• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Podcast

Money Wise Pastor

Career, life, and money wisdom from a pastor's perspective

  • Make Money
  • Save Money
  • Banking & Investing
  • Debt
  • The Bible & Money

What’s the Best Method for Determining a Pastor’s Salary?

November 1, 2011 | By Rich | |

How much should a pastor be paid?  It’s a question that many churches and pastors struggle to answer.

When I became a pastor in 1998, working in a large church with 10 pastors, my church based a new pastor’s starting salary at the same level as the starting salary of public school teachers.

At the time, I thought it was a bit low, and I complained that this wasn’t fair, because teachers only had to work 9 months and got summers off.

I got no sympathy, however, from friends who asked me, “What are you complaining about, since pastors only have to work one day a week?”

Ha! If only that were true! 😉 Anyway, all kidding aside…

How to determine a pastor's salaryA few of us did question whether a teacher’s salary is the best benchmark for salaries for pastors at our church.  

Our church business administrator (who handled all finance and HR responsibilities), decided to contact other churches of similar size in our community to ask them how they determined their pastors’ salaries.

Apparently they had some really great discussions, because these local church finance leaders decided to meet quarterly to discuss common issues, share best practices, etc.

In addition, they decided to conduct an annual pastor compensation survey to identify the range of salaries for senior pastors, youth pastors, worship pastors, executive pastors, care pastors, missions pastors, children’s pastors and other ministry staff positions.

Now, for the first time, our church and other churches of similar size in our community had a benchmark for pastor salaries.  Our church used this information to create a salary range for the various pastor positions.

The results from the first survey showed that some of our pastors were paid several thousand dollars less per year than pastors in similar positions with other churches.  We were able to make adjustments over the next year to get our pastors within the “ballpark” range.

No matter what size church or community you serve in, I’d recommend connecting with other pastors and churches of similar size to share information on pastor salaries.  

The important thing to remember is to be sure you’re comparing apples to apples:  work with churches of similar size, and compare positions with similar roles and levels of responsibility.

Have you or your church conducted a salary survey with other area churches?  If so please share your experience.

You might also like:

  • Pastor retirement planning
  • Pastor job search site
  • When a clergy parsonage makes sense

About the author

Rich Rich writes on money and personal growth from a pastor's perspective here at Money Wise Pastor. He loves In-N-Out Burger (and has the t-shirts to prove it), big cities, international travel, running marathons, and helping others create more freedom, purpose, and fulfillment in their life and work. Find him on Twitter and Facebook.

Filed Under: Church Administration & Staffing, Make Money

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. pastor Chifumu pasha says

    July 5, 2012 at 2:54 am

    please send me more info on this subject. next week iam tallking with my church about my salary. have not been paid for 4 yrs.

    please help

Primary Sidebar

Start Here…

Check Out Our New Podcast!

More Than a Pastor Podcast

Connect With Us

RSSTwitterFacebook

Money Wisdom from the Bible

"Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share." - 1 Timothy 6:17-18 (NIV) Click for more of the Bible and Money...

Topics

  • About Money Wise Pastor
  • Banking & Investing
  • Bible & Money
  • Church Administration & Staffing
  • Clergy Tax Issues
  • Financial Challenges for Pastors
  • Giving
  • Leadership & Personal Growth
  • Make Money
  • Money Management
  • Resources & Reviews
  • Retirement
  • Save Money

Disclaimer

The content on Money Wise Pastor is for informational purposes only. We may be compensated by companies mentioned through advertising, affiliate programs, and otherwise. However, we will never promote or recommend a product that we wouldn't use ourselves. Affiliate links and ads are simply a way for us to provide the information on this site at no cost to you, our reader.

Footer

Privacy Policy

Terms and Conditions

Make GDPR Requests

Copyright © 2023 MoneyWisePastor.Com