How Much is a Pastor Worth? - Christianity Today

At first they wanted to debate my salary publicly at the open board meeting. I thought I preserved my dignity by convincing the board to discuss it with me in private. I was wrong.

Two board members walked into my office, closed the door behind them, folded their arms sternly across their chests, and said to me, “How much do you want?”

There has to be a better way to establish a pastor’s salary.

It has been years since that uncomfortable confrontation, and I now serve on the staff of my denomination. My job includes advising churches and pastors when they face uncertainty about money.

One such church was New Hope in Adel, Iowa, a successful church plant that was preparing to call their first senior pastor. Since the church planter was funded by the denomination, establishing a pastor’s salary package was new ground.

New Hope’s leaders were employed mostly in business. They knew that a fair and competitive wage would be needed. They also knew from their business experience that benefits and perks comprise an important part of the package. They asked me for advice.

I offered New Hope’s leaders three methods for establishing a pay package that would compensate the pastor in proportion to his or her peers. The question is which set of peers: peers in the community, peers in the church, or peers in ministry? I told them to look at all three.

Three formulas for base salaries

The first method acknowledges that a pastor compares in many ways to a teacher—in duties, continuing education, and role in the community. The salary package, therefore, should equate to what a local teacher with comparable education and experience would be paid. In addition, because a teacher’s health insurance, social security, and often pension contribution are included, a local church should compensate for these as well.

Since teachers with master’s degrees and tenure are often paid significantly more than those without, this method often causes churches to recognize the commitment, in time and money, that a seminary graduate has made to enter the ministry. It also rewards pastors who have built experience.

The second method is to average the salaries of the church’s leadership board. I reason with the board that most churches feel their pastor is at least equally valuable to a church as the other leaders. Therefore, a survey of the lay leaders’ incomes, including social security and benefits, is an equitable way to determine what a pastor’s peers within the church are making.

Incidentally, since many church boards are comprised of a community’s esteemed members—doctors, professors, businessmen—more than once I’ve seen a sly smile slip across the face of a board member at this suggestion. Suddenly the stingy CEO recants his frugal limitations on the pastor’s salary rather than expose his own considerable income.

The third method is to survey Protestant churches in the area (Protestants, unlike Catholic priests, do not take oaths of poverty) to discover what pastors are being paid. This enables a church to factor in the cost of living in their area, rather than depending on denominational averages that may be inflated by salaries in California or deflated by those in Mississippi. Again, it is important when surveying to consider the entire payment package—insurance, housing, reimbursed expenses, etc.

Then I ask the church, “Do you feel your pastor is at least an average pastor?”

If they haven’t caught on to me yet, most congregations proudly defend their pastor as more than average, to which I reply, “Then don’t you think your pastor deserves at least an average salary?”

Not-so-fringe benefits

As the leaders near the final stages of salary-setting, I urge them to push the package to the top limit. Then, just as beads of sweat form on the treasurer’s brow, I advise them to back down 3 or 4 percent and turn that money into perks to be distributed throughout the year.

Why? A pastor and his or her family face pressures and expectations that are peculiar to the ministry. For that reason, I encourage churches to creatively structure their pay package to bless their pastor’s often stressful life, setting aside funds for creative and thoughtful gestures that let a pastor know he is valued. Here are some options:

1. Give the pastor’s family two weekends away with a check to cover expenses each time.

2. Offer a substantial update of computer and software.

3. Give bonus checks on June 1 and December 1, for summer vacation and Christmas expenses.

4. Allow the pastor to save the bonus option for three years and then receive a month-long sabbatical and the accrued bonus money.

5. Offer to pay for a week-long retreat at a center for pastoral restoration.

New Hope took my advice. They not only developed a fair estimate for their new pastor’s salary, but also began to think about creative and compassionate uses for that “optional” perk money.

Perhaps most important, the leaders at New Hope were ready to talk money with their candidates. They knew their estimate was fair and their reasoning was sound. When Tom Hein was interviewed at New Hope a few weeks later, he appreciated the church’s preparation.

“It’s always hard to talk about money,” Tom said, “but the leaders at New Hope created an inviting atmosphere for me to share my family’s needs. They made it so much easier.”

Much easier, indeed, than, “How much do you want?”

New Hope extended a call to Tom, and he pastors there today. The church and Tom decided on a fair salary package, and New Hope also decided to fund Tom’s trip—mileage and expenses—to the denomination’s national convention. The board gave Tom four perks in his first year. The first was a dinner and movie package for Tom and his wife; the second was a fully-funded crew to help Tom re-roof his house; the third was a paid weekend getaway in a nearby city; and the fourth . …well, Tom may be reading this. The fourth is a surprise, and I’m not going to spoil it.

Norman Adamson is the associate superintendent of the Evangelical Free Church Central District, in Boone, Iowa.