That is from the LifeWay/GuideStone 2018 SBC Compensation Study.
The $77,979 figure is for senior pastors only and the amount includes salary + housing allowance + FRV of parsonage + Social Security equivalent + utilities paid on church owned housing + insurance benefits + retirement contribution. There were 3,536 SBC churches that participated in the survey.
The link allows you to check results by position, church size, church budget, state, etc.
The initial news release noted that compensation hasn’t kept up with inflation but the average is about $2,500 more than the same category for 2016.
And, yeah, I know the average isn’t such a great metric.
Carol Pipes has a good article on Facts & Trends.
More later…
My apologies to Tony Jones for walking on his new article…but, money talks loudest in this man’s convention.
Just sign my Bible in Birmingham this June and all will be forgiven.
I’m busy working up a fancy autographed Bible for Trump. Maybe a special edition display only version, as opposed to one actually used for morals and belief. Already have Graham and Jeffress on board. They will sign right next to Paula White.
Can it be a modified Jefferson Bible? Instead of taking out all the miracles, just make the whole thing… Trumpier.
“In the beginning, some guy, I don’t really know him that well and he’s not as successful as I am, but a lot of people are saying he gets his inspiration from me, which is nice…”
You know, I appreciate that you all do not like President Trump. I get it. But can we respect the office no matter who is in there? For 8 years I worked hard to refer to President Obama as such, rather than simple “Obama.” I disagreed with practically every legislative and executive he made. He insulted believers and conservatives many times. But, I still respected his position. I think that is a biblical position.
Doesn’t it stand to reason that raises in ministerial pay would lag behind inflation and rising workers wages? Pastors’ wages are tied most directly to givers in a congregation. It takes a while for the tides (tithes?) to rise and lift all ministerial boats. This shouldn’t be news unless there is some comparative indicator that shows how pastors’ compensation is fairing against historically similar economies.
Looking closer, insurance eats up pay raises. The lag below inflation is slight. Regardless, churches should try and keep up, since it is less likely that the church will give greater than inflation, unless there’s a personnel change.
I hear you on the insurance. Our ministerial had an average age well above 50 at one point. The pastor, as he put it, had velcro installed on his chest from so may heart surgeries and the missions guy had brain cancer. That and the increases brought on by the Affordable Care Act hammered the budget of our medium-large congregation pretty hard. I don’t see how smaller congregations could keep up and keep things running at the same time.
Now, the cynical and uncharitable side of me asks, “What if they were paying the pastor to much to begin with and not keeping up with inflation is really just a market correction?” (Cue tomato throwers)
William, that first sentence speaks volumes. Insurance is eating up pay raises in the secular world and in the church. Our city recently had to lay off workers in all departments due to the rise in insurance costs breaking their budget. With more people moving to medi-share type insurance, it’s going to get worse before it gets better.
William, every increase I’ve received in the last 7 years has gone to keep up with insurance. With the self employment tax now back at 15.3%, I take home less than I did when I started here. Since the ACA went in to effect, my insurance has more than doubled, and is now as much as my mortgage payment. That, for my self, on my wife’s group plan. A pastor with a wife who stays home and is raising 2-3-4 kids, I know some guys paying 20K just to insure their families