NEGOTIATING A FAIR SALARY
Arriving at an equitable pay package needn't raise hackles or fears.
Larry W. Osborne
January 1, 1987
Recently a friend told me how he had felt compelled to leave a growing Midwest church after a series of below-inflation pay raises With three teenage children, he found himself unable to keep up with the rising costs of raising a family.
For years he swallowed hard and hoped things would be different next year. But they never were. Feeling increasingly discouraged and unappreciated, he accepted a call to another church.
Tragically, the church he left had been happy with his ministry. As far as they were concerned, everything was going well. They had no idea he was unhappy, and they didn't want him to leave. But by then it was too late. Not wanting to repeat the same mistake, they hired their next pastor at a substantially higher salary, a salary that would have been more than enough to meet my friend's needs.
He still might lee pastoring that church if only he had known how to negotiate a fair salary. Instead, he finds himself in another church in another city, struggling with some of the very same issues. The church lost a pastor it wanted to keep. He lost a ministry he once loved.
Admittedly, my friend's case is an extreme example of what can happen when a pastor doesn't know how to negotiate a fair salary. But his problem is not an isolated one. While many pastors have been well trained in the theological and pastoral realms, few receive any instruction when it comes to hammering out a reasonable pay package.
I, too, had to learn the hard way. When I arrived at my first pastorate, I discovered one man held the offices of board chairman, finance elder, and treasurer. He was also the driving force behind our fledgling building program. His number one priority was to save enough money to purchase property for the church to build ...
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