Called and Compensated: A Guide to Church Pastor and Staff Pay

Okay, here we go. For reasons that seemed like a good idea at the time, I agreed to write about how much pastors and church staff should be paid.

This is one of those topics everyone cares about, so here’s what I’m stepping into.

There are no verses in the Bible that tell us how much they should be paid. I've tried to find them. They're simply not there.

That presents us with a problem.

Calling vs. Compensation: Why This Is Such a Tension

On the one hand, many people feel called to ministry in the church. Pastors usually have a strong sense of God leading them into ministry. Other church staff members, like worship leaders or children's ministry directors, also feel a similar call.

How do you value a call from God? It's impossible. It's priceless. It's holy. It's like trying to put a dollar value on the Bible. It simply cannot be done.

On the other hand, you have the reality that those in ministry have bills to pay. Unfortunately, those bills can't be paid from a person's calling plan. They need real, concrete numbers when they apply for a loan from a bank. They need actual money to put their children through school and buy the ingredients to make meatloaf for dinner.

How do we answer this problem that walks the line of God's eternal kingdom and the realities of mortgages and tuition?

What the Bible Actually Says About Paying Pastors

Fortunately, the Bible does give us some general (I'm talking really general) principles to follow.

In 1 Timothy 5:18, we are told, "For Scripture says, 'Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain,' and 'The worker deserves his wages.'”

In 1 Corinthians 9:11-12, Paul says: "If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? If others have this right of support from you, shouldn’t we have it all the more?"

It seems pretty obvious that scripture commends paying those in ministry what they're worth and enough to sustain their ministry.

It's helpful to look at this issue through the lens of stewardship. If a church wants to sustain long-term ministry, it must pay its staff fairly.

It's the "fairly" part that gets a little murkier.

Let's plunge ahead.

Two Dangerous Ditches Churches Fall Into

We've touched on this already, but let's try to get a little more clarity on the calling versus compensation issue. There are two easy ways to go wrong when trying to sort through this.

Poverty Theology: When “Calling” Becomes Exploitation

On one end of the spectrum, you have poverty theology, which says that people should be concerned about money and God will provide for all their needs.

And to be honest, there are some aspects of truth to this point of view. Jesus does call us to give up everything to follow Him. God does promise to provide for all our needs.

However, things go too far when the poverty principle is used to exploit people and give them as little money as possible. If a person in ministry raises the issue of salary or finances, they're told that they lack faith in God or are greedy.

This theology isn't biblical. It smells like the Bible, but when you get close, it becomes clear that something is way off.

Prosperity Theology: When Blessing Becomes Excess

Way on the other side of the spectrum, you have prosperity theology. Generally speaking, this theology claims that Christians will walk in blessing most, if not all, of the time. Conveniently, those blessings are often financial. At its most garish and excessive, prosperity theology translates into pastors driving Rolls-Royces and having private jets.

This theology also has some truth in it. God promises that He will bless those who follow Him.  Sometimes those blessings are financial, but God blesses his people in many, many different ways. A child of Christian parents who professes genuine faith in Jesus is one of the greatest blessings a person can experience.

And sometimes blessings come wrapped in some form of suffering. There are countless stories of God working mightily in a person's life through their pain and grief.

Prosperity theology isn't biblical either. It says that God's promises equate to earthly good.

Finding the Healthy Center: Paying Pastors Fairly

To come to conclusions about pastor and church staff salaries, we have to find some sort of healthy center. We have to take into account a person's very real call to ministry and come up with a way to help them fulfill that call. And that's hard. But it's not impossible.

So how does a church determine what a pastor or staff member should be paid? Let's walk through some concrete steps.

Step 1: Put a Church Compensation Philosophy in Writing

When it comes to rightly paying pastors or church staff, you can't go by vague ideas. You need a written document that spells out the principles that guide salary decisions.

Your written document should contain several things:

Core Biblical Principles for Church Pay

To come to actual dollar numbers regarding salaries, you have to start by defining your core principles. These principles need to be drawn in some ways from scripture. Your principles might look like:

• Dignity: 1 Timothy 5:17 - "The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching."
  
• Livable Pay: 1 Timothy 5:8 - "Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever."
  
• Stewardship: Proverbs 21:5 - "The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty."
  
• Transparency/Accountability: 1 Corinthians 8:20-21 - "We want to avoid any criticism of the way we administer this liberal gift. For we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of man."
  
• Objective Standards: Proverbs 16:11 - "Honest scales and balances belong to the Lord; all the weights in the bag are of his making."
  
• Proportionate Responsibility: Luke 12:48 - "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded."

Governance: Who Decides Pastor & Staff Pay?

Your written document should also contain the rules of governance. You need to clearly define who decides on salaries for the pastor and church staff. For example, you could have a church board, finance team, or non-salaried elders make the decisions.

The governance rules should also include what happens when a conflict of interest arises. For example, a pastor shouldn't be deciding how much his wife, who leads the children's ministry, is paid.

It's also important to decide how financial decisions are documented. If a pastor uses church funds to make a purchase, that obviously needs to be documented. Without documentation, it's possible for pastors or church staff to misuse church funds.

How Often Should Church Salaries Be Reviewed?

Finally, your written compensation policy needs to address how often church salaries are reviewed. For example, it could happen during a person's annual review or at a midyear check. It also needs to address when exceptions can be made, like when a person abruptly steps down and someone needs to fill the spot quickly.

