The adjectives in the title have meaning. I’m referring to the thousands of small churches, somewhere around the SBC median of about 70 in average weekly attendance, that have a single clergy staff, the pastor, who is fulltime and not bivocational. My first church, it was in rural South Carolina, was an example of this: around 70 in attendance and I was the only staff member. I was fulltime and not bivocational.
Seventy is the median church size in the SBC.
LifeWay’s latest Compensation Study, 2018, showed churches in the 50-100 attendance range as paying their senior pastor a package (Salary + Housing Allowance + Fair Rental Value of Church-owned Housing + Utilities on Church-owned Housing + Social Security Equivalent + Retirement Benefits Paid by the Church + Insurance Paid by the Church) of about $56,000. This figure is an average of the two categories used by LifeWay which categorizes responses as 50-74 and 75-99. Almost a thousand self-selected responses were made to the study by churches between 50 and 99 in average attendance.
My judgement, anecdotal, is that the figures in the LCS tend to be on the high side, pastors being paid less than the study averages. I can’t prove it.
The question is: Are these single staff, small churches having difficulty finding a full time pastor? Are they having more difficulty now in retaining a pastor at an average salary?
It is a settled reality that church attendance is declining overall. Is the system where pastors serve in the myriad of small churches, gain experience, and then move to larger churches diminishing? We can’t all be consultants.
I see solid, educated, selfless, dedicated pastors around me who are full time clergy in churches of 40 to 60 in attendance. Is giving by a group this size enough to support a full time pastor adequately? Do members give per capita sufficient to cover a $50,000 or more salary cost by their minister?
Depends, I suppose, on the church.
The SBC is showing declines across the board. We are educating people at a graduate level to serve churches. Where are these graduates going and how realistic is it to visualize decades of full time vocational service in a church with so few in attendance?
Each church that I served came to full time status in the post-WWII years. It was a huge step to move from having a part time pastor, or bivocational pastor, or sharing a pastor with one or more other churches to having their own full time pastor. We’ve had about three generations of this in affluent America, small churches with full time clergy staff. Is this changing?
The Payroll Protection Plan was a boon to many churches large and small. I don’t think the government will take on permanent payroll protection for churches in the future.
Some of our state conventions are providing temporary financial assistance to small churches during this time of crisis. I love the idea behind this, at every level SBC entities serve local churches, but it isn’t a permanent solution.
So, where are we going on all this? I have mostly questions and a paucity of answers on all this. Surely, PhDs have been earned studying the subject. Perhaps I can be informed.
_____________
I’m the average church guy at Voices. The others are above average.
I suppose we could all have our own ministries, do some ebooks, have a website with a ‘give’ button, crowd source ourselves and our magnificent independent ministry, tap our family and friends for mission trip funding, try and build an income away from the churches. Oh, we’re already doing that.
Churches over 50 seem to be able to BARELY afford a full-time pastor. Many desperately want to because they used to have multiple paid staff when they were larger. Their hope, and the hope of the pastor they call is that they will grow again. Unfortunately, many do not have enough budget money left to fund much in the was of ministry. But gratefully there are more seminary trained pastors entering the church field ready and willing to be intentionally bivocational. This is a great thing IF the church can tamp down their expectations and step up to the plate… Read more »
I hope it’s true Allen, that more guys graduating seminary are willing to be bi-vocational. I have been bi-vo for over 11 years now (all at the same church). One thing to keep in mind though, is that doing this requires much sacrifice as there is precious little time for hobbies when you’re essentially working 2 full-time jobs. Because, as they say, the only thing bi-vocational about church ministry is the pay. It’s tough and you definitely need multiple staff to carry the burden, but at least the church doesn’t have to pay health or retirement.
