied to church size; when the researcher looked
only at responses from those participants who indicated their lead musician was
offered a salary, 74% of Baptists and 55% of Methodists came from a church
reporting attendance of over 100 on Sunday mornings (question 8). In addition, the
prevalence of pay showed an increase in duties as well, with Baptists reporting an
overall increase in all duties, and Methodists reporting an overall increase in all
duties except seven: leading congregational singing, pastoral care, church
administration, overseeing the sound system, Biblical education, preaching, and
62
selecting the order of worship (question four). Respondents from both denominations
who reported the presence of pay also more strongly preferred all of the educational
qualifications (has some formal education, has a college degree, has a college
degree in music, has a seminary degree, has a Master’s degree or above in music) in
question six. And as was previously mentioned, music leaders with a ministerial title
were more often reported as being paid as well (question two).

Duties
Question four was a multiple choice question which asked participants to
report on varied responsibilities of their music leader, and a total of 216 Baptists and
209 Methodists responded. The question contained 22 choices, 3 of which reflected
somewhat “ministerial” type duties. Choices were: leading congregational singing,
playing an instrument, leading praise team, conducting a choir, pastoral care,
conducting orchestra, leading handbell choir, selecting music, church
administration, preparing the music budget, attending staff meetings, recruiting
volunteers, overseeing the sound system, overseeing video ministry, hiring of
musicians as needed, Biblical education, preaching, scheduling special music,
selecting the order of worship, directing church dramas, community ministries, and
other. In all, a total of 196 Baptist participants and 108 Methodist participants
selected leading congregational singing. A total of 71 Baptists and 119 Methodists
selected playing an instrument, and 102 Baptists and 43 Methodists chose leading
63
praise team. There were 151 Baptists and 120 Methodists who selected conducting a
choir. A total of 44 Baptists and 26 Methodists selected the ministerial-type duty of
pastoral care. Only 25 Baptists and 6 Methodists selected conducting orchestra. A
total of 18 Baptists and 28 Methodists chose leading handbell choir and 199 Baptists
and 176 Methodists chose selecting music. In all, 25 Baptists and 26 Methodists
selected church administration. A total of 112 Baptists and 75 Methodists chose
preparing the music budget, while 118 Baptists and 66 Methodists selected attending
staff meetings. There were 130 Baptists and 92 Methodists who chose recruiting
volunteers, and 102 Baptists and 52 Methodists selected overseeing the sound
system. A total of 61 Baptists and 15 Methodists chose overseeing video ministry.
Also, 51 Baptists and 48 Methodists selected hiring of musicians as needed. In all,
33 Baptists and 20 Methodists selected the ministerial-type task of Biblical
education, while 14 Baptists and 23 Methodists selected the ministerial-type
responsibility for preaching. A total of 164 Baptists and 135 Methodists selected
scheduling special music. In all, 114 Baptists and 44 Methodists chose selecting the
order of worship. A total of 49 Baptists and 28 Methodists chose the category
directing church dramas, while 32 Baptists and 25 Methodists selected community
ministries, and 13 Baptists and 12 Methodists chose the category other. Open-ended
statements included “children’s choir,” “seeing the bulletin to completion,” and
ministerial duties like “Associate Pastor responsibilities” and others (see table 4).
64
Table 4. Duties of Music Leaders
SBC and UMC responses to question 4.
4. This person is responsible for: SBC UMC
leading congregational singing 91% 52%
playing an instrument 33% 57%
leading praise team 47% 21%
conducting a choir 70% 57%
pastoral care 20% 12%
conducting orchestra 12% 3%
leading handbell choir 8% 13%
selecting music 92% 84%
church administration 12% 12%
preparing the music budget 52% 36%
attending staff meetings 55% 32%
recruiting volunteers 60% 44%
overseeing the sound system 47% 25%
overseeing video ministry 28% 7%
hiring of musicians as needed 24% 23%
Biblical education 15% 10%
preaching 7% 11%
scheduling special music 76% 65%
selecting the order of worship 53% 21%
directing church dramas 23% 13%
community ministries 15% 12%
other (please specify) 6% 6%

As was previously reported, when the researcher looked at only those
responses where the participant reported their music leader received a salary, an
increase in all duties was reported by Baptists. Methodists reported similar increases
in all categories but seven: leading congregational singing, pastoral care, church
65
administration, overseeing the sound system, Biblical education, preaching, and
selecting the order of worship (question four).

Essential Qualities
Question five was the open-ended question, and of the SBC participants, 205
answered this question and 20 did not respond, and of the UMC participants, 195
answered this question and 27 did not respond (participants were allowed to skip this
question and still continue with the survey). Participants were asked to write about
the qualities a candidate must possess in order to be considered for the music leading
position at their church. As this was an open-ended question, multiple qualities were
generally listed. In all, Baptists mentioned a total of 935 specific qualities, while
Methodists mentioned a total of 749 specific qualities. Based on the answers
received, the researcher categorized responses into six categories: character,
demographic quality, musical skill, nonmusical skill, experience, and education.
Responses categorized as character included such answers as “reliable,” “kind,”
“joyful,” and “spirit-led.” Baptists mentioned qualities that fit into this category a
total of 313 times, and Methodists mentioned qualities in this category 311 times.
Responses categorized in the demographic quality section included responses like
“Christian,” “male,” etc., and Baptists mentioned qualities that fit into this category a
total of 159 times, while Methodists mentioned qualities in this category 48 times.
Answers contained within the musical skill category included responses like “able to
66
play piano,” “sing,” “direct the choir,” etc., and Baptists mentioned qualities that fit
into this category a total of 164 times, while Methodists mentioned them 235 times.
Responses categorized under the nonmusical skills category included attributes like
“bilingual,” “detail oriented,” “able to lead,” etc., and Baptists mentioned qualities
like these a total of 263 times, while Methodists mentioned them 133 times. Baptists
included responses that mentioned experience a total of 16 times, and Methodists
included them 14 times, and Baptists listed answers pertaining to education a total of
20 times, while Methodists listed them 8 times (see table 5).

Table 5. Tally of Responses—Qualities a Music Leader Must Possess
Category analysis of SBC and UMC open ended responses to question 5.
Category of quality
% of total SBC
mentions
% of total UMC
mentions
character 34% 42%
demographic quality 17% 6%
musical skill 18% 31%
nonmusical skill 28% 18%
experience 2% 2%
education 2% 1%

Demographic Qualities
Questions six and seven were Likert-type questions, with 207 Baptists and
198 Methodists responding. Question six asked about hiring preferences as they
pertain to a music director’s demographic qualities of race/color, religion, sex,
national origin, disability, sexual orientation, and marriage, as well as education and
67
musical skill. Question seven asked about experience and age. Participants were
asked to choose one of the following for each quality: essential for hiring, a plus for
hiring, neither a plus nor a negative in hiring, a negative in hiring, and would
exclude from hiring. The most common answers to each category are listed here,
along with all data from the answer option would exclude in hiring. Subsequent
tables show all responses in numbers and rounded percentages, and the answer
option which received the largest number of responses is shown in bold type.
Qualities are listed here in the order in which they appeared on the survey.
Education – There were five categories concerning education. A total of 121
Baptists and 115 Methodists said the category has some formal music education was
considered a plus for hiring. A total of 96 Baptists reported the category has a
college degree was a plus for hiring, while 102 Methodists considered it neither a
plus nor a negative in hiring. Similarly, 116 Baptists and 104 Methodists listed has a
college degree in music as a plus for hiring. In total, 103 Baptists and 141
Methodists reported has a seminary degree was neither a plus nor a negative in
hiring and 107 Baptists and 107 Methodists stated has a Master’s degree or above in
music was neither a plus nor a negative in hiring. As to exclusionary responses, 1
Methodist rated has a college degree as would exclude from hiring, 3 Methodists
rated has a seminary degree as would exclude from hiring, and 3 Methodists rated
has a Master’s degree or above in music as would exclude from hiring. No selections
of would exclude in hiring were made by any Baptists, and none were made by
68
Methodists in the two categories has some formal education and has a college
degree in music. As was previously mentioned, an increase in the preference for
education was tied to pay: when considering only those responses in which
participants stated that their music leader was paid, an overall increase in the
preference towards education was observed in all categories, by both denominations.
Musical Skill – Four categories concerning musical skill were listed. A total
of 125 Baptists and 123 Methodists said has good vocal skill was considered a plus
for hiring. In all, 125 Baptists and 104 Methodists stated has good instrumental skill
was a plus for hiring. A total of 119 Baptists and 104 Methodists said has good
conducting skill was considered a plus for hiring, and 112 Baptists and 113
Methodists said has good composing skill was considered neither a plus nor a
negative in hiring. The option would exclude from hiring was not selected by any
participants in any of these categories.
Religion – There were three categories concerning religion. A total of 204
Baptists and 157 Methodists considered the category is a Christian to be essential for
hiring, and conversely, 196 Baptists and 92 Methodists stated the quality is a non-
Christian would exclude from hiring. A total of 85 Baptists stated is a Christian from
your denomination was considered a plus for hiring, while 94 Methodists considered
it neither a plus nor a negative in hiring.
Special attention was given to the two qualities in this category that are
opposites: the qualities of being a Christian and being a non-Christian. The same
69
number of participants who rated being a Christian as essential for hiring did not
similarly rate being a non-Christian as a quality that would exclude from hiring. As
mentioned, 204 Baptist participants stated that being a Christian was essential for
hiring, but only 196 said being a non-Christian would be a quality that would
exclude from hiring. In addition, 157 Methodist participants said being a Christian
was essential for hiring, but only 92 said being a non-Christian would be a quality
that would exclude from hiring. This indicates a disparity of 8 responses for Baptists
(totaling 4%) and 65 responses for Methodists (totaling 33%). The option would
exclude from hiring was not selected by any participants for the category is
Christian, and was selected by only one Methodist in the category is a Christian
from your denomination.
There were three outliers by Methodists in this category: one Methodist
stated that being a non-Christian was essential, and also said being a Christian was
essential and being a Christian from their denomination was neither a plus nor a
negative. In addition, there were two participants who rated non-Christian as a plus
in hiring. One of these two participants rated being a Christian and being a Christian
from your denomination as essential, but said being a non-Christian was a plus in
hiring, and the other participant rated both Christian qualities to be essential.
Sex—There were two categories concerning gender. A total of 138 Baptists
and 192 Methodists considered the category is male to be neither a plus nor a
negative in hiring. In addition, 162 Baptists and 192 Methodists considered the
70
category is female was considered neither a plus nor a negative in hiring. Special
attention was given to the two qualities in this category as being male and being
female are considered largely to be opposites. Methodists consistently responded the
same way to both categories each time—every individual response selected the same
answer for both categories, even though there were 2 Methodist participants who
said being either gender would exclude from hiring. However, the same number of
Baptist participants who rated being a male as essential for hiring did not rate being
a female as a quality that would exclude from hiring. With 31 Baptists responding
that male was essential in hiring and only 21 responding that being female was a
quality that would exclude in hiring, a disparity of 10 responses occurred here
(totaling 5%). There were similarly 5 outliers that occurred for Baptists: the one
participant who rated female as essential rated male the same way, the two
participants who rated female as a plus in hiring rated male the same way, and two
participants who rated male as a negative in hiring rated female the same way.
Marriage – Three categories pertaining to marriage status were listed. A total
of 166 Baptists and 191 Methodists indicated that the category is married was
considered neither a plus nor a negative in hiring. Similarly, 202 Baptists and 195
Methodists stated the category is single was considered neither a plus nor a negative
in hiring. And 115 Baptists and 191 Methodists said the category has been divorced
was considered neither a plus nor a negative in hiring. An outlier occurred, as 1
Methodist said all three categories would exclude from hiring. As to other exclusions
71
from hiring, 14 Baptists and 1 Methodist said has been divorced was a quality that
would exclude from hiring. No Baptists stated that being married or single was a
quality that would exclude from hiring.
Sexual Orientation – There was one category pertaining to sexual
orientation. In all, 189 Baptists said being gay/lesbian would exclude from hiring,
while 129 Methodists said it was considered neither a plus nor a negative in hiring.
There were also 34 Methodists who reported that being gay/lesbian would exclude
from hiring.
Race/Color – There was one category pertaining to race/color. A total of 172
Baptists and 185 Methodists said the category is of a race that is represented in your
congregation was considered neither a plus nor a negative in hiring. Two Baptists
and no Methodists said this was a quality that would exclude from hiring.
Disability – Two categories pertaining to disability were listed. A total of 195
Baptists and 191 Methodists stated the category has a physical disability but is not
job-impaired was considered neither a plus nor a negative in hiring, and 143
Baptists and 163 Methodists said the category has a mental disability but is not job-
impaired was considered neither a plus nor a negative in hiring. A total of 2 Baptists
and 1 Methodist said having a physical disability would exclude from hiring, and 10
Baptists and 6 Methodists said having a mental disability would exclude from hiring.
National Origin – There were two categories pertaining to national origin.
All tolled, 107 Baptists and 153 Methodists stated the category is an American
72
citizen was considered neither a plus nor a negative in hiring, and 164 Baptists and
146 Methodists said the category is from your state or general locale was considered
to be neither a plus nor a negative in hiring. There were no participants who stated
either of these qualities would exclude from hiring (see tables 6 and 7).
73

