How much am I worth?
I am often asked this question by young pastors and leaders
and even some of the smaller denominations. What value do we place on those
that serve us in the spiritual arena? Should pay reflect the size of the church
or on the work being done in the community? What other ways are there to
remunerate our Christian Leaders? To be honest I try to avoid these sorts of
conversations because money like many things is a very emotive issue. However,
let me try and dangle my toe into the water of financial reward within church
organisations. I hope that I won't get too ravaged by the sharks that patrol
the sacred aisles of our most holy places.
When it comes to reward, we seem to have no problem with the
vast sums of money that celebrities make. Nor for that matter do we appear to
have a problem with annual salaries of footballers (soccer players). Some young
new players can make up to £5 plus million a year or £10 thousand a week. The
top players can make £400 thousand a week.
When it comes to bankers and CEO's of large publicly owned
companies and even politicians who earn large sums of money, WE DO have a
problem. We cannot equate what they earn to the service they claim to be giving
us. When fees and tariffs rise and
profits increase yet services and results are not reflected, we really
struggle. This is greed at its most obvious.
What of church ministers? The bible for example says that
those that teach are entitled to double reward. What exactly does this mean
twice as much as everybody else or a double dip offering?
Without getting into great detail, here are some of my
thoughts:
If you have a small church and the Leader or pastor works a
secular job to get an income, then the church should always pay them something,
even if it's just a small cash gift after a Sunday service. This way the leader
feels that he is being honoured by their small congregation. After all in
essence the person is doing two jobs. I believe in the long run the church will
be blessed.
I came across one denomination that did something very
different to many churches. They would move their leaders every 3-5 years and
while they paid a small stipend, they didn't provide housing. This denomination
was asset, land and building rich. So they advised a new pastor on arrival to
buy a house (of reasonable value, not a mansion). They the church would stand guarantor
with the bank for a mortgage for the minister. On leaving the town the minister
could sell or rent out the house for the long term. This way over a minister's
life time they may buy 4 or 5 houses that would become the minister's pension
on retirement. Unusual, I know, but a very novel way of ensuring that the
minister is honoured and blessed through their lifetime of service.
For larger churches- in more affluent areas, the issue of
pay may revolve around size of congregation and depth of expertise and work
that the leader does. I believe the pay scales should reflect those of industry
based on size of business.
Lastly if you have a mega church then pay is reflected on responsibility.
Some mega church leaders I have had the pleasure of talking too do not take a
salary, but rather live on the money from book royalties or even speaking
engagements. None of them, by the way, needed a private jet, nor were their
finance boards or congregations silly enough to give them one.
The final question I would ask; Why do we serve? For
financial gain or to see souls won for the Kingdom of God? God tells us not to
worry about anything, he will look after all our need.
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