Pastors’ Pay: Who Sets It and How?
How can a fair, equitable salary for pastors be determined? Manfred Holck, Jr. gives some practical guidelines.
Manfred Holck, Jr.
January 1, 1980
It makes a difference who sets the pastor's payﾗ and how it is done. In some congregations only one person's influence matters; in others the whole congregation gets into the act. But in every congregation there are various persons, committees, and groups that influence how much is paid. It may be done overtly or behind the scenes. But it is done.
Pastors consider staying put or leaving their congregations for a variety of reasons, but a generous compensation plan is a strong attraction. Those who move do so because a new opportunity may offer a new challenge. That is not to say that preachers are in the business to make more money each time they move, but the consequence is still the same. There is usually more money in the next place up.
Thus the people in a congregation who set pay can influence a pastor's decision and attitudes greatly, from deciding to continue at that place or move elsewhere, to being productive or lazy, to being insecure or optimistic. Surely it is the Lord who issues the call to serve in the church, but no preacher is immune to the attraction of better pay in a different place. The point is that preachers preach because they feel called to do just that, but the place in which they preach is often influenced by the salary and benefits they receive.
Furthermore, if the pay scale of the pastor is perceived by that pastor to be too low, the result can be inefficient pastoral leadership, carelessness, and certainly preoccupation with making ends meet. Productivity declines, dissatisfaction prevails, the work just doesn't get done. How can it? In similar circumstances we all worry, we are angry, we are impatient, we are nervous when more money is going out than we can bring home. Pastors living on low pay ...
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