Table 6. SBC Demographic Preferences
SBC responses to question 6.
6. For the following, rate the likelihood of your decision to hire individuals based on the criteria listed in
each case; assume all other qualities to be satisfactory. All things being equal, how important are the
following characteristics in hiring a music director at your church:
Answer options
essential
for hiring
a plus for
hiring
neither a plus nor a
negative in hiring
a negative
for hiring
would
exclude
from hiring
has some formal music education
24%
(49)
58%
(121)
18%
(37)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
has a college degree
11%
(23)
46%
(96)
43%
(88)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
has a college degree in music
5%
(11)
56%
(116)
39%
(80)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
has a seminary degree
2%
(4)
48%
(99)
50%
(103)
0%
(1)
0%
(0)
has a Master's degree or above in music
1%
(3)
47%
(97)
52%
(107)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
has good vocal skill
36%
(75)
60%
(125)
3%
(7)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
has good instrumental skill
14%
(29)
65%
(134)
21%
(44)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
has good conducting skill
25%
(52)
57%
(119)
17%
(36)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
has good composing skill
4%
(9)
41%
(85)
54%
(112)
0%
(1)
0%
(0)
is a Christian
99%
(204)
1%
(3)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
is a non-Christian
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
0%
(1)
5%
(10)
95%
(196)
is a Christian from your denomination
39%
(81)
41%
(85)
19%
(39)
1%
(2)
0%
(0)
is male
15%
(31)
17%
(36)
67%
(138)
1%
(2)
0%
(0)
is female
0%
(1)
1%
(2)
78%
(162)
10%
(21)
10%
(21)
is married
0%
(1)
19%
(39)
80%
(166)
0%
(1)
0%
(0)
is single
0%
(0)
0%
(1)
98%
(202)
2%
(4)
0%
(0)
has been divorced
0%
(0)
1%
(2)
56%
(115)
37%
(76)
7%
(14)
is gay/lesbian
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
5%
(10)
4%
(8)
91%
(189)
is of a race that is represented in your
congregation
1%
(2)
14%
(29)
83%
(172)
1%
(2)
1%
(2)
has a physical disability, but is not job-
impaired (insulin pump wearer,
mobility impaired, etc.)
0%
(1)
2%
(4)
94%
(195)
2%
(5)
1%
(2)
has a mental disability, but is not job-
impaired (depression, OCD, etc.)
0%
(0)
1%
(2)
69%
(143)
25%
(52)
5%
(10)
is an American citizen
23%
(48)
24%
(50)
52%
(107)
1%
(2)
0%
(0)
is from your state or general locale
4%
(9)
16%
(33)
79%
(164)
0%
(1)
0%
(0)

74
Table 7. UMC Demographic Preferences
UMC responses to question 6.
6. For the following, rate the likelihood of your decision to hire individuals based on the criteria listed in
each case; assume all other qualities to be satisfactory. All things being equal, how important are the
following characteristics in hiring a music director at your church:
Answer options
essential
for hiring
a plus for
hiring
neither a plus nor a
negative in hiring
a negative
for hiring
would
exclude
from hiring
has some formal music education
33%
(65)
58%
(115)
9%
(17)
0%
(1)
0%
(0)
has a college degree
10%
(20)
37%
(73)
52%
(102)
1%
(2)
1%
(1)
has a college degree in music
8%
(16)
53%
(104)
38%
(76)
1%
(2)
0%
(0)
has a seminary degree
1%
(1)
25%
(50)
71%
(141)
2%
(3)
2%
(3)
has a Master's degree or above in music
2%
(3)
42%
(83)
54%
(107)
1%
(2)
2%
(3)
has good vocal skill
30%
(60)
62%
(123)
8%
(15)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
has good instrumental skill
37%
(73)
53%
(104)
10%
(20)
1%
(1)
0%
(0)
has good conducting skill
29%
(58)
53%
(104)
18%
(35)
1%
(1)
0%
(0)
has good composing skill
3%
(5)
39%
(78)
57%
(113)
1%
(2)
0%
(0)
is a Christian
79%
(157)
16%
(32)
5%
(9)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
is a non-Christian
1%
(1)
1%
(2)
16%
(31)
36%
(72)
46%
(92)
is a Christian from your denomination
6%
(11)
45%
(90)
47%
(94)
1%
(2)
1%
(1)
is male
1%
(1)
1%
(2)
97%
(192)
1%
(1)
1%
(2)
is female
1%
(1)
1%
(2)
97%
(192)
1%
(1)
1%
(2)
is married
0%
(0)
3%
(5)
96%
(191)
1%
(1)
1%
(1)
is single
0%
(0)
1%
(1)
98%
(195)
1%
(1)
1%
(1)
has been divorced
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
96%
(191)
3%
(5)
1%
(2)
is gay/lesbian
0%
(0)
1%
(1)
65%
(129)
17%
(34)
17%
(34)
is of a race that is represented in your
congregation
1%
(1)
6%
(11)
93%
(185)
1%
(1)
0%
(0)
has a physical disability, but is not job-
impaired (insulin pump wearer,
mobility impaired, etc.)
0%
(0)
2%
(3)
96%
(191)
2%
(3)
1%
(1)
has a mental disability, but is not job-
impaired (depression, OCD, etc.)
0%
(0)
1%
(1)
82%
(163)
14%
(28)
3%
(6)
is an American citizen
5%
(10)
16%
(31)
77%
(153)
2%
(4)
0%
(0)
is from your state or general locale
3%
(5)
24%
(47)
74%
(146)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)

75
Question seven asked about hiring preferences as they pertain to a music
director’s age or experience, and there were 207 Baptists and 198 Methodists who
provided answers to this question. The most common answers to each category are
listed here:
Music Experience – There were four categories pertaining to experience. A
total of 120 Baptists and 108 Methodists said the category does not have related
experience was considered a negative for hiring, while almost the same number, 119
Baptists and 108 Methodists, claimed the category has 1-2 years related experience
was a plus for hiring. A total of 154 Baptists and 148 Methodists said has 2-5 years
related experience was considered a plus for hiring. And 166 Baptists and 148
Methodists said the category has 5+ years related experience was considered a plus
for hiring. As to exclusionary statements, 33 Baptists and 32 Methodists rated does
not have related experience as would exclude from hiring, and 3 Baptists and 3
Methodists rated has 1-2 years related experience as would exclude from hiring. No
participants responded has 2-5 years related experience would be a quality that
would exclude from hiring, and no Baptists and 1 Methodist said has 5+ years
related experience would be a quality that would exclude from hiring.
Age – There were six age ranges provided pertaining to age. A total of 123
Baptists and 144 Methodists said the category is less than 20 years of age was
considered neither a plus nor a negative in hiring. The same number of Baptists and
Methodists—163—said the category is between the ages of 20-29 was considered
76
neither a plus nor a negative in hiring. In total, 154 Baptists and 159 Methodists
stated the category is between the ages of 30-39 was considered neither a plus nor a
negative in hiring, and 155 Baptists and 168 Methodists said the category is between
the ages of 40-49 was considered neither a plus nor a negative in hiring. All tolled,
160 Baptists and 170 Methodists said is between the ages of 50-59 was considered
neither a plus nor a negative in hiring, while 147 Baptists and 175 Methodists said
the category is over 60 years of age was considered neither a plus nor a negative in
hiring. Exclusionary statements appeared in three categories: A total of 9 Baptists
and 5 Methodists said is less than 20 years of age was a quality that would exclude
from hiring. And while no participants stated that being between the ages of 20-29,
30-39, or 40-49 would be a quality that would exclude from hiring, 1 Baptist and 1
Methodist said is between the ages of 50-59 was a quality that would exclude from
hiring, and 7 Baptists and 3 Methodists said is over 60 years of age was a quality
that would exclude from hiring (see tables 8 and 9).

77

Table 8. SBC Age/Experience Preferences
SBC responses to question 7.
7. For the following, rate the likelihood of your decision to hire individuals
based on the criteria listed in each case; assume all other qualities to be
satisfactory. All things being equal, how important are the following
characteristics in hiring a music director at your church:
Answer options
essential
for
hiring
a plus
for
hiring
neither a plus
nor a negative
in hiring
a
negative
for
hiring
would
exclude
from
hiring
does not have
related experience
1%
(3)
3%
(6)
22%
(45)
58%
(120)
16%
(33)
has 1-2 years
related experience
4%
(9)
57%
(119)
28%
(58)
9%
(18)
1%
(3)
has 2-5 years
related experience
4%
(8)
74%
(154)
20%
(41)
2%
(4)
0%
(0)
has 5+ years
related experience
5%
(10)
80%
(166)
14%
(30)
0%
(1)
0%
(0)
is less than 20
years of age
0%
(0)
2%
(5)
59%
(123)
34%
(70)
4%
(9)
is between the
ages of 20-29
0%
(1)
18%
(37)
79%
(163)
3%
(6)
0%
(0)
is between the
ages of 30-39
0%
(1)
25%
(52)
74%
(154)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
is between the
ages of 40-49
0%
(0)
23%
(47)
75%
(155)
2%
(5)
0%
(0)
is between the
ages of 50-59
0%
(0)
14%
(30)
77%
(160)
8%
(16)
0%
(1)
is over 60 years of
age
0%
(0)
7%
(15)
71%
(147)
18%
(38)
3%
(7)

