Should a Full-Time Pastor Work?

Chinchilla said:

Good guy , not scared to lose job for LORD in the age of everybody getting offended .

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That was true and it was a Government job and still and would be seen at times walking with a bible in his hands.

drjean said:

IDK bivocational is tough... 40 hour work week plus travel time and then another 30 hour week crammed into the weekend for the church is physically impossible for long.

The trick is to realize that the first church that wants you might not be the one God wants you to have. If you are upfront about the church members doing certain activities, and ask which committees are doing what right now... well then you MIGHT know if they want someone who will lead them to work in the church as members or not. The disappointment of having to leave a church because YOU couldn't make it work is not worth the money you might make in the process.

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Individual circumstances vary hugely; for example, Paul himself had a tentmaker role, while his Apostolic responsibilities were huge.

faroukfarouk said:

Individual circumstances vary hugely; for example, Paul himself had a tentmaker role, while his Apostolic responsibilities were huge.

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Well sure...but a tentmaker also travelled. Kind of fits the commandment Jesus gave: as you go about your daily business, spread the gospel

Only a circuit rider today, who works odd jobs from town to town could compare I think?

What I have seen some people manage is to effectively have two part time jobs. One outside the church for two or three days a week, and then ministry for the church three or four days a week (preserving at least one day off). It is difficult, in this model, to help the church thrive; you have enough time to do the things that keep the wheels turning; prepare services and sermons, a bit of pastoral visiting, necessary admin and so on; but you don't have time to do the outreach and strategic things that might help the church grow.

I don't think it's a healthy model for any church long-term, to have only one part-time minister with no other staff (a part-time person as part of a team is a different proposition). The church in that position either needs to grow - because they're in that situation in the first place because they're small, which also means a very limited volunteer base - or think about shared ministry, amalgamation or the like with another congregation.

part time is better

Full-time ministers don't need to work

If we look at statistics, most churches have about a 100 regular members. Then only a small percentage of those pay tithes.

This results in the leadership not being paid. Plus there are huge churches that dont pay either. So there are pastors who have to be employed or generate income from the marketplace.

For all - our "work" is our ministry
"And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;" Col 3:23

We are all supposed to tithe. A minister is supposed to earn a living from pastoring. He must work when getting the church started. Making payments for building, utilities and etc. that’s his incentive to start a church that he is called to start any way he can.

tturt said:

Then only a small percentage of those pay tithes.

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he must make obtedient believers out of his people. Teaching the word of God and getting involved in the community. Have outreaches with his people.
Paul had to work to keep from offending and to be more credible.
He was pure of heart. Pastors should not be lazy.

My pastor has a lot of hats he wears doing ministry. For example, he meets with me once a week. He also does prison ministry and he is currently going to seminary to learn Greek. I'm happy to support him.

There comes a time when it is actually quite ridiculous how much pastors make for their "service" though. These kinds of pastors who have their hands in a lot of pies are more like businessmen than a shephard of a flock. Any pastor who owns their own private jet is making way too much money for giving a sermon on Saturday/Sunday.

In my estimation, a pastor should make no more than 120% net income average of people living in the city their church resides.

Partly pay levels depend on how the package is set up. For example, my stipend is benchmarked at (I think) 80% of the national average income, but I'm also provided with housing, which is a huge benefit.

Paidiske said:

Partly pay levels depend on how the package is set up. For example, my stipend is benchmarked at (I think) 80% of the national average income, but I'm also provided with housing, which is a huge benefit.

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That doesn't sound too bad.

True Counterphobia said:

That doesn't sound too bad.

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No, it's not bad at all. It's adequate to support myself and my family, be able to be generous and hospitable, and be comfortable. I worry sometimes about retirement and whether I'll have enough saved to support myself then, but I'm hoping that if I live a long and healthy life we'll manage to muddle through.

I want a minister with a seminary education and who can be fully devoted to ministry and church programming. You can't pay off college loans for seminary or give 100% to your church if you have to scrape for money or seek outside employment to feed your family.

I was a preacher's kid when my dad had to work in a factory to make ends meet. When he was finally convicted to devote 100% of his work time to the church, he started out meagerly getting paid in chickens, bushels of vegetables, and a 1/4 of a beef every now and then until he had enough years where his salary could actually support us. No clergy should have to live like that.

Paidiske said:

No, it's not bad at all. It's adequate to support myself and my family, be able to be generous and hospitable, and be comfortable. I worry sometimes about retirement and whether I'll have enough saved to support myself then, but I'm hoping that if I live a long and healthy life we'll manage to muddle through.

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Oh, I am on SSI. I have a list as long as my arm of things I am saving up for so I can sympathize.

seeking.IAM said:

.... I was a preacher's kid when my dad had to work in a factory to make ends meet. When he was finally convicted to devote 100% of his work time to the church, he started out meagerly getting paid in chickens, bushels of vegetables, and a 1/4 of a beef every now and then until he had enough years where his salary could actually support us. No clergy should have to live like that.

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I'm Catholic now, but I often quote "my old Protestant pastor." He said to me once that he lived below the poverty line for years, and he had a wife and six sons to support. Once the boys started work it probably got a bit easier (until they got married and moved out), but it would have been quite difficult before that.

I think things might be a bit easier now with most pastors getting bench-marked wages, but a lot of pastors lived on starvation wages for a long time.

I don't know how much Catholic priests receive, but I know it's paid from a central diocesan fund and not our local church. They'd be on starvation wages themselves if they were, as our parish struggles financially.