Music Director

Creativechurch; Maple Grove (MN); On-site; USD 52,000 - 78,000; Full time

Job summary

Creative Church seeks a Music Director to direct and lead worship musicians during rehearsals and services, ensuring musical excellence across environments. The role supports worship leaders, creates arrangements, and prepares Nashville Number charts to enable fluid live worship.

The ideal candidate will demonstrate advanced piano/keyboard skills, extensive worship experience, and a track record of guiding volunteers. A focus on Spirit-led worship and team development is essential.

Qualifications

• Advanced proficiency on piano and keyboard.
• Significant experience serving as a worship keys player.
• Ability to lead a full band and follow musical direction.

Responsibilities

• Direct and lead worship musicians during rehearsals, soundchecks, and services.
• Support worship leaders in carrying the vision, direction, and flow of each service.
• Build arrangements, transitions, dynamics, and musical cues for worship sets.
• Prepare Nashville Number charts, chord charts, and other musical resources.
• Lead and mentor volunteer musicians and develop next-generation leaders.
• Collaborate with Production to ensure cohesive band and sound.

Skills

Piano/Keyboard

Nashville Number System

Band leadership

Transposition

Chord knowledge

Click tracks

Spontaneous worship

Musical arranging

Tools

Nord keyboards

MainStage

MIDI programming

Ableton Live

Omnisphere

Keyscape

Job description

Primary Responsibilities

Musical Direction & Service Execution

Direct and lead worship musicians during rehearsals, soundchecks, and servicesTake ownership of the musical preparation and execution of worship sets across Creative Church environmentsSupport worship leaders in carrying the vision, direction, and flow of each service

• Build arrangements, transitions, dynamics, spontaneous moments, tags, vamps, musical cues, and extended worship sections

Help create musical environments that are prepared and excellent without becoming rigid or over‑produced

• Remain highly flexible and responsive when worship leaders or pastoral leadership change arrangements, repeat sections, move into spontaneous worship, change keys, introduce an unplanned song, or adjust direction in the moment
• Recognize where a worship leader is going musically and help the band follow quickly and confidently
• Communicate clearly with musicians during rehearsals and live worship through Nashville Numbers, musical cues, talkback, hand signals, and other established systems

Support the Worship Director on Sunday mornings by helping lead the team both practically and spirituallyWork closely with Production and Audio to ensure the band, playback, keys, transitions, and overall musical sound function cohesively

• Understand how to create musical space that supports prayer, ministry, healing, altar moments, and spontaneous worship without overplaying

Musical Preparation & Resources

Prepare and organize songs before rehearsals and servicesCreate clean, accurate Nashville Number charts, chord charts, arrangements, and other musical resourcesMaintain accurate musical resources within Planning Center Online

• Ensure keys, BPMs, arrangements, tracks, patches, sounds, pads, transitions, and necessary musical information are prepared and communicated before teams arrive
• Review upcoming worship plans and identify musical needs, difficult transitions, key changes, spontaneous opportunities, or potential issues ahead of time

Develop musical solutions and backup plans when necessaryHelp maintain consistency in how songs are arranged and executed across Creative ChurchBuild systems and resources that allow volunteer musicians to walk into rehearsals prepared and confident

• Develop a strong working knowledge of Creative Church's worship repertoire, including modern worship music, hymns, gospel‑influenced worship, contemporary worship, historic songs of the Church, spontaneous worship, and songs spanning multiple generations

Worship Keys, Sound Design & Music Production

The Music Director should be able to confidently lead worship from keys while understanding how keyboard sounds, textures, voicings, dynamics, and musical space shape the atmosphere of a worship environment.