78

Table 9. UMC Age/Experience Preferences
UMC responses to question 7.
7. For the following, rate the likelihood of your decision to hire individuals based
on the criteria listed in each case; assume all other qualities to be satisfactory. All
things being equal, how important are the following characteristics in hiring a
music director at your church:
Answer Options
essential
for
hiring
a plus
for
hiring
neither a plus
nor a negative
in hiring
a
negative
for
hiring
would
exclude
from
hiring
does not have
related experience
3%
(5)
6%
(11)
21%
(42)
55%
(108)
16%
(32)
has 1-2 years
related experience
9%
(18)
55%
(108)
29%
(57)
6%
(12)
2%
(3)
has 2-5 years
related experience
3%
(5)
75%
(148)
23%
(45)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
has 5+ years
related experience
6%
(11)
74%
(147)
20%
(39)
0%
(0)
1%
(1)
is less than 20
years of age
0%
(0)
5%
(9)
73%
(144)
20%
(40)
3%
(5)
is between the ages
of 20-29
1%
(1)
14%
(27)
82%
(163)
4%
(7)
0%
(0)
is between the ages
of 30-39
1%
(2)
19%
(37)
80%
(159)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
is between the ages
of 40-49
1%
(1)
14%
(27)
85%
(168)
1%
(2)
0%
(0)
is between the ages
of 50-59
0%
(0)
9%
(18)
86%
(170)
5%
(9)
1%
(1)
is over 60 years of
age
0%
(0)
3%
(6)
88%
(175)
7%
(14)
2%
(3)

79
Church Size
Question eight asked one multiple choice question about church attendance,
and there were 207 Baptists and 198 Methodists who answered this question.
Participants were able to choose from a list of ranges, 1 – 24, 25 – 99, 100 – 199, 200
– 499, 500 – 999, and 1000+. A total of 9 Baptists and 30 Methodists selected the
category 1 – 24. A total of 79 Baptists and 105 Methodists chose the category 25 –
99. There were 64 Baptists and 29 Methodists who selected the category 100 – 199,
and 39 Baptists and 26 Methodists who chose the category 200 – 499. In total, 11
Baptists and 6 Methodists selected 500 – 999, and only 5 Baptists and 2 Methodists
indicated their church size was 1000+ (see table 10).

Table 10. Church Size
SBC and UMC responses to question 8.
8. What is your average Sunday morning
attendance? (If you have multiple morning
services, please add them together to give the total
attendance.)
SBC UMC
1-24 4% 15%
25-99 38% 53%
100-199 31% 15%
200-499 19% 13%
500-999 5% 3%
1000+ 2% 1%

As it has been previously mentioned, larger church size was directly related
to a prevalence of pay for the lead musician in churches of both denominations.
80
Worship Style
Question nine was a multiple choice question concerning the style of music
performed in the participant’s church, and there were 207 Baptists and 198
Methodists who responded. Participants were allowed to select one of the following
categories: traditional worship, contemporary worship, blended worship, or multiple
services or other. A total of 48 Baptists and 67 Methodists selected traditional
worship, while 18 Baptists and 6 Methodists selected contemporary worship. A total
of 130 Baptists and 85 Methodists chose blended worship, and 11 Baptists and 40
Methodists selected multiple services or other. In the open-ended part of this
question, 9 Baptists and 33 Methodists listed some combination of separate
traditional and contemporary services. Other answers described multiple services
based on language (see table 11).

Table 11. Worship Style
SBC and UMC responses to question 9.
9. What kind of music does your church have
on a typical Sunday morning?
SBC UMC
Traditional worship (Hymns, etc.) 23% 34%
Contemporary worship (Praise Songs, Billboard
top 40 music, etc.)
9% 3%
Blended worship (some Hymns, some
contemporary songs)
63% 43%
Multiple services or Other (please list and
describe)
5% 20%

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Musical Instruments Used
Question ten was a multiple choice question that asked about the
instrumentation used in a typical service, and 207 Baptists and 198 Methodists
provided responses. Choices included song leader (director, etc.), praise team
(singers with microphones), choir, organ, piano, synthesizer/keyboard, acoustic
guitar, electric guitar, bass guitar, drum set, other percussion (bongo, shaker, etc.),
solo instrument (sax, trumpet, violin, etc.), orchestra/concert band, CD background
tracks, and other. A total of 186 Baptists and 128 Methodists selected song leader,
while 97 Baptists and 68 Methodists selected praise team (singers with
microphones). There were 141 Baptists and 127 Methodists who chose choir. In
total, 94 Baptists and 124 Methodists selected organ, while 174 Baptists and 166
Methodists selected piano, and 82 Baptists and 52 Methodists selected
synthesizer/keyboard. A total of 83 Baptists and 65 Methodists chose acoustic guitar,
54 Baptists and 40 Methodists chose electric guitar, and 71 Baptists and 39
Methodists chose bass guitar. A total of 72 Baptists and 48 Methodists selected
drum set and 31 Baptists and Methodists alike selected other percussion. There were
40 Baptists and 31 Methodists who chose the category solo instrument and 13
Baptists and 4 Methodists who chose orchestra/concert band. Also, 100 Baptists and
51 Methodists selected CD background tracks, and 13 Baptists and 19 Methodists
chose other. In this open-ended section, participants specified mentions of “voice
82
solos,” other instruments like “mandolin” and “harmonica,” and ensembles like “jazz
band” (see table 12).

Table 12. Musical Instruments Used
SBC and UMC responses to question 10.
10. Which of the following are involved in a
typical Sunday morning service? (check all that
apply)
SBC UMC
song leader (director, etc.) 90% 65%
praise team (singers with microphones) 47% 34%
choir 68% 64%
organ 45% 63%
piano 84% 84%
synthesizer/keyboard 40% 26%
acoustic guitar 40% 33%
electric guitar 26% 20%
bass guitar 34% 20%
drum set 35% 24%
other percussion (bongo, shaker, etc.) 15% 16%
solo instrument (sax, trumpet, violin, etc.) 19% 16%
orchestra/concert band 6% 2%
CD background tracks 48% 26%
Other (please list or describe) 6% 10%

Other Results
One overarching measurement of the survey as a whole is the issue of
nonresponse. Owing to the survey design, one full page had to be completed before
the participant could continue to the next. Of the 218 Baptists and the 210
Methodists who began the survey and completed the first question, 216 Baptists and
83
209 Methodists continued past page two (which contained questions two through
four), marking a drop-off of 2 Baptists and 1 Methodist. Question five was the single
exception that allowed for nonresponse without discontinuing the survey, so true
drop-off could not be measured. However, of the 216 Baptists and 209 Methodists
continuing on to question five, 198 Baptists and 183 Methodists chose to respond,
marking a nonresponse of 20 total Baptists and 27 total Methodists. The next page
contained questions six and seven, and of the 216 Baptists, 207 responded, and of the
209 Methodists, 198 responded. All participants completing questions six and seven
also completed the entire survey; there was no further drop-off after this page. Of the
participants who started the study, drop-off was noted for 11 Baptists and 12
Methodists.

Conclusion
The ten-question survey was completed by 207 of the 300 Southern Baptists
and 198 of the 300 United Methodists invited to take it. This chapter reported an
analysis of the results, describing them by number of responses in narrative form,
and offering percentages in subsequent tables.
84
Chapter 5: Summary, Discussion and Conclusion

Summary
In order to discern preference in hiring church music directors, a 10-question
online survey was distributed to Southern Baptist and United Methodist churches
across America. Contained within were two Likert-type questions on demographic
qualities designed to help ascertain bias based on race/color, religion, sex, national
origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, and marital status. Other questions included
multiple choice questions on matters like pastoral involvement in leading music,
music leader title, pay, duties, church size, worship style, and musical instruments
used. In addition, there was an open-ended question asking what qualities a person
must possess in order to be hired to the music-leading job. Of the 300 Southern
Baptists and 300 United Methodists invited to take the survey, 218 Baptists and 210
Methodists participated in the study. The data was aggregated by denomination and
reported in whole.

Discussion of Outcomes
With regards to the core issues of race/color, religion, sex, national origin,
age, disability, sexual orientation, and marital status, some bias was indicated by
both denominations on specific issues. In other areas, trends were observed
85
concerning areas of pay, title, duties, and church size, among other things. This
section will discuss outcomes pertaining to each question.

Pastors who Perform Lead Musical Work
An analysis of results shows that the overwhelming majority of participants
do not use their senior pastor in the music leader role. This indicates at least a
plurality of leaders in the worship service, as someone other than the senior pastor is
in charge of the music. In addition, respondents who reported their senior pastor does
perform the lead musical work of the church overwhelmingly come from smaller
size churches. As this was the case in both SBC and UMC churches involved in the
study, it leads to the assumption that this may not be a denominational distinction,
but perhaps a similarity of circumstance. Because smaller churches would likely
have fewer financial resources with which to hire musicians, it is logical that senior
pastors of some small churches would be required to take on this lead musical role in
addition to their other duties.

Title of Music Leader
As a focus of the study surrounds the “ministerial exception,” ministerial-
type titles were an important part of question two. As was previously mentioned, the
Hosanna-Tabor Supreme Court case made it clear that, legally, title was not always
important in determining ministerial status, and results of this study showed that it is
86
only sometimes an indicator of a nonmusical, ministerial-type duty. Over a third of
Baptists surveyed referred to their lead musician by some sort of ministerial title
(like Minister of Music or Worship Pastor). Of these Baptists, just over half
indicated their music leader performs a nonmusical ministerial duty (question four).
But what of the other half? It is clear that among many Baptists, the simple practice
of leading music in a church is enough to garner a ministerial title.
However, the same case cannot be made for Methodists. Fewer ministerial
titles were used by Methodists—less than a tenth of all UMC participants—but two-
thirds of those participants reported a ministerial-type duty. Further inquiry showed
they address this through their agency, the General Board of Discipleship. An article
on musician’s titles says this:
The General Board of Higher Education and Ministry’s (GBHEM)
Section of Deacons and Diaconal Ministries is given responsibility for
setting standards and requirements for certification in professional
ministry careers in our denomination (P 1423, The Book of
Discipline). It uses three titles: minister of music (for those meeting
the certification requirements and who are also ordained), director of
music (for those meeting the certification requirements, but who are
not ordained), and associate in music (for those who have met the
certification requirements, but who lack the academic degree required
for directors of music, and for those working toward certification)…
This is the only accepted and approved use of the term “minister of
music” within The United Methodist Church. Nevertheless, local
churches and employees will probably continue to adopt and use the
title. Again, this may be because people think the term “minister of
music” indicates a higher status than other titles. They probably also
continue to use the term because other denominations freely use it.
103

103
Dean McIntyre, “What Should We Call United Methodist Church Musicians?” General Board of
Discipleship Website, accessed April 21, 2012, http://www.gbod.org/site/apps/nlnet/content3.aspx
?c=nhLRJ2PMKsG &b=5517307 &ct=7592411¬oc=1.
87

While Baptists may be seen to sometimes offer the ministerial title as an honorific,
the Methodist church only approves its official use for ordained persons. The UMC’s
structure as a denomination allows them to control the ordination process and
provides for some consistency in matters such as titles of their leaders.

