A radical thought about ministers and salaries

I read a blog post over the weekend that challenged business owners to charge what their services or products are really worth instead of always low-balling to get the business.  The article especially singled out consultants, speakers, coaches, marketing people, and web designers.  The blog writer pointed out that sometimes large corporations will choose a higher priced marketing group or speaker over one who charges less simply because they believe the higher price must indicate a higher quality of service.  Small business owners often struggle with knowing what to charge because if they charge too much they fear they won't get any business, and if they charge too little they run the risk of not making a profit, and without a profit they won't be in business very long.  It truly is a balancing act.  The article was an interesting read, but I couldn't help but begin to think of how this plays out too often in the church world as well.

When I was in pastoral ministry I interviewed with a few churches who were seeking a new pastor.  I never went to any of those churches believing after the interviews that God was calling me to remain in my present church.  As a judicatory leader I have worked with dozens of pastor search committees.  In virtually every case, the deciding factor for the church was whether or not the candidate was willing to come for the salary and benefit package they offered.  Most churches did inquire about the candidate's theology, education, and other aspects of his or her life, but regardless of how qualified a candidate might have been, if he or she could not accept the financial package the committee continued to look elsewhere.  In some cases, the minister accepted the package knowing that is was not sufficient to meet his or her family's needs which usually created problems within a year or two after arriving at the church.

The thought I had after reading the blog post mentioned above was what would happen if pastors begin to insist that churches pay them a salary and benefit package commensurate with their education and experience and refused to continue to subsidize the poor level of stewardship found in many of these churches?  We all know of many churches who continue to fool themselves into believing they have a fully-funded pastor even though if the pastor's spouse did not work and provide income and insurance that their pastor could not continue to serve there.  As I have worked with some of these churches in their search for a pastor I have challenged them on this.  I must admit it makes for an uncomfortable discussion, but I think it is one that needs to happen in many of our churches.

Pastors are often their own worst enemy when it comes to advocating for a decent salary.  A few years ago a pastor asked me to stop referring to full-time pastors as fully-funded.  He felt it was improper because he did not feel his church paid him a sufficient salary for him to be fully-funded.  He wanted me to return to the old titles of full-time and part-time instead of fully-funded and bivocational.  I told him I would not demean bivocational ministers by calling them part-time ministers, and if he didn't think his church was paying him a decent salary then he needed to talk to the church about that.  That conversation never happened.

I understand the reluctance of pastors wanting to talk to their churches about their salary.  In many churches the pastor is not even allowed to be in the room when the finance committee discusses this as a part of their budget proposal, and often the pastor must leave the business meeting when the budget is voted on.  That was my experience, and I always felt it was a shame that grown Christian people had to resort to secrecy when it came to any discussion about the pastor's salary.  Complaining too much about one's salary can lead one to be unemployed, but there are other ways to make a living that would also provide opportunities to minister to others.  If these churches were challenged often enough maybe they would begin to realize they need to do something different than they've been doing. 

The Bible is clear that a workman is worthy of his hire.  Maybe it's time denominational leaders begin to be more assertive when it comes to what churches pay their ministers.  I understand some denominations do have certain guidelines their churches must follow, but in most congregational churches it is up to the congregation to determine the salary and benefit package for their ministers.  Still, there are some things that denominations can do to make pastoral salaries more equitable, and this is something that needs to be explored.