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How Your Church’s Leaders Should View Your Salary

Orginally published on Tuesday, June 28, 2005 at 6:48 AM
by Todd Rhoades

How do the leaders view you when it comes to your salary and compensation package?  Hmmm… that’s an important question, since they are, ultimately, the ones who approve your salary (in most cases) on an annual basis.  What are some of the things that your laity leaders look at when they determine your salary?  What should they be looking at?

The fine people over at Crown Financial Ministries have put together a short, non-exhaustive list of five things that they should be looking at to determine your salary and potential increases in the future:

Staff potential.
Every staff member?s potential to his or her respective department and/or ministry, as well as to the church overall, should be taken into consideration when making an evaluation.

Position appreciation.

Staff members should be evaluated with regard to their attitudes toward their positions and responsibilities. Whether members are appreciative or resentful of the opportunity to serve should be taken into serious consideration.

Fair day?s pay for a fair day?s work.
Although it may be difficult to determine how faithful staff members are at performing the jobs for which they were employed to do, special efforts should be made and notice given to both conscientious as well as lackadaisical work habits.

Rewards are earned, not given.
All staff members must realize that the paternalistic corporate approach of ?giving? a raise or ?giving? a holiday cannot be extended beyond the accepted just because they work in a church environment. Laborers are truly worthy of their hire and their work ethic must reflect that truth.

Fair and consistent treatment where there is no favoritism.
One of the quickest ways to lose the respect of staff is for the church leadership to vacillate in the observance of standards and procedure, be inconsistent in day-to-day policy, and show partiality in the treatment of one member over another.

Let's Discuss:  The audience of this blog is chock-full of church staff members.  Would you say that over the course of your ministry that your church leaders have treated you fairly with your compensation and evaluations?  Of course there are extremes, but how is the relationship between you and your personnel committee, elder board, or other leadership entity?  Do they follow (for the most part) the suggestions above?  How uncomfortable are you in discussion compensation in your own church?  Let's hear your experience...


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 TRACKBACKS: (0) There are 41 Comments:

  • Posted by

    I am interviewing for a ministry opportunity next week, and I am a little uncertain about how to handle the issue of salary. What are some good ways to be frank about my needs without seeming greedy or ungrateful?

  • Posted by

    I’ll speak to the article first.

    Some of this discussion sounds like the marketplace values.  Whoever does the best job gets the most money.  How do we gauge a good job in the church?  Let’s say that our “job” is to “make disciples”.  We make disciples by leading folks to live like Jesus wants.  The main commandment that Jesus gives us is to love God and love others like we love ourselves or to love like Jesus loves.  How do we gauge love?  Should the pastor of a megachurch with a heart for God, great speaking voice, and keen mind get more than the missionary in Kazakstan who has a heart for God, simple speaking voice, and keen mind get paid less because he only gets a couple disciples in his ministry?  I know this is an exagerated case but the point is what are our values.

    I’ve always appreciated Campus Crusade for Christ - they pay largerly according to need - cost of living, family size, and other personal needs.  This seems to be a culture of trust and faithfulness instead of results and reward. 

    I just don’t see a theological/biblical case for results and reward.

    Personally, I need more money now because I have 3 chidren growing up.  They will all be through college in 14 years.  These years I foresee needing more money than I needed 10 years ago and what I will need in 20 years.  I plan on making my pay commensurate to those needs.  May my motivation for work not be money but faithfulness to God’s call and God’s people.

    On those notes - I simply share with the church my needs.  I have brought my budget for the previous year so that folks might be able to share some ideas on our spending as a family and also to show where the needs are.  I think this is Christian community.  I ask the church for these needs to be met otherwise I will need to find other employment in addition to the church to meet those needs.

  • Posted by

    Unfortunately, I don’t think that the five items mentioned above really say much at all about setting staff salaries.

    I agree with Drew on the needs-basis, but also don’t see much wrong with using some elements of “marketplace values” either, as long as we understand the value of what values we are using.

    We must remember two things:
    (1) God is responsible for the results, not us - remuneration based on results is Biblically unsound.
    (2) When the church calls someone into fulltime ministry, they are implicitly making a promise to meet all the material needs of that family.  For a Pastor’s spouse to have to work just to make ends meet means that the church has violated their committment to that family (especially if they were expecting “two for the price of one.")

