pehp Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 I would love some input on this topic. My small rural church is beginning the process of a pastoral search. We are working with our denomination on the salary package, but my husband and I feeling led to discuss an increase with our Session, for many reasons. If you know the approximate amount your pastor makes at your church, and are willing to share this, could you PM ME? I would love to know: *the approximate range the pastor makes (and whether that includes housing) *the size of your church *the location of your church (urban, suburban, rural) *your denomination, if applicable and if you wish to include it You are welcome to post it here, but I don't want to open this thread up to any sort of discussion or critiquing of how people do things, etc etc. I just want to see if I can get a general idea of what a pastor is paid 'these days' in similarly-sized churches. I think just PM-ing me would be the cleanest way to go about this without inviting any controversy over what is appropriate, etc etc. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 You might ask denomination, too. In some churches, the compensation package includes things like insurance, pension, equity allowance, and continuing education. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starr Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 Even in our small rural churches the salaries cover quite a range. I would say most pay too little. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pehp Posted April 17, 2015 Author Share Posted April 17, 2015 You might ask denomination, too. In some churches, the compensation package includes things like insurance, pension, equity allowance, and continuing education. Yes, true! And a breakdown is VERY helpful if people know that. I know our pastor has a salary, but also the housing allowance, medical insurance, pension, continuing education and expenses related to conferences, etc. that we pay. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechWife Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 The pastor's educational background and experience level are helpful pieces of information as well. There are so many variables! This compensation study might give you some ideas as well. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marbel Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 Has anyone mentioned this - it's important to know what part of the county people live in and/or what housing costs are. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pehp Posted April 17, 2015 Author Share Posted April 17, 2015 Has anyone mentioned this - it's important to know what part of the county people live in and/or what housing costs are. I have gotten several helpful PMs and most have mentioned this as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 Way too many variables. Size of congregation Amount of work involved Denomination can matter I know pastors who work in tiny (as in 50 partitioners or fewer) and make only a few hundred per month to pastors of semin-mega churches who make upwards of $100K. The über wealthy pastors (Joel Osteen and Steve Furtick come to mind) don't make their millions on being a pastor, they make it by publishing books that sell well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamanthaCarter Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 Google pastoral compensation package. You'll get several hits that should help you build a case if you do think that the salary is not competitive. Here's one from the Southern Baptist Convention. http://compstudy.lifeway.com/homepage.do;jsessionid=7572AB64232F1A07CCE867461513A5F8 I'm our church bookkeeper so I can give you our data in a PM. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pehp Posted April 17, 2015 Author Share Posted April 17, 2015 Way too many variables. Size of congregation Amount of work involved Denomination can matter I know pastors who work in tiny (as in 50 partitioners or fewer) and make only a few hundred per month to pastors of semin-mega churches who make upwards of $100K. The über wealthy pastors (Joel Osteen and Steve Furtick come to mind) don't make their millions on being a pastor, they make it by publishing books that sell well. Sure. And I have no interest in learning what the Osteens of the world make. Of course there's a wide range of variables. That's why in the original post I asked the size of congregation, setting, and denomination that help me gauge where someone is coming from when they respond. Everyone who has PM'ed me has provided great details! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 Here. C of E seems to be about £23,000 plus a house (US$ roughly 35,000). The Archbishop of Canterbury gets £70,000 plus accommodation, so about US$105,000. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indigomama Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 Like previous posters have mentioned (and you've acknowledged) there are so many variables. My personal opinion (being married to a pastor), a pastor should be able to live within the community where the church is located. So, if what your church is offering is not enough for a pastor to obtain decent housing, or if he'd need to take a 2nd job to make ends meet, or if his salary is significantly below area averages, then it does need to be reassessed. 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamanthaCarter Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 I've also heard it said that a pastor should make somewhere around the median of households in his congregation. I have no idea how you'd gauge that short of taking a congregational poll. Not sure that would go over well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forty-two Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 I've also heard it said that a pastor should make somewhere around the median of households in his congregation. I have no idea how you'd gauge that short of taking a congregational poll. Not sure that would go over well. My childhood church used the local school district's pay scales as a guide in setting pastoral salaries. They tried to pay associate pastors what a teacher with the same level of education and years of experience would be paid, and the senior pastor what a principal with comparable education/experience would be paid. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 Sure. And I have no interest in learning what the Osteens of the world make. Of course there's a wide range of variables. That's why in the original post I asked the size of congregation, setting, and denomination that help me gauge where someone is coming from when they respond. Everyone who has PM'ed me has provided great details! ok, then forget I said anything...