This is a good question. A couple of quick thoughts: A good solution may be for two or more small churches that are not far apart to share a pastor. The main problem I see is that most small churches don’t want to do this. If a church can afford a full time pastor, even if it does not need one based on its size, there is still some benefit to funding one. There is endless ministry opportunities in the community and beyond for a full time pastor to pour himself into if the local congregation does not require all… Read more »
It is hardly a bad thing. However, it is exactly what many churches 50+ years ago did. The first church I served proudly called itself “full time,” but it really was not, even though we labored there four years (two during seminary and two after). They had been that way since 1960. Before that, one pastor served them and another church a few miles away; before 1948, one pastor had served those two church plus “First Baptist” in the county seat town. Another church in the same county had a pastor who served five churches scattered over two or three… Read more »
This is cool, but I’m not sure that the organizational or relational means for this even still exists. What entity would employ him? How would taxes & housing allowance work? Would the state convention help set this up?
It also stretches the definitions of “pastor” and “church.” Plural eldership can be a huge benefit here.
I left the full time pastorate…purposefully. I saw the drain that my income was on the church and felt that multiple bi-vocational ministers could minster “better” and still leave room for the expense of ministry. I am now a correctional chaplain as well as bi-vocational, it is the best fit for most churches in my demographic, even the bigger congregations. One overlooked positive of the bi vocational pastorate is the need for the laity to step in and participate in the churches ministry in a biblical manner. I love that deacons are now disciplining others and ministering by visiting (sans… Read more »
I am one of the pastors- at least fitting the profile in the “small, single full time clergy staff church” post. The prospects are not promising. I’m in the median size group and live and minister in a more expensive, major market, metropolitan region so the cost of living is that much greater and ministry that much more challenging, despite they’re being more fish in our pond. Pastors in our position need much prayer and provision, being that our jobs are that much more difficult in a COVID pandemic environment in which congregational giving may be impacted- often negatively.… Read more »
I serve a church of roughly 30 and I’m full time. I know I’m rare, but they can afford me and we still afford ministry and missions. I wonder if more churches will go back to offering a parsonage? Without the parsonage, we wouldn’t be able to stay here. The other caveat to my situation is the cost of living here is very low. I imagine our church in another more affluent context would not be able to afford me.
When the parsonage enters the discussion, I cringe a bit because I know it can be problematic for the minister. The church parsonage was my domicile for two-thirds of my ministry. There are challenges to confront…but you are much smarter than I.
Deserves its own topic, I think.
You’re right about that. You should write about it. Several churches in our association provide a parsonage, more than I expected. We’re lucky to have a not so meddlesome congregation. They leave us alone about the parsonage and we in turn pay for a lot of things ourselves. One of the decisions I made when we started here was that the church was not going to pay our utilities. I like to run the AC and furnace a little more than some and I wasn’t about to let anyone get a chance to comment on my utility bill. Lol
The problem with personages is not just meddlesome congregations, but the lack of equity built up by the pastor. We were in parsonages for 16 years and when we moved to a situation where we didn’t, we didn’t have anything to sell to help with a down payment. If it had been 10 more years down the road, close to retirement, I’d be in a mess.
There are a lot of variables. Does the church have debt? Does the pastor have debt, especially student loan? Does the pastor have a stay at home wife with kids increasing benefit costs? What is the cost of living in the area? As with everything no one size will fit all. There’s been a move to more bi-vocational work in smaller churches for years, but many will still be able to afford a pastor and do ministry. We do it, including 13% to missions. As for the record number of seminary grads, no idea what will happen to them. For… Read more »
Some small churches insist on a full time pastor but can’t afford “full time” pay, which leads to disaster for the pastor & his family.
In the past, small churches joined with others on a “field” where one pastor took turns with two or three churches and they joined together in paying him.
Why couldn’t churches do that now?
I don’t disagree; however, if there are ministers who are willing to work full time for the pay offered how does one conclude that the church is indeed offering full time pay?
Aside from how we spiritualize calling and service, there are undeniable market factors at work here, supply and demand although we prefer not to discuss it in these terms.
