Pastor compensation

[gb93433]

If a man works twenty hours a week and doubles the church attendance and the people are growing spiritually and the offerings are through the roof and missions giving is doubled- pay the man what he is worth.

How would you take into account that the church may be the hard workers and not the pastor?

If he works 80 hours a week and the church is drying up and dying on the vine- pay the man what he is actually worth to the ministry there- not based on how many hours he works or how much sweat he devotes.

A bad pastor is worth a negative amount. He does much more damage than good.

Computer programmers often work very few hours a week and they do not invest very much physical energy yet they are paid very well because of their great value.

Not those I know. If you see that then get an effective one who will work hard too.

Pay the pastor based on his value as well- not his sweat, not his hours- but his value..

If he is lazy, he is worthless.

How do you measure the worth of a pastor who followed a pastor that may have labored hard and he did not see much until the pastor who followed the hard working pastor?

From what you have wrote indicates that church planters should be paid the most. Church plants grow a far greater percentage than megachurches and it is hard work.

 

[freeatlast]

Wouldn't that depend on the size of the church? If the church had 30 members, I might agree with you, but I bet that is the minority no the majority.

you are correct that most churches have over 30 members. However membership and attendance are two different things. The point I was making was that if a church cannot afford a full time pastor they have no right to feel that it is HIS responsibility to be the one who suffers loss. They should pray and grow and wait until the Lord supplies the finances to support a full time Pastor. I am afraid that this generation is very spoiled and even selfish. In years past small churches that could not afford a full time pastor had circuit pastors that came around once every month or even 6 weeks to preach and Baptise new members. The members still met but one of the other men would lead in the other times.
The church today as always has a responsibility to care for their pastor. If they want a full time one then let the members do the sacrificing, not the Pastor. He has enough to do dealing with all the petty complaints of the membership not to have to worry about his own financial needs.

 

[rbell]

But do you think that pastors that are putting in 80 hours a week and still do not see growth in their church - but they are big thinkers, deep dreamers, have a massive vision of what can be and have a passion for the Gospel of Jesus Christ - do not deserve their wages?

I guess you haven't tried to church in NY.

I think pastors that put in 80 hours per week desperately need to re-prioritize and work more realistic hours.

(fully understand short-term, intense demands...but it you're consistently working 80+ hours per week...time to slow down!)

Anyhoo, back to the topic.

 

[gb93433]

Many pastors are underpaid because their congregation can't afford anymore. That is fine. I do think though that if a church can pay a pastor enough so that he does not have to be concerned with finances and can put all of his effort into study and pastoring that is best.

When one considers how few actually give, it is no excusae to say they cannot afford a pastor, especially when you look at their personal toys, and entertainment, and compare that to their sacrifices and how much they pay in interest.

 

[gb93433]

I think pastors that put in 80 hours per week desperately need to re-prioritize and work more realistic hours.

(fully understand short-term, intense demands...but it you're consistently working 80+ hours per week...time to slow down!)

Anyhoo, back to the topic.

The articles I have read show that those who make disciples put in less time at church and more at home then those who do everything alone.

If a man puts in 80 hours on the job as a pastor then take a guess how much of that time is spent in prayer and study along with time with his family.

 

[freeatlast]

I think pastors that put in 80 hours per week desperately need to re-prioritize and work more realistic hours.

(fully understand short-term, intense demands...but it you're consistently working 80+ hours per week...time to slow down!)

Anyhoo, back to the topic.

I totally agree. In fact if a man has a family he is actually being a bad steward of his own family. By the way that is not uncommon. There is little wonder why so many PK's go astray.

 

[annsni]

I think pastors that put in 80 hours per week desperately need to re-prioritize and work more realistic hours.

(fully understand short-term, intense demands...but it you're consistently working 80+ hours per week...time to slow down!)

Anyhoo, back to the topic.

Yep - or it's time to grow the staff.

 

[Jeffriesw]

When one considers how few actually give, it is no excusae to say they cannot afford a pastor, especially when you look at their personal toys, and entertainment, and compare that to their sacrifices and how much they pay in interest.

Well said.

 

[dh1948]

I agree with the statement that if a church cannot afford a full-time pastor, let the church do some sacrificing. Don't expect the pastor to be the sacrificial lamb.

Another scenario is when a church is in a financial bind and decides to reduce the pastor's salary to alleviate a deficit in spending. How riduculous is that? Again, why should the pastor be the sacrifical lamb? In most cases the deficit could be divided among the families in the church, and they could increase their giving by that amount. If not, they are asking the pastor to give up...say...$200 per week while they do nothing more that what they have been doing, giving-wise. It would be a lot more logical to spread the $200 among 20 or more families than to take it away from the pastor. IMHO

 

[Luke2427]

But do you think that pastors that are putting in 80 hours a week and still do not see growth in their church - but they are big thinkers, deep dreamers, have a massive vision of what can be and have a passion for the Gospel of Jesus Christ - do not deserve their wages?

I guess you haven't tried to church in NY.

Sure Ann, I agree. But the problem today is not that we too many people who are doing everything right and having little results. Those are the exceptions. The problem today is that we have far too many preachers doing all the wrong things, some of which work very hard doing all the wrong things- and they have no results- because they are doing all the wrong things.

That is the problem of our age in the pastoral ministry- activity without productivity.

 

[gb93433]

The problem today is that we have far too many preachers doing all the wrong things, some of which work very hard doing all the wrong things- and they have no results- because they are doing all the wrong things.

That is the problem of our age in the pastoral ministry- activity without productivity.

That has always been a problem. However I think there is an even deeper problem of not trusting God for everything. Too many think they must work hard and be mules who do not reproduce. I cannot think of any church that was united in prayer that did not grow. I am not talking about easy believeism prayer of lip service where the prayers are nothing more than words that only echoed off the walls and ceiling but where they are earnestly seeking God.