Pay
Both denominations reported a similar prevalence of paid versus volunteer
music leaders. Just over half of Baptists reported they paid their leaders, and just
under half of Methodists did. Pay was relative to church size (question eight), which
may simply reflect the logic that larger churches generally have more finances and
can afford to pay their musicians. While the Old Testament model was to provide for
the needs of the musicians so they could focus on the musical work of the temple,
104

many smaller churches are simply not able to do so. Some churches stated this fact in
their responses: “Salaried, but very minimal,” and “bi-vocational” were among
responses given that indicate payment of a less than living wage. Therefore, in
Baptist and Methodist churches there clearly exists a three-pronged pay structure: no
pay, some pay, and payment of a living wage. It appears to be practical, not
ideological, as pay was not tied to denomination here, only size. While exact salary
amounts were not part of this study, the “bi-vocational” response points to the fact

104
Deuteronomy 18:1-5; 1 Chronicles 9:33.
88
that church music leaders are generally required to perform mostly on weekends and
weeknights, leaving the traditional 40-hour workweek available for other gainful
employment. Thus, churches are able to request only a part-time availability with an
expectation that they are not the primary employer. In addition, pay was tied to an
overall preference for formal music education by both denominations (question six),
which seems to simply mirror secular fields of employment and their preference for
trained workers. The fact that the presence of salary increased when a ministerial
title was used (question two) is understandable as well: workers with the title
Minister of Music and Worship Pastor showed an overall increase in all duties, and it
would make sense that these workers might be paid employees more often.
Additionally, part of the goal in asking about pay was to look at the
prevalence of employment opportunities. Merely asking the question of “volunteer
versus paid employee” status might help to estimate the number of church music
employers in America. Though results here are not truly generalizable, half of
participants in this study reported they employ at least one musician.

Duties
Baptist and Methodist participants reported that their music leaders have
similar primary duties. They also reported the duties of selecting music, scheduling
special music, conducting a choir, leading in congregational singing, and recruiting
volunteers more often than other responses. While there are different rates of
89
response for these items, these are among the top of the list for both Baptists and
Methodists, with Methodists adding one more duty to their list: playing an
instrument.
In general, Baptists reported much higher occurrences of duties for their lead
musician, which may in and of itself indicate that the Baptist role might be more
multi-disciplinary, while Methodists may have a more targeted role for their
performers. As mentioned previously, SBC churches are completely autonomous
while the UMC is a highly organized denomination; if roles are more clearly defined
throughout the denomination, it can be reasoned that Methodist music leaders may
have a more clearly defined role as well. In fact, Methodists who paid their lead
musician also reported those musicians having fewer duties than Baptists in seven
categories: leading congregational singing, pastoral care, church administration,
overseeing the sound system, Biblical education, preaching, and scheduling the
order of worship. Three of these five are ministerial-type duties previously listed,
church administration and selecting the order of worship are clearly nonmusical
administrative functions, and the duties of overseeing the sound system and leading
congregational singing are specific music duties that one cannot always perform if
preoccupied by playing an instrument. In addition, the titles of “pianist” or
“organist” were used with frequency in Methodist answers to question two, and 90%
of all Methodists had some kind of preference for good instrumental skill (question
six). Simply put, the presence of pay corresponds to a more diverse employment role
90
for these Baptists, and indicates more of a specific—perhaps instrumental—musical
role for these Methodists.

Essential Qualities
The open-ended section allowed participants to express any number of
qualities they thought were essential for a candidate to have in order to be considered
for the music director position at their church. Up to this point, the survey included
no questions regarding the music leaders themselves. Responses to this question
indicated a number of important attributes that participants wanted to see in their
music leaders, pertaining to demographics, questions of character, musical and
nonmusical skill, experience, or education. Baptists listed almost 200 more qualities
than Methodists. This disparity is puzzling, but nevertheless each group had detailed
responses. In all, Baptists were more concerned with listing demographic qualities
and nonmusical skill, and Methodists were more likely to mention issues of
character and musical skill. Both mentioned experience and education a paltry
number of times, but that could easily be owing to the phrasing of the question and
the fact that education and experience are not largely referred to as qualities (in fact,
subsequent responses to questions six and seven show great importance placed on
these two attributes). Regardless, it is clear that character counts, as both
denominations listed matters of character most.
91
In addition, responses used overwhelmingly positive language in describing
traits of character instead of negative ones; for example, items like, “a positive
person” were listed instead of, “not negative.” Many responses stated qualities like,
“a people person,” “warm and loving,” “faithful,” “joyful,” “creative,” “flexible,”
and then, of course, “positive.” However, the desperate need for musicians in some
of the smaller churches was evident in the humorous responses which listed
“breathing,” and “alive.”
Interestingly, both denominations were almost exactly inverted on the
mentions of musical skill versus nonmusical skill; Methodists mentioned musical
skill as often as Baptists mentioned nonmusical skill, and vice versa, which might
reinforce the previously stated data gathered on the question of duties (question four)
indicating that perhaps Methodists want someone chiefly dedicated to music and
Baptists prefer general church support. The responses for musical skill were obvious,
such as “skilled musician,” “able to conduct choir,” “good singing voice,” and the
like, but the qualities that were considered to be nonmusical skill included items that
might be important in any employment environment. “Able to work well with
people,” “gifted in leadership,” and “a clear communicator,” were all items that were
mentioned in this section. Overall, many of these answers concerning essential
qualities were characteristics common to any profession that involves service or
working with people.

92
Demographic Qualities
Some very clear trends exist when looking at what demographic qualities are
desirable in a church music director. Even though the majority responses were the
focus of reporting in the previous chapter, the breadth of data gives a clearer picture
in some of these categories. In analyzing preference, answers showing bias one
direction or the other are here combined; essential and a plus in hiring both indicate
a preference for the quality, and a negative or would exclude from hiring indicate a
bias against. Overall preferences of less than one in seven (around 14%) were not
considered strong enough to receive merit. The demographic qualities listed here are
not in the order of the survey, but are in the order listed by EEOC documents and the
review of the literature in chapter two.
Race/Color – Race was sometimes a factor in hiring in participating SBC
churches and only rarely so in these UMC churches. Around one in seven Baptist
participants indicated a preference in this area. Despite the review of the literature
stating very clearly that both the United Methodist Church
105
and the Southern
Baptist Convention
106
are against all forms of racism, it is clear that sometimes race
is a factor when hiring someone to lead the music of the churches in this study. It is
important to mention that, on occasion, issues of race/color are sometimes used as a

105
United Methodist Church, The Discipline, ¶162.a.
106
“SBC Resolutions: Resolution on Racism (June 1978),” SBCnet: Official Website of the
Southern Baptist Convention, accessed February 9, 2012, http://www.sbc.net
/resolutions/amResolution.asp?ID=892.
93
descriptor in churches—such as the use of the term “black gospel music,” or “Latin
music,” or the like, to implicate cultural preference.
Pertaining to the item of a race that was represented in their congregation,
two Baptists said this was a quality that would exclude from hiring, indicating that
the only people they would hire would have to be from a race not represented in their
congregation. While certainly possible for a congregation wishing to diversify, it
does appear unlikely given the overall Baptist results and the researcher imagines
that this may indicate there was a misunderstanding of some sort.
Religion – The touchstone categories is Christian and is non-Christian
revealed the clearest trend in the entire study: SBC and UMC participants strongly
preferred Christians, and excluded non-Christians with high frequency. In fact,
almost every Baptist said being a Christian was essential and almost as many also
said being a non-Christian would exclude a candidate from hiring. These results may
simply reflect the definition of the term, “church.” The very first statement in the
Constitution of the United Methodist Church reads, “the church is a community of
all true believers under the Lordship of Christ.”
107
By this definition, someone who is
not a believer (a non-Christian) is the only person who cannot be included in the
“church.” These results seem to indicate that hiring a music leader who cannot be
considered to be part of that community of believers—the “church”—is difficult for
many church leaders. There are many Bible verses delineating different expectations

107
United Methodist Church, The Discipline, Preamble to the Constitution.
94
of believers and unbelievers,
108
and this must be assumed to inform pastors’ beliefs
about differences in the roles each can play. These participants preferred to have
music leaders who fulfill Biblical qualifications of “belief,” and presumably hold
personal the texts and music they lead.
Denominational distinctions were important to participants, the specifics of
which were fleshed out in the asking of the question is a Christian from your
denomination. There was also a very clear preference for members of the church’s
own denomination, who share Biblical doctrine (principles and positions based on
their interpretation of scripture). Each denomination has its own distinctives, and
participants show here a clear preference for someone who is a Christian, yes, but
who also believes as they do. Musical portions of the worship service are not merely
interchangeable between denominations, but reflect the sincerely-held beliefs of the
individual church, and this trend may serve to verify the significance of the role of
music in the worship service.
When considering the whole of the data, another interesting trend occurs here
as well. Around four out of five Methodists stated an essential preference for
Christians, but not even half indicated that being non-Christian was a quality that
would exclude from hiring. The fact that these two qualities are opposites creates an
expectation that an equal number of participants stating one specific essential nature
would have to preclude an applicant with the opposite quality. One might question

108
For example, 1 Corinthians 10:23-32, 2 Corinthians 4:15-16, et al.
95
why there is such a disparity in these responses. There can be three possibilities:
confusion about the question, simple error in indicating choice, or an attempt to
soften answers. Any combination of these three can exist, but it would be hard to
believe that a participant would understand the question in regards to a Christian but
not a non-Christian, and the response numbers are too compelling to allow for simple
error to be behind it all, especially since Baptist responses are more consistent in
reflecting the opposite nature of these qualities. It is likely that this information
shows a Methodist softening of a response—while participants were confident to
express their conviction regarding the music leader needing to be a Christian, they
may have been reticent to admit that this consequently excludes others.
Sex – The question of gender revealed the greatest difference in the study
between Baptists and Methodists. Methodists showed no preference between hiring
males or females; every Methodist participant rated both genders in the same
category each time. Theirs was the single most consistent result in the study,
showing no bias. However, Baptists favored males over females overall. While a
third of Baptists stated a preference for males, it is interesting to note that only a fifth
of Baptists accordingly listed being female as a negative trait. This disparity is
surprising for much the same reason previously listed with the qualities of Christian
and non-Christian. Male and female genders are widely seen to be opposites, so why
were there not equal numbers of responses on both sides of the issue? There can be
three possibilities: confusion about the question, simple error in indicating choice, or
96
an attempt to soften answers. However, it would be hard to consider simple
confusion or error in every case, as Methodist numbers show zero deviation. It is
likely that this information shows a Baptist softening of a response, where
participants were reticent to admit the exclusion of females. Still, it is important to
note that these trends are in keeping with stated positions on gender roles in the
literature: United Methodists actively promote gender equality in all levels of church
organization,
109
and Southern Baptists have a limitation on the roles women can
hold, denying them the positions of pastoral leadership.
110
The determination of
what constitutes a pastoral leadership role is left up to the local Baptist congregation
in the spirit of autonomy,

and evidently, some participating churches in this study
have made a decision towards male-only music leadership.
National Origin – In spite of stances against discrimination based on national
origin, both denominations indicated a strong preference for American citizens. Half
of all Baptists surveyed stated that it was essential that their music leader be an
American citizen, and one in five said the same for the Methodists. It would be
remiss to not mention an external factor that might contribute to this result; this
strong bias might have been promoted by the political climate at the time of the
survey. Only four weeks after data collection began, controversial laws that were

109
United Methodist Church, The Discipline, ¶162.f.
110
“Women in Ministry,” SBCnet: Official Website of the Southern Baptist Convention, accessed
February 6, 2012, http://www.sbc.net/aboutus/pswomen.asp.