    Most Pastors come out of seminary with a truck load of debt, and have usually given up very lucrative careers (or possibilities of such) to serve God in the local church.  Boards (or Personnell committees) should take account of the seven years of education required to get through seminary, plus the usually higher cost of such education.  Salary should be suffcient to allow the Pastor to live IN the community they are serving in and not have to commute because of cost of living (how does that foster community?).  These things MUST be taken into account when hiring staff.  How can we expect to keep pastors long term if we pay them like short term employees?

    Churches want to “have their cake and eat it too” in that they want to hire as many staff as they can, but pay them as little as they can.  We should reverse this - pay your staff as much as you can (what is right, not what is affordable) and hire only as many staff as you can afford!

  • Posted by

    I have been the youth minister at my church for 6 yrs and seen our small church youth group grow from 2 to 12 and seen them get involved in VBS, service projects, soup kitchens, nursery work, youth confrences. To this day they have not offered me a salary to do this job that takes as much time as my current FT job. I don’t know how to approach the powers that be to get the ball rolling. I much rather have all my time in the ministry God gave me to lead.

  • Posted by

    Four major differences betweent male and female ministry leaders.

    1) Males receive higher salaries even though credentials are the same.
    2) Females consistantly prove to have more responsibilities than their counterparts.
    3) Females are expected to earn any “rights”, “respect” and “priveledges” while these are inherently given to males.
    4) Elders and other male staff continue to look down on female ministry leaders. They respond to females similarly to Sunday School teachers.

  • Posted by

    Two situations in my church have raised my awareness to the need for a fair and eqitable policy governing salary increases.

    In one situation, a new full-time associate pastor was hired.  He was a long-standing member of the church, having served many years as an elder and Bible teacher. There was no question among the board (which included the senior pastor and another full-time associate) as to his character qualifications or his ability to teach, counsel, and pastor.

    The salary for the new pastor was established based almost solely upon his “needs”, and not upon external “market-place” criteria such as education, experience, etc.  When the other associate pastor (with 6 years of theological education and nearly 10 years vocational ministry experience) discovered that the new associate pastor’s salary would be some $20k more than his, he began to question the judgement of the board.  The new pastor did not have the training or vocational expereince of the other pastors yet his salary comunicated a favoritism that created a rift among the the staff pastors.

    In another situation, some staff members were consistently receiving higher cost of living increases than other staff were.  Some were receiving in excess of 3% increases while others only received 1%, all based on individual “needs”.

    All of this points to the need for a policy that governs basic salary issues.  Most businesses have such a policy and have human resource personnel to oversee staff compensation.  This policy would establish guidelines that would promote fairness as well as reward individual effort, education, and experience.

    Regardless of how we feel about the presence of “marketplace values” in the church, it remains true that the church is a business in every sense, albeit an not-for-profit business, but a business nonetheless.  Among other things, it sets annual budgets, it buys and sells merchandise, it hires and fires employees - and all of this (hopefully) in accordance with regional and federal laws governing business practices.  Thus, “marketplace values” have a role in the church and should play a role in the determination of such things as staff salaries.  What must be guarded against are those “marketplace values” that would stand in opposition to biblical ethics. 

    In my view, staff salaries should be determined based on “marketplace values” insofar as those values reflect Scriptural principles.  When the Bible does not speak specifically on an issue (such as what is a fair and equitable salary for pastors), other biblical principles can be used alongside marketplace norms to help establish those salaries. 

    Such “marketplace values” that can be used to determine staff salaries might include consideration of location and local standards of living, median household income data, and a local comparison of salaries of similar professional vocations (teachers, secretaries, professors, doctors, etc.) which require similar educational backgrounds and degrees.

    When a church adopts the position of staff salaries based on “need”, no matter how much care is exercised, it does not protect against greed, envy, and favoritism among the staff members.  After all, church staff are human too.  This is where biblical ethics come into play.  Moreover, without some kind of human resource policy governing wage levels and increases, vacation time, and benefits, staff are left guessing as to their value to the organization. This undermines their self-worth and may even cause them to question God’s love and care for his shepherds.

