We happen to live in one of the better areas of the town we live in (Oh, you live there? Those are NICE houses.) when we purchased it after my husband sold his business almost 18 years ago and paid it off just before he went into the ministry. We also have a 42 foot sailboat and belong to a yacht club - but the boat also was paid off before he went into ministry and my ILs pay for us to be in the club so we can have someplace to keep our boat. So while it may look like we have a lot, we are blessed with what we have but certainly don't live extravagantly.
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A pastor's income ?
- Thread starter Spear
- Start date
We happen to live in one of the better areas of the town we live in (Oh, you live there? Those are NICE houses.) when we purchased it after my husband sold his business almost 18 years ago and paid it off just before he went into the ministry. We also have a 42 foot sailboat and belong to a yacht club - but the boat also was paid off before he went into ministry and my ILs pay for us to be in the club so we can have someplace to keep our boat. So while it may look like we have a lot, we are blessed with what we have but certainly don't live extravagantly.
I agree ! What would you call " unjustly enriched ", or " justly enriched " ?
I'm asking you : is there a " level ", some kind of " scale " where the amount of money a pastor earns byt his pastoral activity, should matter, or no ? Can we simply say, that a pastor that would preach in a very rich church could/should earn 200000 US $ a year ?
"A labourer is worthy of his hire..." Thus saith the scripture. A pastor should be paid sufficiently to keep bread on his table and clothes on his back and a roof overhead and maintain his witness before the world. The compensation does not have to relate to the size of his church, or bigger church, bigger income.
Further, my personal wealth does not enter into that equation. I did not choose ministry for the pay cheque or lack of, but rather to satisfy the calling of God to preach the word.
Cheers,
Jim
Further, my personal wealth does not enter into that equation. I did not choose ministry for the pay cheque or lack of, but rather to satisfy the calling of God to preach the word.
Cheers,
Jim
What makes ministry really hard is when the pastor's family is struggling to get by while the congregants enjoy the fruits of their labors. The congregation expects way more from the pastor than he is compensated for - and unfortunately he's having to split his heart and mind between the ministry and having to pay the bills. That's not right IMO.
Happens on this coast too. Our school's chaplain's wife is a neurosurgeon.
Speaking on a purely selfish manner... growing up as a PK, I sure wished that there was some type of level or scale that dad would have earned.
I don't think you will find a hard & fast rule. From what I have experienced, most US pastors earn less than the congregational average -- but perhaps somewhere in the average "range" -- perhaps 40%, not 50%. (From a technical standpoint, we should be talking about the median, not the mean, but never mind). Based on this criteria, most pastors are likely underpaid.
Also, this varies quite a bit here in the states since the cost of living is so different based on where you live. In some places, the average cost of a home is US$150,000 while in others it's over US$500,000. Thus, in certain areas, a salary of US$50,000 might be much more than the congregational average and in other areas, US$100,000 would be much less.
The United Methodist Church has a similar system. It's necessary with the itinerant system. Otherwise, you'd have a complete uproar with some new appointments.
Our CofE clergy get paid a stipend of £20k ($32k); mind you, they do get free accommodation.
On this side of the pond Pastors do not always get these free accommodations. Some do not even want them they would rather purchase their own house.
Being as how my church is a church plant, and being on the board of my church, I wholeharteadly agree.
In our church, we have one parsonage. Of the remaining 8 pastors, 7 own their own homes from before they were on staff. The last is a young married pastor who cannot afford a house at this time. I don't think he ever will with the cost of housing on Long Island. We're blessed in that we not only own our own home, but it's paid off. We're here almost 18 years and we've seen a HUGE increase in the value of our home and there's just NO way we could afford to start over. Hey - I have a hard time setting aside $1000 a month to pay our property taxes (yeah, they're over $14,000 but since we're clergy, we get a small discount).
It's a double-edged sword. Since property (even with the recent housing crash) is generally the best way to gain capital appreciation, this leaves clergy in a rather exposed state when it comes to their retirement funds: they retire at 65 to suddenly find the nice big house they had is no longer theirs and they have no property of their own. A vicar friend of mine got round that problem by buying a smallish house with a mortgage whilst he was in ministry and renting it out to students; he used the rent to pay off the mortgage over 25 years and then at least he had some real estate of his own when he stopped working. Such solutions are not uncommon here.
Barring some physical or mental ailment that does not allow them to carry on what is a Pastor doing retiring at all until the Lord takes him home?
He is allowing someone else to take over the ministry of the church, which is a very difficult and consuming job - and allowing himself to then move on to work with younger pastors to train, encourage and instruct. I think that is a GREAT way for older pastors to allow the next generation to be able to pastor yet continue to work for the ministry.
Tom Bryant
Well-Known Member
Most pastors that I know now are buying houses rather than a parsonage for just that reason. This is a problem for some small churches who can't afford to pay a pastor a living wage but include the house.
On the retiring idea: It's not like he is retiring from serving the Lord. I can foresee a time (I am 58 now) that I won't be able to deal with the wear and tear of doing the pastoral ministry well on a full time basis. But I won't quit serving the Lord. I'd see myself doing interim pastoral ministry.
On the retiring idea: It's not like he is retiring from serving the Lord. I can foresee a time (I am 58 now) that I won't be able to deal with the wear and tear of doing the pastoral ministry well on a full time basis. But I won't quit serving the Lord. I'd see myself doing interim pastoral ministry.
Not to mention the reality that many ministers are forced out when churches are in search of "fresh blood."