Money again
08-17-2008, 05:45 AM
As you know, I can never work out the best way to handle the money side of dance ministry, and this has come to a head once again.
I've just been asked to provide a group of dancers for a forthcoming Israel conference. The event runs Friday evening through Sunday evening. With the help of my team, I'll need to lead congregational dance throughout, do a few presentations, and teach a workshop for about 90 mins.
I don't have a regular group, so I'll have to gather some colleagues together for maybe four rehearsals, and then we'll all need to give up a weekend for the event. Some may have to take Friday afternoon off work.
The organiser wants to pay our travel expenses, provide accommodation, and give us a gift based on the conference income. Although this isn't an unusual way of doing things, I feel unhappy as I'm worried we'll be bottom of the pile when it comes to sharing out the income. The conference is fairly small (about 100 delegates expected) and there's no guarantee of how much money will come in. I also know one of the musicians has negotiated a set fee, which would be my preferred way of working.
Neither myself nor any of the other dancers are well-off (nor have rich partners), and on balance our dance ministries all cost us far more than what we receive from the bookings we get (which aren't frequent, as the messianic scene over here is very small). We're going to have to invest in some new costumes for this event, and I don't think we can afford to do this without knowing we'll get something to cover the cost.
Whilst it is a privilege and a joy to minister, it also involves a lot of hard work and expenditure. I don't know if my attitude is the problem, but I do sometimes feel exploited by people who want dancing at their events. It's difficult to live off someone else's faith.
So what do people think? Should I be more businesslike or should I just trust God and the conference organiser?
I've just been asked to provide a group of dancers for a forthcoming Israel conference. The event runs Friday evening through Sunday evening. With the help of my team, I'll need to lead congregational dance throughout, do a few presentations, and teach a workshop for about 90 mins.
I don't have a regular group, so I'll have to gather some colleagues together for maybe four rehearsals, and then we'll all need to give up a weekend for the event. Some may have to take Friday afternoon off work.
The organiser wants to pay our travel expenses, provide accommodation, and give us a gift based on the conference income. Although this isn't an unusual way of doing things, I feel unhappy as I'm worried we'll be bottom of the pile when it comes to sharing out the income. The conference is fairly small (about 100 delegates expected) and there's no guarantee of how much money will come in. I also know one of the musicians has negotiated a set fee, which would be my preferred way of working.
Neither myself nor any of the other dancers are well-off (nor have rich partners), and on balance our dance ministries all cost us far more than what we receive from the bookings we get (which aren't frequent, as the messianic scene over here is very small). We're going to have to invest in some new costumes for this event, and I don't think we can afford to do this without knowing we'll get something to cover the cost.
Whilst it is a privilege and a joy to minister, it also involves a lot of hard work and expenditure. I don't know if my attitude is the problem, but I do sometimes feel exploited by people who want dancing at their events. It's difficult to live off someone else's faith.
So what do people think? Should I be more businesslike or should I just trust God and the conference organiser?
« Next Oldest | Next Newest »
Messages In This Thread
Users browsing this thread: 3 Guest(s)
Powered By MyBB - Hosted by Tierra Hosting