  • Posted by

    We have come into a peculiar situation in my mainline denomination: we have a clergy shortage.  The result is that in my region more recently “called” clergy are being paid about $20k more than existing clergy – regardless of credentials or track record.  Pay scales are set as “minimum required pay” based on church size and years of service.  We are trying to raise these minimums 10% for 2006 – so that we can approach some degree of equity.  Lots of resistance to the 10% increase, though.  However, if the existing pastors left these churches, the newly called pastor would be paid a good 30% more.

    This is truly a “market place”, with demand and supply at work.  Churches now need to pay clergy enough so they don’t leave (unless that’s what the congregation wants).

    Barring a situation such as this, I believe church staff should be paid a reasonable salary, which reflects what similar work pays in non-profit organizations.  Increases should reflect cost of living and merit.  Merit should have to do with how well the individual’s performance reflects the core values of the church.  And absolutely: people should be paid enough to be able to live in the community they serve.

  • Posted by

    My personal opinion is that churches should pay just as business pays.  The salary should be comparable to the community.  It should never never ever ever be based on whether they are married, children, etc… ANY church that does this is out of touch with reality.  A bare minimum raise should be given each year that equals to the inflation rate.  More should be given based on performance. As a former full time minister, now volunteer, I was always overburdened with ministry responsibilities.
    Added duties as time went along because there was no-one else to do them.  This is just simply wrong.  Just because a church wants to start a ministry, doesn’t mean they are prepared to undertake that ministry.  But, the role of devloping that ministry falls to full time staff who have no idea how to do it, and they lack the volunteers/laity with the experience needed to make it happen.  Then some in the church have the gall (yes, gall) to complain when a ministry fails, and the blame goes to the staff member and the senior pastor.  Churches need to focus on what they have the resources and volunteers/laity for before they start focusing on new ministry.  Quite frankly, some churches need to give up many of the ministries that are not working in their church until the resources and vision for that ministry are realized.  I’m not opposed to new programming, unless we don’t have the staff, resources and volunteers to make it happen.  While I’m on my soapbox, some may disagree with me, but one thing that was pointed out to me in Bible College, as ministers, we should AVOID combo positions. One combo position, Youth/Music ministry has been branded by many as “the combination that always fails”.  While that may not be true everywhere, I have seen ministries suffer because of such combo positions.  Combo positions, unless they heavily interconnect, are divisive to a church, frustrating to ministers, and lead many churches into mediocrity and worse, including high staff turnover.  In short, we need to remember that the pastoral staff at your church has one purpose: Equip the saints for the ministry of the church.  It ‘s the rest of the churches job to do visitation, evangelize, outreach, etc… I know many pastors enjoy doing such things, but really, it’s not their job. So with that said, if your pastor or other staff pastor is EQUIPPING the church for the ministry, that is the standard by which we should base their compensation.  I know there’s a lot of holes for debate in these off the cuff statements, but I pray that they not be taken offensively.  However, I do realize, there are people who will be offended, because that is just the way they are.  No offense.  In his grip, Peter D

  • Posted by

    I am not complaining about my salary.  But I would complain about the way I have been treated, (not my current appointment).  One church treasurer looked at my total package, pension, health insurance, and acted as if this was the total I was receiving.  Forgetting I get no help on social security.

    I find they often have no idea how many hours I put in, often not getting a complete day off.  That is the nature of what I do, I know this.  But when some members act as if I do not work except half a day on Sunday it makes feel unapprecated and resented.

    I struggle (like many americans)to pay my bills.  Yes some of my members in the past act as if I were Bill gates, even though my son got free meals at school based on our family size and income.  Give me a break!!!

  • Posted by

    I have rarely ever seen a church give “merit” increases.  Normally they opt for the “everyone gets the same percentage, regardless of how they perform” method, so that they won’t have to face staff issues.  Funny how that works…