97
meant to curb illegal immigration in the state of Arizona (Arizona SB 1070) went
into effect with significant media coverage in the weeks leading up to it. One church
leader taking a look at the survey questions stated that of course he would only hire a
citizen because he would never hire an illegal immigrant. Without provocation, he
then quickly amended his statement by saying, “Oh, well I suppose they could be
Canadian.” The politically-charged issue of illegal immigration was in the forefront
of people’s minds and this may have influenced results.
In addition, both conventions indicated some preference for music leaders
from their state or general locale. While half of Baptists said their music leader
should be an American citizen, only one in five reported a preference for someone
from their area. This trend was different for Methodists; while one in five said their
music leader should be an American citizen, over a quarter said they should be from
their area, which may indicate a preference for an individual knowing their
community or perhaps being a part of their cultural demography. Music and culture
are inextricably intertwined, and while the same songs may be used across regions,
the music style will often vary from place to place. In addition, incoming Methodist
pastors are assigned to congregations by the convention, and are reportedly almost
always from out of town. A desire for the familiar may be asserted in this preference.
Age – Baptists and Methodist participants alike showed an overall
preference that their music directors be over age 20, with the largest preference for
workers aged 30-39. As leading church music is a highly visible job, there may be a
98
perception that workers in their thirties will have more appeal to a specific
demographic, but with a little more experience than someone in their twenties.
Additionally, it may be perceived that they will be less expensive to hire, or may
remain in the job for a longer period, or have fewer physical ailments or a better
grasp of current music trends or technology. Literature on perception of age in hiring
is scant, but a research study on the qualities churches prefer in their pastors says the
following:
Search committees’ typical preference for hiring a young married man
as pastor may be less tied to clergy gender per se and more
occasioned by their fond hope that such a pastor will attract similar
young families to fill the pews and the Sunday School: In the minds
of laity interviewed on a number of search committees, the age of the
candidate appears to be often associated with their expectations of
how much enthusiasm the person would bring to the job of being their
pastor… The eagerness of some search committee chairs to get a
younger pastor seems partly fueled by the fact that they simply want a
change, because their previous pastor who had been with them some
decades was considered stodgy, overbearing, and detrimental to
church growth.
111

There can be many opinions and explanations as to why certain age groups are
preferred over others, but the fact remains that Baptist and Methodist participants
alike showed overall preference for adults age 20-49, and some would exclude
persons who were less than 20 years of age and over age 50. Baptist participants

111
Adair T. Lummis, “What Do Lay People Want in Pastors?” Pulpit & Pew Research Reports
(Spring 2003), http://faithandleadership.com/programs/spe/resources/ppr/pastorsearch.pdf. (accessed
Feb 12, 2012).

99
noted a one in five bias against hiring persons over 60 years of age, while Methodist
bias was only about one in ten.
Disability – Physical disabilities were viewed as a hindrance to employment
only a handful of times, but mental disabilities garnered far more bias. Almost a third
of Baptists and one in six Methodists stated that the presence of a mental disability
would be negatively viewed in hiring, with a small number stating it would be an
exclusionary quality for a candidate even if it did not affect their job. With an
estimated one in four Americans suffering from a diagnosable mental illness each
year,
112
this is a large group to exclude from hiring. So why are mental disabilities
the target of more bias among these participants than physical disabilities? There has
been much social research on the public perception of mental illness, with one study
going so far as to state, “people with mental illness or with drug addiction are more
likely to be blamed than people in a wheelchair.”
113
This finding built on a prior
similar study, which stated, “discriminatory responses, such as the unwillingness to
help or hire those with mental illness… were predicted by attributions about the
cause of mental illness and by perceptions of dangerousness.”
114
The author suggests

112
“The Numbers Count: Mental Disorders in America” NIMH, accessed April 23, 2012.
http://wwwapps.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/the-numbers-count-mental-disorders-in-
america.shtml.
113
Patrick W. Corrigan, Jonathon E. Larson, and Sachiko A. Kuwabara, “Mental Illness Stigma
and the Fundamental Components of Supported Employment,” Rehabilitation Psychology 52 (2007)
455.
114
Patrick Corrigan et al. “An Attribution Model of Public Discrimination towards Persons with
Mental Illness,” Journal of Health and Social Behavior 44 (2003) 172-173. [emphasis added]
100
this is reflected in popular culture’s sometimes unequal treatment of the two
disabilities: antagonists (villains) are often shown as being evil because they are
“crazy” (or at the very least, persons with mental disabilities are sometimes
portrayed as being almost hopelessly compromised by their disability), while persons
with physical disabilities are sometimes depicted as being more heroic just in
overcoming their disability. In the music world, we hear about Beethoven’s genius in
being able to compose even after going deaf, but we rarely hear about his lifelong
battle with bipolar disorder. In fact, it is claimed that Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Handel,
Ravel, and (famously) Schumann all suffered from forms of mental illness. While it
is not being suggested that a church would necessarily want to hire all of these
individuals were they alive today (mostly due to other colorful characteristics) there
can be no question as to their world-changing abilities as musicians. The review of
Baptist and Methodist literature both point to inclusion of persons with disabilities in
the workforce, but the participants in this study did not show this lack of bias in their
reporting.
Sexual Orientation – Responses showed bias against candidates who were
gay/lesbian; almost all Baptist participants and a third of Methodist participants
claimed this quality would be a negative for hiring or would exclude a person from
music leadership in their church. These numbers reflect the previously reported
101
stances in the literature from both denominations: Southern Baptists
115
and United
Methodists
116
both consider the practice of homosexuality to be incompatible with
Christian teaching. However, Methodist churches are given latitude in allowing gay
membership
117
and many UMC congregations have joined together in public support
for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) issues. It is not known what
percentage of UMC churches have adopted this stance, but it does explain the other
two-thirds of Methodist participants responding that the gay/lesbian characteristic
would be neither a plus nor a negative in hiring.
It is important to note that this was the single issue in the study that seemed
to garner the most apparent anxiety from participants. When following up on
incomplete surveys, participants often indicated this question was the reason they
refused to finish. Even though both denominations have clearly defined stances
concerning homosexuality, participants from both sides expressed fear that their
answers would gain them unwanted attention or cause them to be seen in a harsh
light. In fact, one participant from the Southern Baptist Convention, a denomination
that will remove from membership any church who condones homosexuality,
118

115
“SBC Resolutions: On Biblical Sexuality And Public Policy (June 2009),” SBCnet: Official
Website of the Southern Baptist Convention, accessed February 6, 2012, http://www.sbc.net
/resolutions/amResolution.asp?ID=1196.
116
United Methodist Church, The Discipline, ¶162.f.
117
Ibid., ¶161.f.
118
“Constitution,” SBCnet: Official Website of the Southern Baptist Convention, accessed
February 6, 2012, http://www.sbc.net/aboutus/legal/constitution.asp.

102
evidently went back to his open-ended response (question five) to explain his
preference more fully, in his own words. He stated that a candidate must be…
a Christian, called to this position by God. Worship music is a
profound ministry and a solid understanding of the Biblical principles
we stand by is absolutely necessary. Beyond that, a music director
must have an open mind as to genres of music, be able to encourage
folks to pursue their own gifts, even meager ones (i.e., those who
don’t think they can sing), be joyful, and have a servants [sic] heart.
Since this is the only written input I have on this survey, I would like
to add the following: One of the questions you ask is if a candidate
was gay/lesbian, how that would affect my hiring decision. I put down
that it would exclude them, but let me clarify that. “Being” gay or
lesbian would not exclude them anymore than being divorced.
Actively living that lifestyle would… Any person actively living a
lifestyle contrary to the clear mandate of the scripture would be
excluded, that would include gossips, liars, adulterers and many
others. I would not seek perfection in a person, but I would seek
someone who is seeking to live a life obedient to God’s will.

Even though the SBC stance is clear, this pastor apparently felt the need to explain
the complexity of his views on the issue, perhaps in order to provide a contextual
background for his response.
Marital Status – There was a denominational difference on the questions of
preference concerning marital status. Southern Baptist participants showed some
preference for married people, were largely unbiased concerning single status, and
considered being divorced to be a negative for hiring in nearly half of responses.
These latter results mirror statements in the literature; owing to Baptist autonomy,
churches are able to interpret scripture concerning divorce any way they choose
103
without pressure from the denomination.
119
Methodists, on the other hand, uniformly
refer to divorce as a regrettable alternative that is deserving of compassion,
120
and
these results largely mirrored their statement, showing very little bias against
divorced persons. In addition, Methodist literature specifically mentions singlehood
as a characteristic against which one is not to be prejudiced.
121
Accordingly, there
were an overwhelming number of Methodist responses that showed no preference in
any of the categories of marital status.
Education – Formal music education and college degrees were favored by
both groups. For Baptists, the seminary degree and the Master’s degree in music held
the same importance, while the Methodists prized the Master’s degree in music more
than the seminary degree.
122
And when the researcher looked only at the results from
those participants reporting that they paid their lead musician, this preference for
education increased in all categories, for both denominations. It is logical that any
employer offering a salary is typically attracted to the best-trained individuals in the
field, and the area of church music appears to be no different. It is clear that these
churches want their musicians to be well-educated in music.

119
“FAQs – Frequently Asked Questions,” SBCnet: Official Website of the Southern Baptist
Convention, accessed February 6, 2012, http://www.sbc.net/aboutus/faqs.asp.
120
The Council of Bishops, Episcopal Greetings of The Book of Discipline of The United
Methodist Church 2008, by United Methodist Church (Nashville: The United Methodist Publishing
House, 2008) ¶161.c.
121
Ibid., ¶161.d.
122
While seminaries do offer Master’s degrees, it is important to note that the term “a seminary
degree” is typically seen in the field to be a measure of religious instruction, and “a Master’s degree in
music” is generally seen as an arts degree.
104
Musical Skill – The area of musical skill garnered consistently high
statements of preference in Baptist and Methodist responses, with vocal skill being
preferred most often. This emphasis was similarly indicated in the question on duties
(question four) for Baptists, as they ranked leading congregational singing as one of
their most often reported duties. In addition, participants from both denominations
also specified a high preference for instrumental and conducting skills, which also
mirrored the duties they said their music leader is currently expected to perform
(question four). Composing skill was identified as being a positive trait, but not as
important as the other three. This likely reflects the fact that most churches have a
standard repertoire of music that is used on a repeated basis, possibly indicating less
of a desire for newly composed songs.
Music Experience – Prior related experience was highly prized by
participants from both denominations. In fact, both groups indicated experience was
even more favorable than formal music education. The field of church music is a
performance-based field, with a very visible public demand placed on musicians
every week. It is logical that churches would place a premium on the seasoned
performer.

Church Size
There were more large-sized Baptist churches than Methodist churches in the
study. The highest prevalence of church size was reported to be 25-99, but more than
105
half of the Baptist participants overall indicated their church had over 100 in average
Sunday attendance. Church size impacted trends in other areas, the most obvious
being pay. Likely owing to an increase in resources, larger churches reported the
presence of a salary for their lead musician more often than smaller churches, who
frequently have their senior pastors fill this role, this being the case for nearly one
third of all small Methodist churches in the study.

