John Benton’s latest article on the Pastor’s Academy site talks about the importance of looking after pastors well, particularly when it comes to pay. He references Martin Luther’s commentary on Galatians 6:6 in support of his point.
Now, there’s some good points in the article. Whilst, elders in the church should not be greedy, lovers of money who are in it for financial gain, there is a responsibility on the church to care well for those who have responsibility for shepherding them. This is because we want to see people freed up as much as possible to serve in this particular way. Incidentally, I would argue that the responsibility runs wider than providing for a pastor and includes all who have committed to serve full time, in effect as members of staff.
Secondly, I appreciate John’s recommendation that when a church is financially in a good place and able to support its own pastor well, then it should prioritise partnering with other churches who might struggle to adequately support a pastor.
However, I have some concerns about the argument. First of all, John’s argument seems to be based on some assumptions without hard evidence being offered. These include a dismissive bit of stereotyping of English Evangelicals from an American. Then he goes on to claim that churches wilfully keep their pastors poor in order to keep them humble.
The thing is this, whilst from time to time, I’ve heard that assertion and the occasional apocryphal tale. I don’t recall ever seeing any hard evidence that this was the case. It feels more like a presumption along the lines of “we think that churches are not paying well, we cannot think of any good reason for this, so it must be that they are intentionally underpaying for some pseudo-religious reason.” Or maybe a treasurer has said it in an attempt at feeble humour, embarrassed by the pittance they can afford, “at least it keeps him humble”. But I’m not personally convinced that there are lots of churches out there, intentionally keeping their pastors poor, to keep them humble.
It is worth considering a couple of other possibilities before we jump to conclusions. First, it is possible that churches are underpaying when they could pay more. However, this may not be wilful. It is possible that those involved in making decisions are not aware of the current cost of living, particularly if they are not in a situation where they are themselves having to pay rent/mortgage or provide for a young family. It is helpful to be aware that churches frequently can no longer provide accommodation and even if a manse is available, pastors still need to prepare for somewhere to live when they leave church employment.
The other possibility is this, that churches are paying exactly what they are able to after their members have given financially. Note John’s comments on the survey that the Pastor’s Academy sent out.
Through Pastors’ Academy we sent out a short questionnaire a couple of times in the past year about how pastors were faring as the cost-of-living crisis began to bite. It went to a select few and was kept anonymous. From those who responded it was clear that though only a minimal number were in dire straits, quite a few were struggling to make ends meet.
It seems to me that the Pastor’s Academy forgot to send out the other half of their survey. If they had asked the church members who contribute to its finances how they were faring during the cost of living crisis, what would they have discovered? Well, I think they would have found that at least “quite a few” would also have been struggling to make ends meet. That’s the point of a “cost of living crisis.” Indeed, in some places they would have discovered more than a minimal number of ordinary Christians to be “in dire straits”. The Cost of Living crisis is a result of inflation as prices, particularly for food and fuel have been going up at a rate outstripping pay increases. This has been further compounded by interest rate increases hitting mortgage payers hard. And all of that means that churches are experiencing increased costs across the board, it’s not just the pastor’s salary that needs to go up, a church has fuel bills and maintenance costs too (or rent).
John’s recommendation, if you are a pastor who is struggling to make ends meet is that you pass on the article for other church leaders to read. I’m not sure that passing articles around is the most helpful way of addressing things. I’d rather encourage churches to act relationally as family. There should be open and honest conversations between congregations and pastors about how they are doing. This should encourage empathy and alertness to the needs of each other. It should also move us to prayer and encourage faith as we look to our heavenly father to provide.
Faithroots 