  • Posted by

    We are going to a new ministry position next week, so praise the Lord all of this will be behind us, but here is how our current church salary experience has gone.
    My husband was a single man when he took this full time job 6 years ago. Now he is married with a toddler, and his weekly salary has only increased $40 in 6 years. Yes, they pay our insurance, but we are definitely getting the short end of the stick on the salary end. Many times we have had to put groceries on our credit card, or we wouldn’t have had them. We also had to take out a loan for a large amount of money earlier this year to get our car back from the mechanic. Not to mention having to rent vans for trips and pay for gas with our credit card, and usually having to pay the bill before we were reimbursed, meaning more debt for us. We have suffered in silence for the most part, because we knew it wouldn’t change even if we asked. Our church recently hired a retired pastor as a part-time interim SP, and he came in making over $100 more a week than my husband who is full time paid staff! We drive used cars, one of which isn’t even running now, because it needs work. I choose not to work b/c we feel my job is to be at home raising children, not passing that buck to a daycare so that I can work to pay for daycare.
    Several members have made the comment since my husband’s resignation, “we know you need more money, you have a family now, you need a bigger salary, etc...” and I just want to scream… He didn’t just wake up one morning with a wife and child on his doorstep - Our daughter is almost 18 months old, and in all that time, no one, except our SP said that we needed a pay increase. When he made the suggestion, it was voted down by the finance committee. He hasn’t gotten a raise in 2 years.
    As I said, we are moving on next week, and our new church looks to be much better about compensating the staff. Churches should keep in mind that financial strain at home makes strain everywhere else. Your pastors and their families shouldn’t have to worry about being able to afford groceries.

  • Posted by

    In response to Jennifer:

    It’s amazing. I have been a Pastor for 5 years now with no pay increase. I don’t have the opportunity NOT to work. I don’t have much sympathy for those who suffer financially when one spose refuses to work because “it is their resposibility to stay home with the kids”. I never had that priveledge.

    It is your responsibility to adequately provide for your own family. It is not the responsibility of the church or employer to do that. It doesn’t matter if your spouse was hired as a single person and now has a wife and kid. You aren’t working.

    The church is not responsible to provide for your every need. Your husband chose to get married and chose to have a child. Therefore, he should choose to find a job or jobs, as well as to ask you to work- basically do whatever, to provide for his family.

    My children are now grown and I’ve worked all my life. God provided for our family because I was faithful to do my part. My children love God and are actively serving Him. They have felt no ill effects from my working and have always known they are loved and cared for.

    It has only been since the 1950’s that women began to be stay-at-home mothers. Read your Bible in Proverbs 31 and see what Biblical women did!

  • Posted by pjlr

    Clergy pay.  What an interesting topic.  I “employ” a significant staff (35 including a christian school).  Our salaries are set quite simply. We don’t look at the budget first.  We determine what the proper level of staffing is and then challenge our congregation to provide the necessary income to pay a decent living wage.

    1. We research the market to get an idea of what the position pays.  There are plenty of internet resources and books that have been written to show what the market is for ministry personnel. This assures that we are paying a living wage with the appropriate benefits for this field of work.
    2. We make a basic adjustment for the area we live in (It takes about 30% more to live in the Chicago area than Jacksonville, FL)
    3. We give raises on merit only.  Cost of living is only a reality in government jobs and in those few business who choose to do so. The size of ones family has nothing to do with how we pay our staff.  I don’t get a raise from my boss when I have a child if I’m a plumber, or manufacture widgets.
    4. Evaluations are made yearly which will readily explain why a person is getting a raise or not.
    5. All of our staff are lovingly told that if they can get a better offer, they have a right to seek it out. If we weren’t paying market rate, then we know that we can expect some turnover.
    6. Good stewardship is absolutely essential to live on ministry wages. Church budgets can only accommodate so much salary.  Pastors get many perks that they wouldn’t get if they were in a secular environment.  There are often special offerings taken for birthdays, anniversaries, Pastor Appreciation month etc.  Extra income often comes in from weddings, and funerals.  And it is not uncommon for people to pick up the tab when you are invited to lunch or dinner.

    This is the reality of ministry.  Churches should pay a living wage and then the minister can trust God for the rest.

  • Posted by

    In response to Sandy’s comments to Jennifer, as a full-time working mother I know what it’s like to have to work and raise the kids as well.  But to imply that staying home with the children is somehow “unBiblical” is, I think, a bit much.  I’m not sure that there’s any of us who can compare to the standard of the Proverbs 31 woman.