Worship Style
The type of music used in church is an important decision for many churches,
and there are many opinions concerning the choice of worship style to be used—so
much so that they have often been dubbed “worship wars.”
123
The term “blended”
worship carries with it the implication that there are multiple styles drawn into one
worship service. Even though the musical genres are different in sound and
compositional elements, blended worship gives congregants a variety of song styles
in an attempt to appease the majority of people at least some of the time. Another
focus of blended worship proponents is the potential for blending of generations;
typically, older congregants are seen to favor traditional worship styles that include
hymns with organ or piano accompaniment, while it is widely held that younger
congregants prefer contemporary Christian music, including praise band with

123
For further reading, Anna E. Nekola. “Between this World and the Next: The Musical ‘Worship
Wars’ and Evangelical Ideology in the United States, 1960--2005.” (PhD diss., The University of
Wisconsin - Madison, 2009).
106
amplified singers and instrumentalists. Blending both together keeps everyone in the
same worship service but requires compromise of the musical preferences of many
congregants. Having multiple services more closely serves the separate musical
preferences of the congregations but creates a situation where some groups of
congregants no longer experience worship together. There are advantages and
drawbacks to each worship style, but one additional bonus may be found in
employing blended worship: it might condense the number of Sunday morning
services, which could mean less time requirements for all of the church staff
involved.
There may be other factors in the decision to choose one style over another,
like space constraints for organs or bands, but the reporting showed that both
denominations in the study favored blended worship, with Methodists also showing a
higher tendency than Baptists to have multiple services that use traditional and
contemporary styles. An additional factor might go towards explaining the
Methodists reporting the use of multiple services so many more times than Baptists:
there is a deliberate move in the United Methodist Church towards it. According to
UMC literature, the goal for churches is to develop what is referred to as a “vital
congregation.” There are a variety of ways to help churches meet this goal, and one
of the methods is to have a mix of contemporary and traditional services.
124
While

124
“2012 UMC Vital Congregations Planning Guide: A Strategic Plan for United Methodist
Congregations…” UMC.org, accessed April 24, 2012, http://www.umc.org/atf/cf/%7Bdb6a45e4-
c446-4248-82c8-e131b6424741%7D/VC %20PLANNING%20GUIDE%20BOOKLET.PDF.
107
Methodist churches still reported having more blended worship services than
anything else, this trend may be changing, owing to this plan.

Musical Instruments Used
Another comparison between Baptist and Methodist participants showed that
both reported similar musical instruments used. The top three selected categories for
both groups included song leader, piano, and choir. The high prevalence of
respondents selecting song leader and piano may reflect that both are elements that
can be used in any form of worship style. The prevalence of choir may simply reflect
that choir is a group that is operated relatively inexpensively and might be inclusive
of more people with more skill levels, thereby adding more people into the musical
activity of the church. Choir is often a mainstay in traditional and blended worship,
and is occasionally even found in select contemporary services as well (though the
musical styles sung may be very different from traditional styles). Most musical
instruments listed were reported as being used by at least a fifth of respondents from
both denominations, indicating a broad use of multiple musical forces.

Drop-off
When a survey was begun but not completed, a reminder email would go out
to the contact and encourage completion of their participation. While simple fatigue
might have been in play, correspondence with participants concerning drop-off
108
indicated that many ended the survey early when they began to feel discomfort at the
questions on demographic qualities. This discomfort may have been echoed in the
responses of participants who did complete the survey, but appeared to be reticent to
admit exclusions based on religion and sex.

Discussion of procedures
In the course of performing the survey, a few procedural issues came to light
that bear discussion. As there turned out to be a high number of small churches
included on the Methodist lists, initial contact was very difficult and, once made,
some pastors had a hard time conceptualizing their ability to hire a music director.
Thus, open-ended comments sometimes reflected a “does not apply” mentality to the
process, and may have made accurate reporting for these groups more challenging.
Similarly, mailed out copies would occasionally come back incomplete. The
researcher would then manually enter the data, but the presence of one unanswered
question would prevent all subsequent answers from being entered (as the survey
would not allow participants to continue without completing each page). The long
demographic question, question six, occasionally returned odd combinations of
answers that could be easily explained if the participant lost track of category
headings in the course of scrolling down the survey, and thought they were choosing
one answer option when they were, in fact, choosing another. In addition, the use of
a password to identify respondents worked well to head off unsolicited response;
109
some church contacts evidently forwarded the survey to persons not invited to
participate, but these responses were easily identified and denied access. By far the
biggest challenge was in finding contact persons for all churches, as no phone or
internet contact information was provided. In the case of very small churches, this
proved to be extremely time consuming. To compound the difficulty, many
Methodist pastors were in the process of being reassigned to new congregations, an
occurrence that is coordinated within the convention to happen twice a year—one of
those times perfectly coinciding with the onset of data collection. The rate of
response based on initial contact was low, but after the repeated attempts,
participation was increased considerably.

Implications for the Profession
The survey revealed implications for musicians seeking employment in the
profession of sacred music, as well as additional implications that fall outside the
original scope of the study. Some implications may be obvious to the seasoned
church musician, but are included for the benefit of those seeking initial
employment. The discussion of each is broken down by heading here.

Pastors who Perform Lead Musical Work
A high number of responses from small churches indicated their senior pastor
performs the lead musical work of the church. This implies that these pastors need
110
some training in music, and to fill that need, seminaries might include courses in
basic music leadership for their pastoral students. But additionally, under the
assumption that most pastors involved in music leading are doing so because no one
else is available, other resources might be made to small churches. In one open-
ended response, the participant requested that larger churches share their musicians
with smaller churches. Taking this burden off pastors has precedent; the Biblical
model is for musicians to lead the music of the temple and priests to lead the priestly
duties.
125
Since larger churches may have many musicians, it might be of value to
rotate out musicians to smaller churches on occasion. This practice would clearly
benefit smaller churches, but would also provide experience and leadership
opportunities for the large-church musicians who may not be used in that role
regularly. In denominations that have close fellowship and a governing hierarchy—
like the UMC—it is possible that temporary exchanges among congregations could
be facilitated by governing church leadership. These implications go beyond the
original scope of the study, but provide interesting discussion and opportunities
nonetheless.

Title of Music Leader
There was a wide spectrum of titles for the lead musician selected. Some
Baptist participants used ministerial-type titles without requiring typically ministerial

125
1 Chronicles 24, 25.
111
duties while Methodists were less likely to do so. However, in cases where the
ministerial title did indicate an extra-musical, ministerial role, traditional music
training for this job would not be enough. The implication for those desiring to fill
these roles is that they will need to seek out this ministerial-type training, which
would not usually be offered in a university music program. In addition, those
musicians desiring Methodist church employment with a ministerial title will need to
seek out and complete ordination requirements through the denomination.

Pay
Pay was tied to church size. Musicians hoping to find gainful full-time
employment as a music director, paid section leader, or instrumentalist should
advisably apply to large churches. In addition, those seeking work should seek out
formal music education, as that was an overall preference made by participants who
report the presence of pay. However, as experience is a trait that is even more
preferred than education, the potential music leader may benefit from the opportunity
to volunteer at a smaller church and gain experience and resume credits. Other
options include taking on an internship or assistant role in larger churches that may
have multiple services and opportunities for music leadership.

112
Duties
Duties that were identified in the study provide valuable information for
those involved in the training of church musicians, ensuring that their program
covers those elements that are being used most in churches. Field-based training in
these areas is implicated owing to the importance of experience, and special attention
should be given to the top duties listed. A breakdown of these top-ranked duties
indicates a desire for a high functioning and well-rounded musician. Since the
majority of respondents on both sides say selecting music is one of the jobs their lead
musician must undertake, gaining a knowledge of the literature is indicated.
Accordingly, scheduling special music is an indicator of recruitment-type skills, as a
person charged with this task must know the soloistic abilities of the musicians of the
church (and even those outside the church, like touring groups or local ensembles)
and be able to incorporate them into the services to perform as guest artists.
Conducting the choir is a call for training in the area of choral leadership, vocal
production, and ensemble administration. And leading congregational singing
clearly requires a knowledge of good vocal production, but it may also require a
knowledge of sound systems and a comfort with public speaking. In order to meet
the needs of churches, musicians need to have a broad range of skills, including
some nonmusical ones. Preparation for any job begins with knowing what the needs
are, and the modern day church music director clearly needs to be a well-rounded
individual, but first and foremost, a musician.
113
Essential Qualities
Implications from the open-ended section show that character is foremost on
Baptist and Methodist pastors and hiring officers’ minds. It cannot be understated
that a job in church music is a job where conduct and deportment matter, and these
areas should be given attention alongside musical preparation. References pertaining
to both personal and professional attributes are important. Musicians applying for
jobs in churches should bear in mind that social media postings and pictures may be
perceived as testimony to character as well. These results may carry a reinforced
implication that musicians hoping to apply for SBC positions should additionally
focus on nonmusical skills that might provide general church support, and those
applying for UMC positions might focus more on music performance abilities.

Demographic Qualities
According to these results, there are some demographic preferences that may
completely prohibit the hiring of certain individuals. It must be noted that this study
does not presume generalizability of the results to all American SBC and UMC
churches. It should be understood that the implications suggested here are based on a
very limited population and may pertain to the participating churches only. Though
not all churches within the same denomination will have the same preferences, they
are granted legally-protected rights to hire on any basis they choose. Applicants with
particular demographic traits could consider their suitability to a certain
114
denomination if a preference is expressed, so as not to waste time in the application
process.
Race/Color – The study showed that racial similarity to the congregation is a
preferred quality of importance in some Baptist congregations. In light of this, there
is no easier implication than to look into the racial makeup of the congregation
before applying to an SBC church, and see if it reflects the applicant’s own race or
color. Musicians applying for positions in some Methodist churches may apply
without expecting to experience bias.
Religion – Non-Christians seeking employment in the area of church music
would be highly unlikely to get a job in some Southern Baptist churches, and few
would get a job working in some United Methodist churches as well. The pastor or
hiring officers conducting an interview may ask questions about religion, religious
experience, and beliefs, and the job applicant should be prepared to answer these
questions. Additional specific doctrinal questions may be asked, and responses show
that past experience in a church of the same denomination is clearly advantageous as
well.
Sex – Based on the results of this study, men and women alike can apply to
United Methodist churches without expecting to experience any bias. However,
women might experience bias if applying to certain Southern Baptist churches.
Applicants may ask about church gender preference ahead of time, but a possible
indication of reticence concerning this question in the study may indicate that
115
churches may be hesitant to express their preferences. One additional help is offered
in the suggestion to watch for specific language when applying to advertisements:
terms like “fits the Biblical model for leadership in Titus 1:6-9 and 1 Timothy 3”
generally refer to a “males-only” role in Baptist churches.
National Origin – Non-Americans should recognize their chances for church
music employment may be slim in certain churches. Being aware of restrictions and
helping churches by bringing in all official documentation that verifies visa status
would be helpful. It is important to note that it is illegal to conceal matters of
national status from discovery. In addition, participants’ stated preference for
persons from the state or general locale may indicate that successful job searches
might be performed locally, without having to travel long distances.
Age – There are a few implications that can be drawn which might be of
assistance to the musician seeking church employment in certain Baptist and
Methodist churches. For those who are younger than 20 and might be passed over for
regular employment owing to the age bias evidenced in the study, time might be
spent gaining experience through volunteering in a smaller church or being part of a
ministry in a larger church. The results concerning the importance of experience are
encouraging to a person of this age, as it appears that any time spent in the field will
be of use later. Implications for those in the more favored curve, 20-49, are that they
should be confident about applying. Those musicians over 60 might recognize their
116
chances of facing bias in some SBC churches, however other sections of the study
implied that it may be an additional help to emphasize their benefits of experience.
Disability – The topic of disability is troubling when it comes to implications.
Applicants with physical disabilities can be fairly confident in submitting an
application for employment in certain Baptist and Methodist churches without fear
that their disability will affect their being hired. However, those with mental
disabilities should take into account the bias represented in this study when applying
for jobs. Many mental illnesses, when treated, do not impact daily function, and
persons with mental disabilities might consider whether it may or may not be worth
sharing that private medical history (however, if the disability was to impact job
function it would then become necessary to reveal that change in status).
Sexual Orientation – Persons who are gay/lesbian will have a virtually
impossible time gaining employment in certain SBC churches, and may have a
challenging time gaining employment in certain UMC churches as well. Efforts
should be spent seeking out other denominations than the SBC to approach for
employment or, in the case of the Methodists, inquiring whether the congregation is
part of a group like the “Reconciling Ministries Network,” an organization dedicated
to LGBT issues that many UMC churches have joined. There may be other specific
ministries or outreaches that would help indicate a specific Methodist church’s
stance concerning this issue.
117
Marital Status – Based on results of the study, applicants should not expect
to encounter bias over their marital status when deciding whether or not to apply to a
music leading position in the Methodist church. However, divorced persons should
be aware that they may be less likely to be hired in some Baptist churches. It is
important to note that some Baptist congregations have allowances for divorce, and
may ask the applicant if a divorce fits certain Biblical requirements. Divorced
applicants should be prepared to discuss divorce circumstances in some Baptist
churches.
Education – Applicants may do well to see formal music education as an
important part of their job application when applying for a position as a music leader
in a church. Participants from both denominations in the study preferred a college
degree in music, and the implication is that applicants with education are more likely
to be hired to church music leading jobs in these churches. The appearance of a
salary indicates an even stronger preference for education, so the musician with some
formal music education may be in a better position for finding financially gainful
employment.
Musical Skill – The study indicates that there are some musical areas that the
aspiring church music leader should work to develop. Vocal skill was reported as the
most desired musical skill for a church musician to have, with conducting skill and
instrumental skill being similarly important as well. An implication is that whenever
possible, the musician should develop these three skills. In certain churches,
118
composition skill may not be as heavily favored as the others, so focus should be
redirected to the aforementioned.
Music Experience – This study indicates that church musicians need relevant
experience. Small churches are often in need of musicians but are unable to pay;
volunteering in these situations can build experience needed to gain employment. In
addition, applicants might seek out assistant or intern opportunities in large churches.
Also, one cannot discount the importance of experience in general music
performance that can transfer to church use, like singing, playing an instrument, or
leading a choir. Applicants should work to gain experience in other professional
music fields that can increase desirability in church employment. Experience is one
of the most highly prized qualities, and there are avenues to achieve it.

