Pastoral Compensation

Tree of Life · May 7, 2018

Pauls teaches that those who labor in preaching and teaching deserve some sort of compensation (1 Timothy 5:17-18).

Agreeing to this general principle, what is your philosophy of pastoral compensation? How much do you value the work of preaching, teaching, and shepherding? How much do you want your pastor to be compensated for his work of pastoring?

RaymondG · May 7, 2018

Tree of Life said:
Pauls teaches that those who labor in preaching and teaching deserve some sort of compensation (1 Timothy 5:17-18).

Agreeing to this general principle, what is your philosophy of pastoral compensation? How much do you value the work of preaching, teaching, and shepherding? How much do you want your pastor to be compensated for his work of pastoring?

I see no fault in a pastor receive anything the people are willing to give him.....Be it $10 a month, or $10,000,000. I feel the same about those giving services unrelated to religion as well....

Hidden In Him · May 7, 2018

Tree of Life said:
Pauls teaches that those who labor in preaching and teaching deserve some sort of compensation (1 Timothy 5:17-18).

Agreeing to this general principle, what is your philosophy of pastoral compensation? How much do you value the work of preaching, teaching, and shepherding? How much do you want your pastor to be compensated for his work of pastoring?

I have no interest in getting into debates on the issue, but I personally see it as a huge problem in the church now and in a number of ways, not only for congregations but the leadership themselves. I wish more pastors followed the model set forth by the apostle Paul instead.

razzelflabben · May 7, 2018

Tree of Life said:
Pauls teaches that those who labor in preaching and teaching deserve some sort of compensation (1 Timothy 5:17-18).

Agreeing to this general principle, what is your philosophy of pastoral compensation? How much do you value the work of preaching, teaching, and shepherding? How much do you want your pastor to be compensated for his work of pastoring?

I Personally see the teaching as both a challenge to the pastor and to the church...where the pastor should not expect to be paid and should be willing to preach out of compulsion by God not pay, the church should be willing to pay the pastor well for the job that he does when serving them as God has called them.

thecolorsblend · May 7, 2018

Tree of Life said:
Pauls teaches that those who labor in preaching and teaching deserve some sort of compensation (1 Timothy 5:17-18).

Agreeing to this general principle, what is your philosophy of pastoral compensation? How much do you value the work of preaching, teaching, and shepherding? How much do you want your pastor to be compensated for his work of pastoring?

The Church should provide for his food and housing as well as a fairly modest pay. Considering how relatively low most priests monthly bills are, they don’t necessarily need huge paychecks to live comfortably.

OldWiseGuy · May 7, 2018

Whatever the market (the congregants) will bear.

Tree of Life · May 7, 2018

Hidden In Him said:
I have no interest in getting into debates on the issue, but I personally see it as a huge problem in the church now and in a number of ways, not only for congregations but the leadership themselves. I wish more pastors followed the model set forth by the apostle Paul instead.

So you do not wish for your pastor to be compensated at all for his pastoral work?

Tree of Life · May 7, 2018

razzelflabben said:
I Personally see the teaching as both a challenge to the pastor and to the church...where the pastor should not expect to be paid and should be willing to preach out of compulsion by God not pay, the church should be willing to pay the pastor well for the job that he does when serving them as God has called them.

Why should a pastor be willing to work for free? Pastors have fiscal responsibilities and need to provide for their families. It would be highly irresponsible for a man to give away 20, 40, 50 hours per week for no compensation and allow his family to suffer.

Tree of Life · May 7, 2018

thecolorsblend said:
The Church should provide for his food and housing as well as a fairly modest pay. Considering how relatively low most priests monthly bills are, they don’t necessarily need huge paychecks to live comfortably.

What, in your mind, would be a reasonable package for a single priest?

Call me Nic · May 7, 2018

A pastor should definitely be paid enough to support his family as well as be paid fairly for the work he does to shepherd the people. That being said, I do have a problem with pastors being pastors for filthy lucre's sake. The wage of a pastor should be fair and blameless, without riches, but without poverty according to the well-doing of the church. I fail to have respect for pastors of mega-churches who are glorified motivational speakers that make millions of dollars per year while feeding their congregation garbage, allowing many of them to split the gates of hell wide open due to their failure to speak the truth.