  • Posted by

    It is interresting reading all the comments on church staff compensation.
    I think we need to re-think this whole subject and look at what the basis for needing that person is in the first place.
    We can argue all day on the “on the market place salary” compared to the “needs based salary” but bottom line is no matter what we pay someone who is “called” to ministry they must fulfill thier calling. 
    We need to reconize the difference between a hirerling and a truly called minister (man or woman).One works for a position and the other works for the God they serve.  Yes we are all human but our humanity can not be a reason to forsake our calling.
    I have work as an unpaid staff member and a paid staff member.  The thing I had to keep in mind is it is not the people writing the check that called me it is Almighty God and He wrote through inspiration “do not muzzle the ox that treds the grain” He also said “a worker is worth his wage”. 
    If you go over to the priestly pay of the old Testement you will find a way of paying that the priests would never have lack.
    When the temple suffered the whole community of believers suffers.
    WE need to get off our oppions of how much is enough or not enough and do as the scriptures say to do and thats take care of the men/women of God that are sent to us.  It is not for a commity to judge what is good enough it is for God to provide the man/women that is sent.  At one time in the new testement Jesus said to the diciples not to take purse or cloat and in another area he told them now is the time to take purse and coat. 
    The issue really boils down to this: is the church going to rise up and be the church and take care of the men/women God is sending to them and stop scobbling over $40 dollars a week or what ever the figure. 
    In my life when i was not a paid staff i owned my own business and out of that business i made sure that the man who was sent to us was taken of (He did not have to worry about money) I did it through the church and never made mention of it or made it an issue butduring that time great thinngs happened I believe because God honored our giving as a church to Him(God) first and secondly to taking care of the one God sent to us to Equip us to do the works of service.(for pay or not for pay)
    We need to look at a whole range of variables to determine the worth of a wage but buttom line is what are we saying to first God, second our leaders and thirdly the world if we don’t take care of the ones we are suppose to recieve and asking others to recieve. 
    WE dont mind spending a 100.00 to take our family out for a ball game and it does not bother us to see a sport star spend Gods money on drugs, cars, and other unnessary things. 
    WE go out to a nice dinner and expect a wonderful meal with great service and then we pay a large amount to recieve that with a tip.
    As long a our house is full of furniture and our car is at least almost new and shiny we have food in our freezer and the things at work are going fine we will tip the pastor
    Hog Wash
    God is not pleased with that and it show in the lack of zeal, spiritual revival, and lack of life in most stingy churches across this globe.
    When are we going to get off our plush pues and get on our face and repent for our pride, selfishness, and greed in the church.
    If we will do so His word says he will heal our land and with healing comes blessings.
    I’m not talking about money I’m talking about the blessings of our families and our lives being put back into order.
    Yes every staff member needs to be properly compesated but that is based upon Gods principles not our opionion or a market annalsis
    If every man and woman will do thier part it will be easier for the ones sent to us to do thier part.
    Go read Ephs. 4: 11 and 12 /
    and then search the scriptures for What God says about taking care of those people and you will find a standard that can not be based upon a need or a market place but strickly on obedience to God,

  • Posted by

    Seeing the number and length of the responses tells me that the subject of salary hits us all where we live. I believe in merit pay raises, and I don’t think it’s really all that hard to tell if a minister is doing a good job. I’m serving my 4th full-time church and have unsuccessfully attempted to convince all of them to grant merit pay raises to their staff. For whatever reason, the garden-variety believer finds the idea distasteful. Yet I’ve found very few church policies that will frustrate a staff member any more than giving the same percentage (or dollar amount) raise to all staff regardless of their work. As usual, scripture is correct: you reap what you sow. If you have a music minister who’s choir is steadily dwindling due to his incompetence, and he receives the same raise as the youth minister who God is using to lead a non-stop revival among your area’s teenagers, the church will suffer in both ministries. The music ministry will suffer because a man is rewarded regardless of his work. The youth ministry will suffer when the youth minister leaves enroute to a church that appreciates him. (By the way, I’m a music minister. That’s why I worded the example the way I did.)