Step 2: Use Data and Benchmarks—Not Vibes

Salary decisions have to be made based on data and benchmarks. A pastor's salary can't be increased just because it feels right. There needs to be objective standards.

Your standards should include some, if not all, of these factors.

Ministry-Specific Market Data

Salary decisions should be driven by a person's:

• Role
• Church size
• Budget
• Geographic region

For example, there should be a difference in salary between a lead pastor of a 200-member church and a 2,000-member church. This isn't because small-church ministry is less valuable than large-church ministry. Not at all.

It's because, in most cases, being the lead pastor of a large church is more complex than being the pastor of a small church. A very specific type of person is required to lead a large church, and that pastor should be compensated fairly for all that's involved in their job.

To be clear, this isn't about the value of a person or their ministry. It's an issue where God's wisdom is required because life is complex and ministry isn't always straightforward.

Local Cost of Living Matters More Than You Think

The local cost of living needs to be accounted for when deciding how much a pastor or staff members make. That includes things like:

• Housing
• Childcare
• Taxes
• Food
• Transportation
• And much more...

If a pastor or church team member doesn't make at least the cost-of-living, they simply won't make it. I mean, who can do ministry when they're overwhelmed by the most basic things, like how they'll pay rent?

This is only my opinion, and I believe God does provide in unique ways for those in ministry, but a person in ministry should be able to live comfortably within their means.

The simple truth is that the more a person is stressed and overwhelmed by their life circumstances, the less effective their ministry will be. How effective would your ministry be if your house were close to going into foreclosure?

Role Scope and Responsibility

We've touched on this already, but it's worth discussing in more detail. A pastor's salary should align with the demands of their role.

An executive pastor who handles the complexity of staffing, large ministry projects, and overall church management should be compensated accordingly.

A youth pastor, though equal in value, has far fewer responsibilities than an executive pastor, and their salary should reflect that.

Step 3: Create Salary Bands for Church Roles

This is where you need to convert the information you've gathered into actual dollars. For each ministry role, you must create salary bands for what a person in that role can make.

This is where God's wisdom is especially needed. Your salary bands should include a maximum, a mid-level, and a minimum. There will be some measure of subjectivity in determining the level of a person, a pastor, or a staff member.

In addition to the above factors, you should also consider their experience and the degrees or certifications they hold. It will be challenging, but you have to translate those things into numbers.

Base Salary vs. Total Compensation

When deciding how much to compensate a pastor or church staff member, you have to consider more than their base salary.

You also have to consider things like:

• Housing allowance
• Health insurance
• Retirement
• Development and care (conferences, books, etc.)
• Professional expenses (phone, mileage, reimbursements, etc.)
• Vacation policies
• Relocation and housing assistance

These factors are way beyond the scope of this article. But you still have to take them into account. A financial expert should be involved when discussing these things.

All of this to say, when determining where a person sits within salary bands, make sure you're thinking total compensation.

Aligning Staff Pay With Your Church Budget

When you're placing within salary bands, you're always going to bump up against the budget. There's only so much a church staff can be paid, and that amount is defined by the budget.

Budget limitations will determine where people will land within the salary bands. As much as you would like to pay your pastor the maximum amount, the budget might not allow it.

If you're looking for a general rule of thumb, the Unstuck group recommends allocating 45% to 55% of their total church budget to staff compensation.

But as they note in their article, every church is different. If you're a church planter, you'll likely be working with a relatively small budget, and your salary will have to reflect that. A pastor in San Francisco will have a much higher cost of living than a pastor in rural Ohio.

Again, God's wisdom is needed, and an expert should be involved.

How to Talk to Your Congregation About Staff Pay

Part of being financially transparent is talking with your congregation about staff pay. And like the rest of this process, things are kind of complicated.

What Churches Should (and Shouldn’t) Share

When discussing staff pay numbers, it's best to share your church's salary decision principles, the process that goes into the decisions, and the data that guides them.

You shouldn't speak publicly about individual salaries within your church. That's an invasion of the privacy of your pastors and church staff.

Common Objections and How to Respond

People may raise questions about or objections to the principles and process that guide salary decisions. For example, you might hear:

Question: Isn't ministry a calling?

Yes, but it's more than that. Ministry is also a job that requires education, skills, and experience. Just like any other job, pastors and church staff should be compensated fairly for their work.

Question: Shouldn't pastors and church staff just trust God to provide for their financial needs?

Yes, pastors and church staff should trust God to provide for their financial needs. However, one of the main ways God provides is through the church. And they also have real needs and bills. Most people can't minister effectively if they are under constant financial pressure.

Question: Why are you using non church-related data to make salary decisions?

Because pastors and church staff don't live in the church. They don't buy groceries at the church. They have families and personal expenses, just like anyone else. Using non-church-related data, such as local cost of living, helps ensure they can live comfortably and minister most effectively.

Building A Sustainable Ministry for the Long Run

Here's what it boils down to. God does call certain people to minister with little to no financial support. But that's not the norm and shouldn't be used to manipulate pastors or church staff into being underpaid.

If you want to build a sustainable ministry in your church, you need to financially support pastors and staff so they can live within their means and minister effectively. You're not trying to make them rich. You're also not trying to convince them to take a vow of poverty. You're seeking to position them to serve God as effectively as possible.

This isn't the context for which it was written, but I think 2 Corinthians 9:7 is applicable. It says, "Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."

I believe that whenever possible, churches should operate by the same principle when paying their pastors and staff. Give as God gives. Don't be stingy with salaries.

Pay people what they're worth. This will set your church up to produce fruit over the long run.

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