Responsibilities include:

• Demonstrate advanced proficiency on piano and keyboard in both rehearsed and spontaneous environments
• Confidently use Nord keyboards and understand patch selection, layering, splits, organ sounds, piano sounds, synths, pads, and live worship workflows
• Build and maintain modern worship keyboard sounds using tools such as:
  • Nord
  • MainStage
  • MIDI programming
  • Ableton Live
  • Omnisphere
  • Keyscape
  • Software instruments and MIDI plug‑ins
• Understand how to build, layer, and manipulate piano sounds, pads, synths, textures, strings, organs, ambient sounds, and other worship keys elements
• Create and organize patches, pads, textures, layers, and soundscapes that serve individual songs and worship environmentsUnderstand how to build atmosphere musically without overcrowding the room
• Understand modern playback systems, click tracks, cues, stems, and worship music workflows

Worship Vocabulary & Musical Range

Creative Church values a broad worship vocabulary.

The Music Director should:

• Have a wide working knowledge of worship music across generations and styles
• Be familiar with traditional hymns and historic songs of the Church
• Understand modern contemporary worship music and current worship trends
• Be comfortable moving between highly structured songs and open spontaneous worship
• Understand presence‑led and Spirit‑led worship environments similar to ministries such as Jesus Image, UPPERROOM, and Bethel Music

Spontaneous & Spirit‑Led Worship

Creative Church values preparation, but we also believe preparation should create freedom rather than restrict it.

The Music Director must be comfortable leading in presence‑led, Spirit‑led worship environments where the plan may change in real time.

Team Development & Discipleship

At Creative Church, leadership means more than accomplishing a task.

The Music Director should actively help identify, disciple, train, and release musicians into greater levels of musical and spiritual leadership.

This includes:

Coach, mentor, and develop volunteer musiciansIdentify emerging musicians and create pathways for them to growHelp recruit and onboard new musicians as the worship ministry growsDevelop younger and next‑generation musicians within Youth, Young Adults, and other ministry environmentsProvide private coaching or lessons when needed to strengthen individual musicians

Give clear, encouraging, and actionable musical feedbackHelp musicians understand not only what to play, but why they are playing it

Develop additional MDs and musical leaders who can eventually carry responsibility at the Creative Church standard

Shepherd and care for musicians relationally rather than viewing people simply as players needed to fill positions

Our goal is not to build a worship ministry around a few talented people. Our goal is to develop, empower, and multiply leaders.

Midweek & Next Generation Support

The Music Director will also help strengthen worship beyond Sunday mornings.

Responsibilities may include:

Supporting Youth and Young Adult worship environments musicallyAssisting with staffing and scheduling needsHelping younger musicians prepare for servicesDeveloping emerging MDs, keys players, and band leadersEstablishing musical standards and systems that can carry across ministry environments

• Helping next‑generation musicians develop strong worship vocabulary and musical instincts
• Teaching younger musicians how to operate in both structured and spontaneous worship environments

Musical Qualifications

We are looking for someone with a high level of musical competency who can confidently lead other skilled musicians.

The ideal candidate should have:

Advanced proficiency on piano and keyboard

• Significant experience serving as a worship keys player
• Strong knowledge of the Nashville Number System
• Ability to confidently play in all keys
• Ability to transpose naturally without relying on a keyboard transpose function
• Ability to hear and follow chord progressions quickly
• Ability to learn and memorize music quickly
• Strong understanding of chords, harmony, rhythm, musical structure, and arrangement
• Strong understanding of piano, organ, pads, synths, strings, textures, and contemporary worship keyboard sounds
• Ability to create clean and organized chord charts and musical resourcesAbility to confidently lead a full band
• Strong understanding of modern worship music and contemporary worship keyboard techniques
• Ability to play consistently with a click track
• Significant comfort supporting and leading spontaneous worship musically
• Ability to adjust arrangements and musical direction quickly and confidently on the fly
• Experience playing multiple instruments is not required but is a strong plus.

Spiritual & Leadership Expectations

The Music Director is a spiritual leader within the worship department and should demonstrate:

A deep and active personal relationship with Jesus

A life marked by prayer, scripture, worship, and spiritual growth

Sensitivity to the Holy Spirit

A genuine hunger for the presence of God