  • Posted by

    I agree with Drew in his assesment of need based salary. We as minister’s should be receiving a salary not because we’ve earned it like a job per se, but inorder to free us to do ministry. If we have to worry about making ends meet because of an inadequate salary compensation, then we will be conflicted and maybe even have to get a part-time job. And that will rob us of needed energy, time and focus for what is most important, our ministries. My last ministry position did not compensate me for an additional degree, innovative programs and a lot of hard work requiring hours away from my family. The Sr. Pastor held the purse strings, which I think was wrong. I feel the Deacons or finance ministry should be the ones to evaluate salaries with input from the Sr. Pastor and the entire Pastoral staff. Salaries became a guessing game of whether we were or weren’t going to get any and if we did how much, based on what?! The sad thing is prior to the new Pastor we had a very workable system based upon a salary schedule connected to the ECOLA rate at the public schools. A built in incentive percentage increase was given when a pastor demonstrated innovation in a new program, earned a degree, demonstrated sacrifice in his ministry, even longevity in some instances. Everyone felt valued and apprecaited because increases were not controlled by one man, and the system was easily understood and less likey for favoritism or manipulation could happen. Salaries are a senstive subject, but in ministry the emphasis is upon honoring the Lord and His people. The call to ministry is often difficult enough, but for a minister to not be adequately compensated for the sake of his family and needs, then the system needs to be changed. I’ve observed often a lot of waste in ministry. Some of this “waste” in programs could be cut back inorder to adequately compensate your pastors and minsitry staff. My former pastor, before the most recent one, followed these three guidelines for spending money: Staff/Programs/Facilities. And it helped keep everything in a proper priority. When Facilities or even programs come before staff, the whole thing shuts down. Staff is the key to ministry growth and health. If paying them what their worth is tricky, then pay them what they need for freedom’s sake. Set them free for ministry.

  • Posted by

    I know that there are many churches that pay their professional staff fairly in the local marketplace.  I know that there are many churches that match their faith with their vision and trust God to provide so that they can provide for their pastor(s).

    Unfortunately, I also know that many churches confuse the concepts of good stewardship and of mean-spiritedness.  Case in point:  I was brought into a local church to become the Minister of Discipleship last September.  I was to be officially hired in October.  In October, I was to be officially hired in November.  In November I was to be officially hired in December.  I’m sure you see the trend.  It is now nearly July, and I have still not been hired, although the church has been using me as a part-time associate pastor without title or salary since December, a situation that has hampered my effectiveness as well as my pocketbook. 

    A few weeks ago I was informed that they had finally agreed to a salary – which ended up being little more than minimum wage in an area of the country known for its high cost of living.  I turned them down and pointed them to 1 Timothy 5:17-18, also letting them know what was fair market value for someone with a seminary degree, ordination, a PhD, over 25 years’ experience in organization development (all of which were reasons they wanted to hire me in the first place), and a proven track record not only in general, but in their own church.  Of course, I haven’t heard back from the committee (although I continue to work there gratis).

    My own motto is that “God will provide.” I wish more churches would have that as their motto, too.  One of the reasons I was told that the offer was so low is because the church had recently lost a long-standing member who put several hundred dollars in the offering plate each week.  I know from personal experience, however, that when God closes off one source of income, He opens another – God truly does provide.  I also know that what I myself put in the offering plate each week is significantly more than they are offering me in salary, a situation that seems bizarre at the least.

    I find the church’s injustice and lack of faith regarding salary to be symptomatic of larger problems of faith, righteousness, and commitment.  And, perhaps, that is the real bottom line.

  • Posted by

    Scripture says the Lord will provide. I believe that’s in all circumstances, including fulltime church work. Let me tell you my situation…

    In a church of 200 with 7 fulltime staff (yes 7!). The church has hired unqualified workers to do the responsibilities of the pastor, so he can have time to do “other more important things”. (If you don’t understand that, welcome to my world-neither do I). Our annual budget now consists of over 80% of all finances coming in to pay for staff. The remaining 20% goes to operating costs (mainly facilities). NO money for ministrys whatsoever (btw-the church has gone from 1100 to 200 in the past 3 years because of poor staffing). In fact, the church has been cutting staff benefits, along with no pay increases at all, for the past 4 years, just so they can keep the pastor content.

    I gave up being a CEO of a very large corporation to work in the church fulltime, knowing in advance that church workers worked very long hours for sometimes unreasonable pay. Why do I do it?

    Because I love the Lord. He’s placed me in a situation (maybe not what I think would be the best) where He needs and wants me to be to help expand His Kingdom.

    Anyone want to trade positions?

  • Posted by

    So many have said so much already, but I guess I’ll put my “two cents” in as well.