A lifetime ago (30 years) I left a small church that on a really good Sunday broke 30 in attendance. It had not been that many years before that they went full time. My impression was that somewhere in the seminaries the mantra was that churches should be full time. I’m not sure if the thought that it was a means of growth. My impression was that it should have not been done.
I am thankful for this post as I serve a church close to the size mentioned in a highly populated metro area where the cost of living has sky rocketed and the Gospel need is great. Between the actual cost increases of property taxes, insurances, H.O.A. fees for a modest condo and a family that has grown (literally numerically and physically), even a salary higher than mentioned (which I don’t have) would not cut it. As someone who feels very much called to the church and area I serve, leaving for the sake of salary is not a question. I… Read more »
I love this article and all the comments. IF you are in the Austin, TX area and IF you are willing to accept help, contact me at spocksackmary@gmail.com Me, and many of my fellow seminary graduates are not being fully utilized. I know many of you may have heard or been taught the utterly ridiculous idea that we need to be suspicious of people who want to help. I reject that idea. When we have sooo many seminary grads from our SBC seminaries who are not serving, something is wrong. So, be part of the solution, accept help and let… Read more »
Mike, would you mind expanding on that a bit? It’s not a problem I’ve heard anyone talk about before. I’m just beginning at SBTS, but the standard line I’ve heard from SBC leadership is that the world needs more teachers of the gospel, not less.
If you feel you’re not fully released for the Kingdom work God has for you, then do you have any actions steps to move towards it? Would that include moving away from home like so many ministers and missionaries have always done?
As a bi-Vocational pastor for many years I never had a problem with the amount of money a church gave me. I pastored my very first church four years. My salary was $0.00. I made more money than anyone in the church and I refused any salary from the church. I have turned down several full time pastorates. As a Bi-Vocational pastor I could preach the word unhindered by anything or anyone. My mentality was that if the church didn’t like the way I served the Lord they were free to seek out a 3 or 4 thousand dollar a… Read more »
The church I grew up in was in a town of about 12,000 with no other SBC churches, just one other Baptist congregation, and was started in 1954. It was bi-vocational until 1988 and had just two pastors. The first one I remember was there for over 20 years and the church went from 35 to over 120 in attendance, regularly baptized 15 people a year and his trademark ministry was a huge annual VBS with two sessions a day and over 200 kids enrolled each year. He worked as the finance officer for the local Chevy dealer and his… Read more »
We have a church of about 50 average in northern NY. While we can offer a small salary and parsonage, we couldn’t hope to provide health insurance. Additionally, we are, if I may say it, pretty good about spreading out pastoral responsibility so it doesn’t make sense for us to have a full time pastor. The problem is, the jobs available in rural NY are not abundant. We have been without a pastor for a couple years. People aren’t beating down our doors to come serve.
Perhaps Covid might have a positive effect on that. Work-at-home may become the normal and many companies, including mine allow people to work from anywhere in the U.S., not merely where the headquarters is located. Perhaps some bi-vocational guy would be able to do this, which would allow him to move to your area.
There was a thought a few years ago (5, maybe?) to change the word “bivocational” to “covocational.” The thinking (from a NAMB higher-up, no longer there) was that “bi” separates: You’re either doing one or the other. You’re either pastoring, or doing your secular job. The prefix “co” pulls them together, he explained to me, because you’re always pastoring, even when at your secular job. You’re ready with a spiritual or comforting or wise thought even when working at Jiffy Lube, or Walmart, or mowing someone’s lawn. Every bivo pastor I talked with for the next year absolutely loved the… Read more »
I think the problem is largely three-fold. First, there’s the ever dwindling number of unregenerate folks who are willing to stay on as church-goers when there is no faith in their lives. There just isn’t enough incentive anymore to even be a cultural Christian, and these folks are bailing in increasing numbers. I am sorry to not have any influence over them from the pulpit, but it’s hard to say that the culling, while painful, isn’t beneficial in many other areas for those of us who remain. Second, among the Gen-X and Millennial generations, there is an increasing acceptance to… Read more »