Some reader is bound to ask, “What do you mean, cut the pastor’s salary?” in response to the headline of this column. Churches don’t cut the salaries of pastors or other staff members. Even in bad times, churches at least keep salaries the same, such a reader will contend.
True. But when salaries stay the same and the costs of necessities increase, doesn’t that result in a practical salary reduction? The same amount of money will not go as far, so the family has to do with less. The recent rapid rise in fuel costs illustrates the point. Cities, school systems, families — almost everyone feels the pinch when prices skyrocket and income stays the same.
The pastor’s salary is no different. When prices of family needs increase and income stays stagnant, it is like getting a cut in salary. The pastor or staff member cannot provide the same things possible in the past.
The miles between the church and the hospital did not decrease when gas jumped from $1 a gallon to $1.50 a gallon. Members did not suddenly stop going to the hospital just because it cost more to drive there. But how many churches made sure their pastors had extra money for the high gasoline costs for church-related activities?
Personally, we know of no pastor who would stop going to the hospital just because all the travel expense money in the budget has been used up. Pastors would go and pay the money out of their own pockets because they care about their members and want to minister to them in times of need.
A pastor once shared that five years after coming to the church he served, his salary was the same as the day the church called him. He struggled to serve the church and provide for his family. He wondered why the church did not provide a raise even though the church had grown numerically and financially.
Another pastor jokingly observed that his church prayed for him regularly. The prayer was “Lord, if You will keep our pastor humble, we will keep him poor.” The pastor added that the church was doing its best to keep their promise to God.
Isolated situations? We certainly hope so. Most Alabama Baptist churches we know have more grace than that. Most churches we know care about their pastors and staff. Members carefully look after the pastor’s needs.
It is a cold-hearted church that tries to see how little they can pay the pastor. Such a church, in all probability, goes through a succession of pastors and wonders why it has such a turnover in staff.
Sometimes pastors and staff members end up taking pay cuts when the cost of church-sponsored benefits change. This year, for example, medical insurance is expected to increase dramatically. The Southern Baptist Convention Annuity Board has announced increases as much as 25 percent in some locations. This can result in a cut in the pastor’s salary.
If a church gives the pastor a lump sum of money and tells him to divide it up as he prefers, the pastor’s only choice is to reduce his salary in order to pay the increase in health insurance costs or to reduce his family’s health insurance.
Some churches adopt a budget with a certain amount specified for health insurance, for example. When costs rise rapidly like they are this year, the church tells the pastor that he must make up the difference between what is in the budget and what the actual costs are.
Again, that is a cold-hearted approach. Such actions demonstrate little love and grace.
A church should be committed to providing health insurance and other benefits for the pastor and staff. When costs go up, they are costs to the church just like the electric bill is a church responsibility. To expect the pastor to pay the cost increases is to cut the pastor’s salary.
Most Alabama Baptist churches are in the final stages of developing budgets for the coming year. In the process, remember the pastor and staff. Make sure funds for benefits and business expenses are sufficient to cover the actual costs, that the pastor or staff member does not have to pay them out of his or her own pocket.
And make sure the salaries at least reflect the rising costs of goods and services in the community. To do any less is, in reality, cutting the pastor’s salary. Hopefully, churches will be able to provide even more than a cost-of-living adjustment.
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