By Dr. Bob Terry
Pastors and other Baptist ministers are falling further behind in terms of financial support, according to a recently released report by the Layman’s Salary Study Committee of the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions (SBOM).
The study, completed every two years, examined salaries, benefits and ministry expenses and reported results in groups organized by size of the church and church budget.
While salaries for full-time pastors rose 1.8 percent in Alabama during the past two years, that was less than half of the national inflation rate of 3.9 percent, the report noted. When increases do not keep pace with inflation, the pastor has less purchasing power to buy the same goods and services.
Other church staff members did not fare as well as pastors, the study found. Alabama ministerial staff saw mostly flat wages during the two-year period, according to the report. Nationally ministerial staff members saw increases that slightly exceed inflation.
In all benefits categories, Baptist ministers in Alabama trail their counterparts in other states. Full-time Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) pastors nationwide average 20 percent more in work-related benefits than do full-time pastors in Alabama. Bivocational pastors in Alabama trail their counterparts in other states by 30 percent on average in terms of work-related benefits.
For most the highest cost benefit is medical insurance followed closely by retirement contributions.
The Layman’s Salary Study urged churches to separate ministry-related expenses from items counted as ministerial compensation. Expenses such as mileage reimbursement, convention costs, continuing education expenses and ministry-related hospitality expenses should be in addition to compensation, the report stated.
The report also urged churches to consider a minister’s total years of denominational service when determining vacation time or other paid leave.
“Pastor and staff should not be penalized for accepting God’s call to your church,” the report said. “Do not make him start over on (vacation time and sick leave) because God has called him to your church.”
Churches also were urged to provide a Social Security offset for ordained ministers. Church employees pay a 7.65 percent Social Security rate. Self-employed ministers pay 15.3 percent or 7.65 percent more than nonminister employees. “This offset should be paid by the church and should not be part of a ‘package,’” the report declared.
Any Social Security offset is treated as a taxable income item for the minister.
The report also noted that churches should expect to pay more for a pastor with an accredited seminary degree than a nonseminary-trained minister. On average the report found that seminary graduates earned $1,981 more.
The median percent of a church budget used for ministerial compensation and benefits was 48 percent, according to the report. When the middle majority — 70 percent of reporting churches — was examined (excluding the lowest and highest) the range varied between 36 percent and 58 percent of the budget.
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The complete report may be obtained from the SBOM or by visiting www.alsbom.org/ccs.
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