    The truth is that marketplace values and need-based salaries can BOTH be abused in church settings.  I happen to work for a church where well-intentioned folks have attempted to implement performance-based raises, only to fail (and fall back on subjective, poorly-defined expectations)because it is so difficult to set legitimate measurable goals in the spiritual realm.  (It is not so hard to come up with a set of SOME KIND OF measurable goals, but the questions of appropriateness and proper priority are much more difficult to ascertain.)

    So much for the “objective” approach.  And subjective, need-based dweterminations can be equally dangerous because it is difficult to implement them from a balanced perspective. 

    I believe the bottom-line problem in both cases comes from our sinful natures.  The more spiritually mature the decision-makers are, the more likely it is that a godly, balanced system for determining compensation is in place.  I marvel when those who are not spiritually mature enough to teach an adult Sunday school class are recruited to take major responsibility for church financial decisions simply because they are “good businessmen.” It is not always the case, but many times folks excel in business because they accept the world’s ways of doing things and reject God’s “impractical” guidelines (caring for those in need, sharing the wealth, etc.).  And we trust this kind of people to be our financial stewards???! 

    A comment on Crown’s list:  Church staff, doesn’t it seem a bit one-sided to you????  The article suggests that salaries should be determined through an evaluation of the potential, the attitudes, and the work ethics of staff.  Everything about it screams “STAFF, YA BETTER EARN YOUR KEEP!!!” But the article makes no mention of the fact that many ministry postions require availability and dedication comparable to that of an executive who earns a six-figure salary, but often pay less than a first-year teaching position!!!  Perhaps churches should be told just as loudly “CHURCH, YA BETTER EARN THAT STAFF!!!”

    Yes, I mean what I said.  I’m sure there are a few slouches out there doing “ministry,” but the church staffers I know all put in long days, are available to their congregations even when they’re supposed to be off the job, and wouldn’t ever think of having a “timeclock mentality.” They have chosen to be in ministry because they want to spend the majority of their time serving the Lord, not lining the pockets of a corporation.  Where is the appreciation for church staff? 

    I speak from personal experience.  My family of six is on a tight budget, so tight that we can barely afford to rent a tiny townhouse that is intended for a much smaller family.  Some people at church have complained that it is too expensive to provide us with basic health insurance benefits.  Yet these same people live in $500,000 homes and give their own kids the best (and most!) of everything.  If they are questioned about their standard of living in the context of their faith, they claim they “have worked hard” and “deserve” what they have.  Well, I (and other folks on church staffs) have worked hard too!!!  Evidently, Kingdom work isn’t as worthy of good compensation as being a doctor or the owner of a lucrative business.

  • Posted by pjlr

    I’ll refer to my previous post for guidelines, but all talks of salaries, benefits etc. are taken care of prior to the hire.  When a person come to work on our staff it is their choice to work for the predetermined, negotiated salary.  Once they are here, it is disingenuous to talk about not getting paid enough since their job description and their salary was all talked about up front.

    While there are extenuating circumstances that may require a “bonus”, a “benevolence bailout” or a special blessing as appreciation, too many ministers take a position without inquiring of these things prior to the appointment and then cry sour grapes when things don’t turn out to their liking.

    If you want to get paid the equivalent of a 6 figure executive, you know where you can go to work.  If you want to be in ministry, there is a decent liveable wage you should expect and you labor gratefullly and in humility, trusting and thanking God for the privilege.

  • Posted by bernie dehler

    “If you want to get paid the equivalent of a 6 figure executive, you know where you can go to work.”

    Or be the leader of a main media ministry, and have a Board of Directors consisting of mostly family.  Examples are TBN’s Crouches and Pastor John Hagee.  I have details at my website, as I’ve researched it.  You can do this, until you eventually get busted for your excesses… but some are comfortably getting away with it, like Benny Hinn.