Church Size
As size was seen to be an indicator in the ability to employ a musician,
larger-sized churches should be sought out for gainful employment opportunities.
Smaller churches might be approached for building experience—one of the highest
valued qualities in the study.

Worship Style
Suiting a skill set to a particular style of worship is helpful in gaining
employment, however, training across styles and literature increases opportunities.
119
Musicians looking to work in SBC or UMC churches in particular may do well to
diversify their abilities and learn skills that go to both traditional worship and
contemporary worship, as these styles are used in both a blended style of worship
and generally in multiple services as well (like those that are being actively sought
by Methodists). Diversifying this skill set may also include emphasis on different
media and the use of different musical instrumentation, as well as a familiarity for
the different songs used. One seeking to learn more traditional songs need look no
further than one of the Hymnals used by either congregation.
126
Contemporary music
sources may be found in different publishing houses, Christian radio stations, and
websites, and even companies like the aforementioned Christian Copyright
Licensing International (CCLI) tracks most-used contemporary songs and publishes
links for listening and download.

Musical Instruments Used
According to results, church musicians may have many opportunities to work
with a wide variety of musicians. Implications are to diversify musical skill and
improve in the knowledge of the literature and terminology specific to the
instruments for work in those churches that use a variety of musical forces. Results

126
While there is no standard SBC Hymnal, UMC churches widely use The United Methodist
Hymnal.
120
also indicate that applicants should gain particular experience working on song
leading, choir direction, and playing piano.

Suggestions for Further Research
As research is already scant in the area of church music, a host of research
questions are indicated by portions of the study. When it comes to smaller churches
that rely on their senior pastor to perform the lead musical work of the church, a
potential research question could go to the amount of musical training pastors are
receiving and also whether the worship styles of those churches were governed
largely by pastors’ musical abilities. In addition, in this area, feasibility studies might
be conducted within denominations to determine if cross-use of musicians could be
facilitated among churches. When it comes to the question of duties, schools of
music might benefit from a more thorough description of real-world needs in order to
train their musicians for the practical aspects of the job. In addition, resources could
be compiled to assist musicians in gaining the nonmusical skills that were favored,
especially the ministerial-type ones. Further, studies have been done on character and
effective traits in pastors, and musicians could benefit from the same. Research into
estimates on what percentage of churches hire musicians could help in determining
the prevalence of actual jobs for seekers. But most importantly, further studies in
demographic preferences might seek to compare church bias from other
denominations, to broaden the literature. As some demographic traits were ranked as
121
exclusionary, this is the area of most concern. No matter a candidate’s experience or
training, if they are possessing of a demographic trait that carries a large amount of
bias, they will be unsuccessful when applying to certain denominations or churches.

Results in light of Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC
The Supreme Court decision concerning Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC clarified
that worship leaders are not protected by the EEOC; churches are allowed to
discriminate any way they choose in the hiring and employment of these musicians.
However, the Court’s decision is problematic and is still cause for debate on a few
grounds: in particular, the issues of title and duties. Ms. Perich, the teacher at the
Hosanna-Tabor School—part of the Lutheran Church (Missouri Synod)—was given
the title “commissioned minister” and taught a bare minimum of religious instruction
in her duties, including leading only two chapels a year. In determining her status as
a minister, Chief Justice Roberts wrote in the Court’s opinion,
Every Court of Appeals to have considered the question has
concluded that the ministerial exception is not limited to the head of a
religious congregation, and we agree. We are reluctant, however, to
adopt a rigid formula for deciding when an employee qualifies as a
minister.
127

127
Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC, 565 U.S. ___ (2012).
[Note: unpublished as of writing. Please refer to the Opinion of the Court, 15]
122
This stance allows for a broadened definition of the ministerial exception, and the
Supreme Court determined that Ms. Perich was a minister based on four things: “the
formal title given Perich by the church, the substance reflected in that title, her own
use of that title, and the important religious functions she performed.”
128
In short, her
title and her duties.
Formal title – Ms. Perich was elected by the congregation to serve as a
“Minister of Religion, Commissioned.” The broader definition of minister is a
distinction here, as the Missouri Synod refuses ministerial ordination of women pastors,
saying, “The church which wishes to remain faithful to the Word of God cannot permit
the ordination of women to the pastoral office.”
129
As it pertains to this case, Chief
Justice Roberts was clear that the title of minister was important,
130
but Justice Alito
wrote that it was not important: “while a ministerial title is undoubtedly relevant in
applying the First Amendment rule at issue, such a title is neither necessary nor
sufficient.”
131
In fact, there exist many cases where lower courts decided the ministerial
exception applied to music leaders and other church workers who held no ministerial
title at all. However, additionally troubling is that Justice Robert’s opinion stated “it is
impermissible for the government to contradict a church’s determination of who can act

128
Ibid. [Note: Opinion of the Court,18]
129
A. L. Barry, “What About… The Ordination of Women to the Pastoral Office?” The Lutheran
Church, Missouri Synod, accessed March 22, 2012, http://lcms.org/Document.fdoc?src=lcm&id
=1099.
130
Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC, 565 U.S. ___ (2012).
[Note: unpublished as of writing. Please refer to the Opinion of the Court, 18]
131
Ibid. [Note: Alito, J., concurring, 5]
123
as its ministers”
132
—even though the Supreme Court allowed a 1982 lower court
decision to stand concerning that very thing. In First Baptist Silver Spring Maryland v.
Supervisor,
133
the state of Maryland determined a Music Minister did not perform
enough ministerial duties to be a minister, disregarding that his church insisted he was
one, had him preach on occasion, and referred to him as “Reverend.” The Supreme
Court was petitioned to hear the case but denied Certiorari (a review of the lower court
ruling), allowing the decision to stand. Though the Hosanna-Tabor ruling was based in
part on Ms. Perich’s title, the opinion both confirmed that title was irrelevant, and also
ignored their prior action that allowed the court to determine who was and was not
considered a minister, regardless of church claims.
Substance of title – Ms. Perich was originally hired as a “lay teacher,” but chose
to take specific college classes and be elected by the congregation in order to teach as a
“called teacher” (duties of both positions were identical). However, even this
justification by congregational election is seemingly problematic, as it was negated in
Justice Alito’s concurring opinion when he wrote, “formal ordination was not necessary
for the ‘ministerial exception’ to apply.”
134
(In fact, he cited the SBC case EEOC v.
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
135
in support of this stance.)

132
Ibid. [Note: Opinion of the Court,10]
133
Trustees of the First Baptist Church of Silver Spring, Maryland v. Supervisor of Assessments of
Montgomery County, 457 U.S. 1134; 102 S. Ct. 2960; 73 L. Ed. 2d 1351; 1982 U.S. LEXIS 2684; 50
U.S.L.W. 3998 (1982).
134
Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC, 565 U.S. ___ (2012).
[Note: Alito, J., concurring, 6]
135
651 F. 2d 277 (1981)
124
Her use of title – It was claimed that Ms. Perich “used” her title, but there was
presented no evidence that Ms. Perich ever called herself a minister outside of claiming a
common ministerial housing allowance on her taxes. Church correspondence submitted
as proof of her use of title only refers to her wanting to return to “the teaching
ministry.”
136

Duties – The “important religious functions” she performed have been stated
here prior: her religious duties took only 45 minutes of each workday. But the Supreme
Court said the nature of her religious functions took precedence over the amount of time
she spent performing them.
137

Application of this case to the study is important. The issues of title and duties
are directly relevant to a music director in a congregation. The combination of title and
duties were what swayed the court to declare Ms. Perich exempt from protection owing
to the ministerial exception. This study has shown that roughly a third of Southern
Baptist churches surveyed refer to their music leader by some ministerial-type title, and
even though the duties of those musicians contained overtly ministerial tasks around
only half of the time, it does not matter in the eyes of the law; the worship leader is
specifically included in the Supreme Court decision. As was shown in this study, the title
of Worship Leader is a musical title currently in use by one in ten Baptists and one in
five Methodists surveyed. But Hosanna-Tabor made clear that even when title is vague,

136
Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC, 565 U.S. ___ (2012).
[Note: Opinion of the Court, 17]
137
Ibid. [Note: Opinion of the Court,19]
125
the duties of the church musician are assumed to be a religious, ministerial function
resulting in lack of EEOC protection.
This study was concerned with hiring of church music leaders, but the
implications of Hosanna-Tabor take us one step further. Once hired, “ministerial”
employees may also be fired for any reason: for pregnancy,
138
for sexual
orientation,
139
for color,
140
for being female,
141
for becoming disabled,
142
for getting
married in a different church,
143
for getting older,
144
even for helping someone file a
sexual harassment claim.
145
These are not hypothetical situations—these are all cases
that have actually gone to court and lost, owing to the ministerial exception. Because
church music directors are ministerial employees, church hiring advertisements may
use any preferential language they like, churches may discriminate in hiring based on
any quality, and churches may fire their music directors for any reason or no reason,
with complete immunity on the national level. States may offer additional
protections in their own civil rights laws, but the EEOC regulations afforded most
regular employees in America do not apply to church worship leaders.