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pehp Posted April 17, 2015 Author Share Posted April 17, 2015 ok, then forget I said anything...... I am sorry! I was not intending to be rude! Simply that I am aware of the fact that there are so many variables, and I tried to cover that by asking about a few details in the OP. I see how I came across as brusque, probably because I was typing that as I was trying to do too many things at once. Not at all my intention to speak in a way that was unkind. I apologize! Technology is full of perils in that regard, particularly when we are distracted or in a hurry. Multi-taking is always a bad idea and that's proof of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HS Mom in NC Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 I don't know that stats on my current church. It started in January and has about 30 people. I assume the pastor is not paid at all yet, but the budget is currently in the works and we meet about it in another month for discussion. It's a Bible Church. I do know about the last one. *the approximate range the pastor makes (and whether that includes housing) $0. My former pastor is a "tent maker" like Paul by conviction. He owns his own business and preaches at no charge. He has a wife and 2 dependent children living at home and one in college. This church has 4 elders who share a lot of pastoral responsibility between them. They all volunteer at no charge. The secretarial work is divide between several people who all volunteer. We rent the gymnasium of a local private school so there is no debt. Funds are used to cover the costs of rent and the sound equipment, funds to help those in need in the church and to support missionaries and a local charities. The music guy is one of the elders and is a volunteer. There are no plans to build or incur any sort of debt. *the size of your church 200-300 people *the location of your church (urban, suburban, rural) suburban *your denomination, if applicable and if you wish to include it Bible Church (Masters Seminary-like John MacArthur.) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyThreeSons Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 Sure. And I have no interest in learning what the Osteens of the world make. Of course there's a wide range of variables. I recently read that the Osteens don't draw a salary from the church. I guess between book sales and TV revenue, they don't need anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyThreeSons Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 We had a session on this in our Sunday School class a few weeks ago. The general consensus was that the pastor ought to make something like the median income of the members of the congregation he serves. In general, I guess that would be close to the median income of the community in which he lives. Years ago, when we voted on the budget each year, one of the line items was the pastor's salary, so we knew exactly what he made. With our current pastor, there is a lump sum for something like "staff compensation". We are a small, non-denominational church. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imagine.more Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 I've also heard it said that a pastor should make somewhere around the median of households in his congregation. I have no idea how you'd gauge that short of taking a congregational poll. Not sure that would go over well. I've heard this as well. Some places gauge this by looking at comparable education and requirements, so for example many use the local Assistant Principal salary as a guideline for the pastor. Both require Master's degree and are definitely more than 40 hour a week jobs with a substantial amount of responsibility. The areas who do that often say that lay ministers (music minister, youth minister, etc) should make about what a teacher's salary is since those have similar requirements in needing a Bachelor's and some experience in that particular area. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura in CA Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 My personal opinion (being married to a pastor), a pastor should be able to live within the community where the church is located. So, if what your church is offering is not enough for a pastor to obtain decent housing, or if he'd need to take a 2nd job to make ends meet, or if his salary is significantly below area averages, then it does need to be reassessed. :iagree: I've had an eye-opener this past week as my two college-student sons look for their first off-campus housing -- in different towns. In one, the average home sale price is $82/ft^2; in the other, it's $620/ft^2. No, that's not a typo. So unless housing is provided by the church (and we used to attend a church with a lovely old "manse" next door), any salary should enable the pastor and family to live in the community they serve, ideally. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forty-two Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 :iagree: I've had an eye-opener this past week as my two college-student sons look for their first off-campus housing -- in different towns. In one, the average home sale price is $82/ft^2; in the other, it's $620/ft^2. No, that's not a typo. So unless housing is provided by the church (and we used to  attend a church with a lovely old "manse" next door), any salary should enable the pastor and family to live in the community they serve, ideally. At our denomination's seminaries (we're LCMS), the third year students spend a year on vicarage (basically an internship for pastors). Dh's vicarage church was in the center of a large TX city (downtown, but outside the skyscraper part of downtown), and we were able to get a decent apt in a fairly safe area 10 min away for $520/mo (although it's now been torn down and is being replaced by luxury condos for $300K, so idk how it would be now). One of his friends, the next year, was assigned to a church near Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, and his apt was $2400/mo! The church paid for it, which was good (and necessary!), as that was more than a vicar's entire monthly salary ;). That church's parsonage was worth over a million dollars. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pehp Posted April 18, 2015 Author Share Posted April 18, 2015 Fortunately, our church is located in an area with a very reasonable cost of housing. Whew!! So we anticipate that our pastor will live very near the church, and I'm so glad about that! I appreciate the thoughts on how a pastor's salary relates to the congregation's salary and Assistant Principal-salary. Just in general, an interesting benchmark. We had a wonderfully fruitful meeting tonight (I'm on the pastoral search committee). Very excited about what is in store. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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