Young Christian Leaders asking what am I worth?

"There is too much month left at the end of my pay packet."

Pastors pay and salaries has always been an emotive issue. In the past, this most contentious of subjects has pitted congregations and church boards against clergy and preachers. The war cry was “God you keep him humble and we will keep him poor.”

Last week, when talking to a group of young pastors this question of salary and pay came up. Questions such as How much am I worth? Is it right for me to ask for a pay increase?

Firstly, let me say that for many, times have changed. The average pay for pastors in the UK is £25000 per annum and in the USA the average is about $46000. Secondly, let us also remember that when looking at the issue of payment, church boards have to remember that the pastor or church leader sends his children to the same schools, his wife shops at the same shops and goes to the same doctors as the rest of us. There is always a cost to that, and pastor’s fork out the same amount of money for things like car insurance and food bills as the rest of us. Paying them poorly does not help.

As a rule, to determine worth, as starting point, I suggest that the average wage of the church congregation is calculated, add 10% in order to encourage generosity on the part of the new pastor, and use this as a starting point for determining a salary. Obviously, there are other factors such as housing that may come into a calculation but for me that is another conversation.

For a pastor coming from another congregation to a well-established church, things like experience, church size, education and location need to be taken into consideration.

In regards to the second question asked, on asking for a raise. I don’t think this is wrong. Building a relationship with the church board is essential, building those relationships is important. Like other organisations, boards will look for results, have there been a successful restructure? Has there been growth in the church? When success in whatever form is seen, and relationship is built, then reward always follow. If it doesn’t then maybe you are in the wrong job.

Food for thought.

Comments

The 1970's Christian Coffee Shop

I remember as a new Christian being invited into a Christian Coffee shop in the town where I grew up. It was clean and tidy, the table tops were all brightly painted in different colours, but mainly yellow and scattered on top were a random selection of Christian tracts. Fish symbols and Christian posters proclaiming that there was but 'One Way' to heaven were everywhere. The music playing out of the stereo was The Bill Gather Trio or Dolly Parton singing Gospel. The crockery, was a mixed assortment of coffee mugs, donated by keen supporters of this outreach to the unsaved sinners and ungodly people living in the city. The coffee was a local brand heavily mixed with chicory. In all the years the Coffee Shop operated, I never saw a non-Christian go in and I never heard of a person coming to faith through having coffee there. I never really understood its purpose. Fast forward to today, when I was asked recently, to advise on helping a local community church open a c...

The myth of Ministry Leadership.

The myth that all leaders are leaders. Not everyone who leads in church is a leader. I think it is wrong, for Church leaders to believe that those they train up to take various ministry leadership positions, are in fact leaders in their own right. They are not. At best I would categorise these people- that many churches call 'ministry leaders' as ministry managers. "At one level there is nothing wrong with title inflation; it is a cheap way of recognising people who work hard and make serious contributions" Jo Owen. I am of the opinion that this title inflation undervalues both the leader and the ' ministry manager' and can often bring about confusion and mismatched expectations. Many churches have ministry training evenings for their volunteers. Many use the reason for this training is "to make a person a better leader," when in fact the only thing actually happening is that th...

Christian leaders and how to fire a Christian employee.

This weeks ramblings. I was asked this week if it was OK for Christian employers to fire other Christian staff. Firstly let me state that it is always important to follow the laws of the country that you live in, but the question should be; Do I as an employer have the right to fire other staff Christian or not. The short answer is YES! Let me give you two examples I have come across; Case Study 1; The CEO of medium sized Christian organisation dealing in books and other Christian Literature had a problem with one of their staff. The person concerned, let’s call him Pete, seemed to push everybody’s buttons. Pete had been with the company 2 years, his first six months were just great but after that everything went downhill. He always complained, he bad mouthed his managers. At company social gatherings, when sport was played, he never played with any great sportsmanship; it seemed that every decision was wrong or somebody had a beef with him. But, Pete went to the same c...

Tim King Leadership

Search This Blog