138
Combs v. Central Texas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, 173 F.3d 343 (5th
Cir. 1999).
139
Bryce v. Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Colorado, 289 F.3d 648 (10th Cir. 2002).
140
Assemany v. Archdiocese of Detroit, 434 NW 2d 233 - Mich: Court of Appeals (1988).
141
EEOC v. Roman Catholic Diocese of Raleigh, 213 F.3d 795 (4th Cir. 2000).
142
Starkman v. Evans, 198 F.3d 173 (5th Cir. 1999).
143
Little v. Wuerl, 929 F.2d 944 (3d Cir. 1991).
144
Minker v. Baltimore Annual Conference of United Methodist Church, 894 F.2d 1354 (D.C. Cir.
1990).
145
Gellington v. Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, Inc., 203 F.3d 1299 (11th Cir. 2000).
126
It is additionally important to note that even though the Supreme Court has
confirmed ministerial status for church music leaders, it has in the past refused to
reconsider lower court rulings that denied benefits of ministry to music leaders, such as
the housing allowance. In the aforementioned First Baptist Silver Spring Maryland v.
Supervisor case involving the use of a parsonage, the Supreme Court allowed a lower
court decision to stand, which said that even though the church claimed their Minister of
Music was a minister, and he was commissioned as a minister, his work was not
ministerial enough and generally performed by lay volunteers in other religious
organizations.
146
The church was subsequently denied the right to a tax exemption for
their parsonage that housed him.
147
There is clear precedent to determine that, even if a
church does not confer title, a music leader is a minister and is not only stripped of all
EEOC protections, they are also not allowed to participate in regular ministerial benefits.
And there are even more ominous and confusing implications. In a criticism of
Hosanna-Tabor written before the decision, Caroline Mala Corbin wrote,
unless courts are willing to categorize anyone who performs even one
religious task as a minister, courts still have to draw the quantitative
line somewhere. Otherwise a school can make everyone a minister by
ensuring that each and every school employee, from the janitor to the
bookkeeper to the P.E. teacher, leads a prayer at least once or twice
during the school year. As a result, no one who works for a religious
school, hospital, nursing home, social service organization, or church
would have any employment protections.

146
Music Directors may find it of interest to note that he was in charge of seven church choirs at
the time the court determined his job could be performed by a layperson.
147
Trustees of the First Baptist Church of Silver Spring, Maryland v. Supervisor of Assessments of
Montgomery County, 457 U.S. 1134; 102 S. Ct. 2960; 73 L. Ed. 2d 1351; 1982 U.S. LEXIS 2684; 50
U.S.L.W. 3998 (1982).
127

In any event, even if the Court alters the threshold amount of religious
duties that the ministerial exception requires, courts may still have to
determine whether a particular duty was religiously ‘important.’ What
if Perich only taught secular subjects? Or what if, instead of a
schoolteacher for the Evangelical Lutheran Church, she served as its
music director? In order to decide whether a music director is a
minister, the Court would have to rule on the religious significance of
music in the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Again, this test wrongly
places courts in the position of deciding whether music is integral to a
denomination’s worship services or important enough that teaching it
makes someone a minister. Resolving theological disputes about the
significance of music to worship is exactly the kind of doctrinal
issue the courts are incompetent to make, yet it is exactly the kind
of decision that application of the ministerial exception may
require.
148

By broadly interpreting the ministerial significance of worship leadership and
downplaying the importance of ordination and title, the Supreme Court has left church
music employees in a very vulnerable state. Much about this new ruling is untested—
what are the implications toward musicians like pianists, whose job is often to choose
and perform music that doctrinally supports the church in times of offering, prelude,
postlude, etc.? If Ms. Perich had remained a lay person instead of allowing the church to
confer title—an option that could conceivably be open to a music leader as well—would
she have then been more protected? What would the ruling be for a church guitarist
whose contract specified they were not considered a ministerial employee in the eyes of
the church? The general question of whether there should be certain civil rights

148
Caroline Mala Corbin, “The Irony of Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church & School v.
EEOC” Northwestern University Law Review 106 Nw. U. L. Rev. Colloquy 96, October 2011.
[emphasis added]
128
allowances made for churches has been widely discussed,
149
but until and unless further
clarifications are made to the law, musicians will have to rely on fair conduct and
statements of preference made by the churches themselves. Implications of studies like
this one might help church music employees navigate this murky water.

Conclusion
The study of church hiring preference of music leaders is a wide-open field
with little to guide potential music leaders through the distinctive and sometimes
exclusionary preferences expressed by different denominations. Much has been
discussed here concerning church bias as it pertains to the areas of race/color,
religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, and marital status.
Results showed that Baptist and Methodist participants had strong preference for
hiring Christians and Christians from their own denominations, and strong bias
against hiring persons who were non-Christian. Baptist participants displayed a
general overall preference in this study for hiring music directors who were
American citizens, male, between the ages of 20-49, from their state or general
locale, married, or who were of a race that was represented in their congregation. In
addition, these Baptists showed strong bias against hiring persons who were
gay/lesbian, and general overall bias against hiring music leaders who were divorced,

149
For initial reading, see Martha Minow, “Should Religious Groups be Exempt from Civil Rights
Laws?” Boston College Law Review 48:4, September 2007.; Molly A. Gerratt, “Closing a Loophole:
Headley v. Church of Scientology International as an Argument for Placing Limits on the Ministerial
Exception from Clergy Disputes” Southern California Law Review 85:141, November 2011.
129
mentally disabled, less than 20 years of age or over the age of 60, or female.
Methodist participants had an overall preference for hiring music directors who were
from their state or general locale, American citizens, or between the ages of 20-49,
and they showed general overall bias against hiring music leaders who were
gay/lesbian, under the age of 20, or mentally disabled. These results are not always
in line with both denominations’ documentation. In the case of the SBC, the overall
bias reported against persons based on race/color, national origin, and disability is
directly opposed by their own literature, with support for the results pertaining to the
qualities of sex, homosexuality, and marital status (there were no statements made
concerning age). In the case of the UMC, the overall bias reported against persons
based on national origin, disability and age is directly opposed by their own
literature, with support for the results pertaining to the qualities of sex,
homosexuality, and marital status.
It is important to note that even though much discussion here has gone
toward describing how churches have the legally protected right to bias any way they
choose in the hiring of their church music leaders, this does not presume that they
will all exert this right by acting with sweeping, careless, callous disregard. Churches
are made up of individuals of all kinds, from all walks of life, working together
toward a common goal, following their interpretations of scripture. Sometimes those
interpretations of scripture will include points that others may find contentious, but
churches have the right to their beliefs even when others disagree. The literature
130
showed that both of these denominations sometimes hold to stances that are not
always popular, but it also appears they often attempt to do so in a peaceful way. We
may see evidences of this in the data: Baptists in the study appeared to underreport a
bias against women, and Methodists in the study appeared to underreport a bias
against non-Christians. These responses seemed to acknowledge willingness on the
part of participants to state their beliefs, but reticence to make harsh exclusionary
statements. We may also see evidence of this in nonresponses: some participants
dropped-off from the study after being asked to answer this question of exclusion.
Furthermore, in follow-up communications pertaining to this drop-off, some
participants expressed extreme discomfort with these questions. Most clearly, we see
additional evidence of this in the anecdotal reply of one pastor: a more detailed
explanation was provided in an apparent attempt to give background for his
exclusionary response. Considering these examples, it appears that some of the
participants may have been trying to avoid causing undue hurt when exercising their
convictions.
There was a clear need for this study, to help mitigate potential frustrations of
musicians when dealing with these issues in seeking church employment. This study
has made a deliberate attempt to deal with the harsh realities of an aspect of church
music employment in a scientific way. The matter of “fit” is the one thing that a
candidate cannot always control, and the aim of the study was to provide insights
that would make it easier for musicians to efficiently direct their employment efforts.
131
In closing, it is important to mention that there was one implicit result in the
study that has previously not been mentioned, and that was this: every participating
church reported the use of music. Music is a vital, valued part of the worship service
of the church. As long as that value continues, so will the need for musicians.

132
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138
Appendices
Appendix A: Survey Instrument

139

140
141

142

143

144

145

146
Appendix B: Script for Introductory Phone Call

“Hi, I’m looking for ______ church at ______(address)?

My name is Donna Frenzel and I'm with the University of Southern
California's Department of Sacred Music. We're conducting research on the qualities
churches prefer in music leaders, and you have been randomly selected from a
nationwide list for inclusion in our study. We have a 10 question survey online
that’s designed for pastors or other hiring officers to fill out…

… and I was hoping you could recommend an email address where I can
send the link?

OR

… and the link can be found at surveymonkey.com/churchmusic. Your
password is _______.
If you have any questions, please call me at my direct line at XXX-XXX-
XXXX or email me at XXXXX@usc.com. Thank you so much.”
147
Appendix C: Invitational Email
to: Pastor or Hiring Officer
_______ Church, (City, ST)
(please notify if not the intended recipient, or if church is no longer a member of the
INSERT DENOMINATION)
password: _____

Dear Church Leader,

In order to better help us advise our sacred music students, the University of
Southern California's Department of Sacred Music is conducting a study on the
qualities churches look for when selecting music leaders. You are being included
in this research because your church was randomly selected from a nationwide
list to represent the [DENOMINATION] in this study.

The 10 question survey seeks answers to the question, “What do churches look for in
a music leader?” and your opinion is valid to us regardless of the current size of your
church or scope of your music practices. The survey should take only about 4
minutes to complete, and there is no personal information gathered about you as an
individual. You have complete anonymity and at no time will your church ever be
identified in reporting – all information will be reported in the aggregate only.

To access the survey, please go to http://www.XXXXX.com and enter the password
underlined above when prompted.

If you have any questions at all please do not hesitate to email me at this address or
call me at XXX-XXX-XXXX. For questions concerning general survey verification,
you may also contact Dr. Sheila Woodward at XXX-XXX-XXXX.

We thank you for your participation in this study designed to help us educate future
church musicians!

Sincerely Yours,
Donna Frenzel
Study Lead/Principal Investigator
Thornton School of Music
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, California
840 W. 34
th
Street, MUS 301
Tel XXX-XXX-XXXX
XXXXX@usc.edu
148
Appendix D: Mailed Letter

Abstract (if available)

Linked assets

University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

Conceptually similar

PDF

Music in worship in the Churches of Christ and choral music performance in Church of Christ affiliated colleges and universities

PDF

The Antiochian Orthodox Church of North America: vocal music and choral practice

Asset Metadata

Creator Chaparro, Donna Frenzel (author)

Core Title Preferences in the hiring of music leaders within Southern Baptist and United Methodist churches in America

School Thornton School of Music

Degree Doctor of Musical Arts

Degree Program Sacred Music

Publication Date 08/03/2012

Defense Date 08/03/2012

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag Age,Baptist,Christian,Church,church employment,Church music,church preference,color,comparative religion,demographic,Disability,EEOC,hiring preference,Marital status,Methodist,ministerial exception,Music,music director,music leader,national origin,OAI-PMH Harvest,Race,Religion,Sex,sexual orientation,Southern Baptist,United Methodist

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Strimple, Nick L. (committee chair), Grases, Cristian F. (committee member), Renteln, Alison Dundes (committee member), Woodward, Sheila C. (committee member)

Creator Email frenzelc@usc.edu,uscdonna@gmail.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c3-86713

Unique identifier UC11288330

Identifier usctheses-c3-86713 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-ChaparroDo-1136.pdf

Dmrecord 86713

Document Type Dissertation

Rights Chaparro, Donna Frenzel

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA