Clergy Compensation: A Survey of Leadership Readers
In what ways do pators and lay persons agree or disagree about pastors' compensation, their ability to cope financially, and their financial condition?
Paul D. Robbins
April 1, 1981
"When I left seminary and took my first church, I discovered my pay was to be determined by the base salary of a used car salesman. It seemed that the chairman of the board owned a used car lot, and felt that "If it's good enough for my salesmen, it's good enough for our pastor." Except, the salesmen also made commissions-I didn't. Without something more than a base salary, my wife and I just couldn't make it, even though we tried. Foolishly, I allowed us to get $4,000 in the hole before I quit the church a year later. My feelings? To be perfectly honest, If felt bitter and disappointed-physically abused."
¥ A true story? Yes. A typical story? Not likely. Horror stories about how the average minister and spouse are forced to live have been around for years. Likewise, there are stories about the preacher who counts a bushel basket full of cash every Sunday morning in a small room off the sanctuary. The assumption that preachers are "fleecers" like Elmer Gantry, or "fleecees" like the hapless parson who preaches on Sundays and shoes horses on weekdays, has become a part of American folklore.
We were intrigued by the idea of the "typical story," and we decided to involve you, the LEADERSHIP reader, in a compensation survey. We selected a thousand names at random from our subscription list, which naturally divides into 75 percent clergy and 25 percent laity. Your response was a solid 33 percent.
Clergy respondents are 99 percent male, while lay respondents are 80 percent male and 20 percent female. The average male respondent is between thirty and fifty years of age, holds a seminary or postgraduate degree, and serves in a small town or suburbia. Ninety-five percent of the respondents are married and have dependents living at home- ...
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