    I know, I know, I’m just jealous… for God’s church, that has certain “shephards” that are mercilessly fleecing the flock…

    ...Bernie

  • Posted by

    It’s funny, as a pastor and the husband of a public school teacher I hear the same comments from a multitude of people (although in fairness our current church provides very graciously for us, and I have no complaints with them, thank the Lord). I find it very interesting how people who complain about how others are compensated tend to be the same people who would never tolerate the same treatment if it were themselves or their family.
    I found myself very disheartened by this list. And began formulating a response to this article (first time posting, so do I get any sort of prize Todd?), and in the process I came across a great article online that started off like this:
    “If you were an employer, would you run a sweatshop? You know—the kind of place where you get workers on the cheap, pay them as little as you can, and force them to work long hours overtime without any compensation at all, just to keep their job? Of course not!” http://www.joyfulheart.com/church/sweatshop.htm
    The article continues with a great answer to how to really treat the minister of God correctly. It’s a great article and I would suggest it to you (I didn’t read any of His other stuff, so I can’t speak to anything other than just that article)

    Three questions that I have and then a quick thought (had to put it into some sort of preaching outline).

    1. If you put in the level of training and work the hours that an average minister serves would you begrudge them fair pay?
    2. If you honestly believed that you had to answer to Christ for the way in which you pay his under-shepherds would you still cheat the laborer?
    3. Will the church ever confess that pride causes us to hold on to God’s things as though they were mine things, causing us to fail our master?

    Now for a quick thought:
    The list mentions that ministers and staff should earn holidays and not be given them. However, haven’t the holidays already been earned by the men and women who gave themselves for us (Memorial day, Independence Day) and by those who have labored for our land (Labor day), and by a Savior who gave Himself for us (Christmas and Easter); maybe that’s why it’s a good idea to GIVE all ministers and staff to have a Thanksgiving Day to remember and give thanks.

    Ok…I’m done

  • Posted by

    I totally agree with John’s comments on June 28, 2005 at 3:22 p.m.  I am employed as the church secretary at a church where you cannot get performance bonuses or raises.  Everyone gets a 3% increase each year.  You are not given this information when you are hired.  When I was hired I told the pastor I could not live on what they were going to pay me, and he told me I would be compensated and make enough to pay my expenses, so I didn’t need to worry about it.  I worked for a couple years improving and computerizing everything.  I made my presentation and asked for a larger raise, but I was denied and was told about the 3% ceiling. 

    All the years I worked as a secretary in the coorporate world I dreamed of serving the Lord as a church secretary.  Now my dream has come true, but at a cost to me of going deeper in debt every year I work for the church. Someday I will need to retire and will have to face my debt rather than having enough money to live on.  I’m trusting the Lord He sees my need, but I still don’t think this is the way God meant me to live.  Do any other church secretaries have this same problem?

  • Posted by

    On the subject of salaries, there are some important presuppositions I think are key to bring into this process. 

    First of all, ministry at any level is a uniquely challenging field that calls for a diverse array of gifts.  Very few other careers require individuals to excel at being social worker, coach, motivational speaker, scholar, visionary, politician, manager, organizational development expert, chaplain, diplomat and spiritual leader, all at the same time.  Pastors are very special people with incredible abilities. 

    Anyone brave enough to swim in these shark infested waters is an amazing person.  Like no other job, in ministry our customers are also our volunteer co-workers, who are also our supervisors; and they are suppose to be our friends, too!  How many other careers require balancing those dynamics? 

    Then there’s the educational expectations. In general the benchmark for academic training is the M.Div, or at least an MA. 

    How many people in our congregations would expect to have to complete 3 academic years of expensive, debt-producing graduate school, followed by an extremely underpaid internship of a year before they could be viable in their chosen career field?  The answer is very very few; and if they did, they’d expect to be extremely well paid for it. 

    Also, there is the important role that spiritual leadership should play in our culture.  The people who bring us to God, as pastors or missionaries, and lead us in advancing His kingdom are doing an enormously important task; I dare say more important than people who swing sticks at balls, and are well remunerated, indeed! 

    So we have highly capable, talented people, who have achieved exceptional levels of education, leading us in what is the most important area of our live. 

    It stands to reason that they should be very well paid, with much higher than average salaries. 

    Beyond that, if pastors work hard at their calling and demonstrate a high level of excellence in their work, then its important to give them consistent raises. 

    Anyone with a family has a continuing source of needs to be met, and has to have an increase in income to meet those needs.

    Many pastors work very hard sowing and harvesting in rocky soil.  Their income and raises shouldn’t be based on numbers of people in a ministry, but on the commitment and integrity they bring to the task of serving the Lord and His congregation.

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