Pastor’S Salary Cap

[The Glory Land]

Some Pastors are under paid and some are overpaid. How and what standers should be considered, how many members the church haves. How can you stop a Pastor demanding more money every year, or he himself getting a raise.  I am the Boss?   

[Salyan]

We're independent... there are no standards. Lots of our pastors are missionaries, or are supporting themselves with little or no help from their tiny churches. I don't think pastors being paid too much are really a problem for IFBs.

 

The Biblical principle that we as the church body should probably be applying is that the laborer is worthy of his hire.  In our church, we periodically will kick pastor out of the business meeting and move a salary increase for him. We probably don't do it as much as we ought to. He certainly never brings up the issue himself.

[MountainChristian]

Our pastor puts most of his pay back in the collection plate. We have been keeping him in used cars and tires things like that. He is not the norm.

 

I've seen other pastors who couldn't get enough. They would come in and say "our washing machine died, we don't know what we are going to do" then the church would buy them a new washer. Why didn't they just say, will the church buy us a washer? Some of the younger college educated preachers tell the church how much money they need to be paid to "take" the church.

[no name joe]

I strongly believe a pastor should be compensated as well as the congregation can afford to pay.  A good rule of thumb is for the pastor to be paid a salary comparable to the average income of those in the pastor's age demographic in the church, perhaps even a bit higher depending on the finances and size of the church.  This is a tremendous amount of responsibility, and the pastor should not have to worry about his family's finances if possible.  

[quinkie]

If a church wants the benefits of a full time Pastor, it should pay him a living wage - one that will support his family in the style that the membership is accustomed to.  Some churches are not able to do that, I understand.  But the preacher and his family should not be treated as "poor relatives"

[Standing Firm In Christ]

Pastors should not be salaried. Love offerings, yes. (Providing he is truly preaching the Word and not man-made doctrines) Payroll salaries... definitely not!

[MountainChristian]

Pastors should not be salaried. Love offerings, yes. (Providing he is truly preaching the Word and not man-made doctrines) Payroll salaries... definitely not!

 

 Will you give us your reasoning? 

[The Glory Land]

Our pastor puts most of his pay back in the collection plate. We have been keeping him in used cars and tires things like that. He is not the norm.

 

I've seen other pastors who couldn't get enough. They would come in and say "our washing machine died, we don't know what we are going to do" then the church would buy them a new washer. Why didn't they just say, will the church buy us a washer? Some of the younger college educated preachers tell the church how much money they need to be paid to "take" the church.

 

 

i remember a pastor saying the same thing, the problem with this is, our was paid very well. Why can't he go buy one, just like we do? Pull out out that credit card, just like we do. Monthly payments just like we do?

[The Glory Land]

If a Pastor is paid very well, why are you paying his rent, home phone, cell phone, water bill, light bill, lunches, dinners, Health Plan, retirement, dental, vision, church car, gas, tolls, Internet and more? Just checking…

[Salyan]

If a Pastor is paid very well, why are you paying his rent, home phone, cell phone, water bill, light bill, lunches, dinners, Health Plan, retirement, dental, vision, church car, gas, tolls, Internet and more? Just checking…

 

Who exactly is doing this? No one here has stated that their church does such a thing.

[The Glory Land]

Who exactly is doing this? No one here has stated that their church does such a thing.

 

There are readers here that might be going through this, and those that are blind to all this, for their pastor is the final authority.

 

These pastors, don't like members like me very much.

[Standing Firm In Christ]

Will you give us your reasoning?

The Bible says pastors are to work to support themselves.

[Anon]

This topic is going to irritate me, since we basically live paycheck to paycheck AND I have to work a job to help make ends meet.

We have four kids and live in a parsonage and have our utilities paid, plus a salary, but the salary is definitely low enough to qualify for food stamps (although we are not on food stamps). We pay our own cell phone and most of our own gas, and bought our own cars, and pay for our own internet, etc. We also pay for Christian school.

If a church can pay a pastor enough to have a savings account and a retirement and live as comfortable as his people, then more power to that church. Amen. AMEN!!!!!

And to those who think pastors do not work to earn their salary....well I am going to leave the topic before I blow up on that one.

Honestly and frankly, what I wouldn't give some days for my husband and myself to be OUT of the ministry. Perks? Choose a church of your own choosing. Choose the ministries you are comfy with. And find a job that pays you enough to support your family that matches your talents and skills. But we are IN the ministry because God called us....and when people say things like "Pastors should work" or "Pastors are overpaid" it just makes me ANGRY.

I had my sister in law who makes six figures a year tell me it must be nice that I have a free house and utilities paid. REALLY? She'd really like to live in my parsonage from 1940 that needs tons of work that nobody can afford to do right now? She'd really like to have my bank account with little more than $100-$200 in it at any one given time?

Yeah. People who grudge pastors and their families for the sacrifices they make REALLY get me annoyed. And I'm cranky today so that makes it worse. hahaha.

I will say God provides for us and I'm thankful for it. But most people who criticize pastors would NEVER want to trade places with their family if they had to walk in their shoes and in their budget for a month. Nope.

(Oh, and yes, we generously give to our church as a good example...most likely we give a larger percentage of our income than anyone in the church, although we have never looked at the record books to find out.)

[Eric Stahl]

The workman is worthy of his hire and so is the pastor.

[JerryNumbers]

If a pastor is over paid he should put the over paid part back into the church.

 

How much he is paid should be determined on what the church can afford to pay.

 

What I dislike is churches that are run totally by the pastor & the pastor will not tell anyone what he is paid. That is totally un-scriptural