However, a hard-working, diligent pastor of a small church of 180 people or so that makes a comfortable living to both support his family and his lifestyle is very acceptable and even taught by Paul the Apostle.

Call me Nic · May 7, 2018

No private jets, though. That's way too much.

Dropout_Theologian · May 7, 2018

I would like to be a pastor one day, or at least a preacher, so I'll say quite a bit

In my opinion those two verses are probably talking about honor, not financial compensation. Maybe, I'm not sure. Regardless, I have thought that if a preacher had the same income as the median income I would be all right with that. Maybe if they were really good with their soul care it would be right for them to be paid more. I guess if a person was really good they should be paid more; like others have said, sort of a supply and demand market type deal.

Dave-W · May 7, 2018

There are way too many variables to make a blanket statement on that.

What is the local cost of living?
Does he/she have a 2 year bible college certificate or a ThD?
Is he/she the lone pastor or part of a ministry team?
How big is the congregation?

Tree of Life · May 7, 2018

Nicolaus Mourer said:
A pastor should definitely be paid enough to support his family as well as be paid fairly for the work he does to shepherd the people. That being said, I do have a problem with pastors being pastors for filthy lucre's sake. The wage of a pastor should be fair and blameless, without riches, but without poverty according to the well-doing of the church. I fail to have respect for pastors of mega-churches who are glorified motivational speakers that make millions of dollars per year while feeding their congregation garbage, allowing many of them to split the gates of hell wide open due to their failure to speak the truth.

However, a hard-working, diligent pastor of a small church of 180 people or so that makes a comfortable living to both support his family and his lifestyle is very acceptable and even taught by Paul the Apostle.

Amen. Give us something a bit more concrete. What's a number range that you feel would be fair for a senior minister?

Tree of Life · May 7, 2018

Dave-W said:
What is the local cost of living?

Let's say 95k for a family of 6.

Does he/she have a 2 year bible college certificate or a ThD?

Let's say Mdiv or equivalent.

Is he/she the lone pastor or part of a ministry team?

I don't see why this would matter.

How big is the congregation?

I don't see why this would matter.

royal priest · May 7, 2018

I believe a congregation ought to provide as much as possible. Esteeming the pastor highly for his work's sake as he is worthy of double honor means he should be far from the least compensated bread-winner in the congregation.

We consider:
The cost of living in our community.
What other churches in the area provide for theirs.
What we can reasonably afford to give.
How diligent he is in the labor.

We have two pastors in our eldership. One of them earns more than the other because he not only preaches, teaches, and shepherds our flock, but his ministry is sought after by other pastors from different countries which means he needs to travel as well. Not to mention his administration of publishing Christian literature, too

Tree of Life · May 7, 2018

Dropout_Theologian said:
I would like to be a pastor one day, or at least a preacher, so I'll say quite a bit

In my opinion those two verses are probably talking about honor, not financial compensation. Maybe, I'm not sure. Regardless, I have thought that if a preacher had the same income as the median income I would be all right with that. Maybe if they were really good with their soul care it would be right for them to be paid more. I guess if a person was really good they should be paid more; like others have said, sort of a supply and demand market type deal.

The verses that Paul quotes have to do with compensation. "Don't muzzle an ox" means let the ox eat. It doesn't mean to simply honor the ox in some abstract way. "The laborer deserves his wages" refers to financial compensation for good work done. To "honor" the pastor means to pay him.

Dave-W · May 7, 2018

Dropout_Theologian said:
In my opinion those two verses are probably talking about honor, not financial compensation.

Honor = manifested respect.
In this case, respect is manifested by financial compensation.

Tree of Life · May 7, 2018

Dave-W said:
Honor = manifested respect.
In this case, respect is manifested by financial compensation.

The hungry ox doesn't feel very honored, no matter how many pats on the back he gets!

Hidden In Him · May 7, 2018

Tree of Life said:
So you do not wish for your pastor to be compensated at all for his pastoral work?

I have no pastor atm, nor have I for a few decades now. But I am very supportive of the pastors I am involved with. But no, I would prefer they followed the model set forth by example by the apostle Paul in working to provide for himself and those he ministered with.

Pastoral Compensation

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