Alabama Baptist ministers and churches will both find encouraging news in the 2004 Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) Compensation Study recently released by the Annuity Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, now GuideStone Financial Services. For the first time, the study includes feedback from all 41 state and regional conventions cooperating with the SBC.
Alabama Baptist pastors will be encouraged to learn that salaries have increased faster than inflation for the past two years. On average, salaries increased 6.7 percent between 2002 and 2004. Inflation was 4.3 percent for the same period. That means pastors and other staff experienced an annual increase in buying power of about 1.2 percent.
Alabama Baptist ministers will also be encouraged to know the average salary for a full-time pastor in Alabama is higher than the national average and higher than the average among the nine southeastern states.
The average salary for full-time, SBC-related pastors nationwide is $46,505. In the Southeast, it is slightly higher, $47,117. In Alabama, the average full-time pastor’s salary is $49,088. That figure places Alabama sixth among all states in pastors’ salaries.
Washington, D.C., Baptist churches provide the highest salaries with an average of $62,818. That convention is followed by the Baptist General Convention of Texas at $56,581. Other conventions ahead of Alabama on the list are Maryland-Delaware, Florida and Georgia.
In addition to averages, the study broke down salaries by church attendance. As one might expect, salaries generally increased as attendance grew. For example, churches reporting attendance of 151–200, had an average salary of $48,118. Churches reporting attendance between 201–250 reported an average salary of $52,871. The statewide average falls between those two figures.
Officials who analyzed the study said information from churches indicated a growing willingness on the part of churches to accept the responsibility of an employer. More and more churches are structuring the total support offered a pastor rather than giving the minister a set number of dollars to divide as he desires.
Officials said churches need to provide protection coverages such as Social Security, retirement, health insurance and disability coverage. When the minister must choose between salary (to care for his and his family’s needs) and retirement or health insurance, sometimes the latter suffers. When an emergency arises or retirement comes, all are embarrassed that so little was done to prepare for such a circumstance.
The lump sum amount also creates false impressions. Some church members look at that one number and conclude that is how much the pastor is paid. At the same time, they do not consider what their employer pays in Social Security or insurance or retirement as part of their own pay.
Protection coverage for the pastor and other ministers is the church’s responsibility as an employer, and more and more churches are recognizing this fact.
Also encouraging is the indication that churches are recognizing certain business expenses are the responsibility of the church and not the pastor. For example, churches are providing reimbursement for such items as ministry-related travel, convention expenses, continuing education, books, magazines and ministry-related hospitality.
All of these should be done by reimbursement for documented expenses. They are not part of the pastor’s salary.
Also encouraging is the growing length of service among Baptist ministers. The average length of service reported by full-time pastors in the survey was 6.9 years. That is up from 6.2 years reported in the 2002 study. A growing amount of information indicates that a pastor’s effective leadership is tied, in part, to tenure.
There were a couple of troubling notes evident in the study. Protection coverage increased 7.6 percent on average. However, health costs rose at double digit levels both of those years. The survey results indicate that churches are having difficulty keeping up with the health costs for their pastor and other ministers.
When salary and protection coverage was combined, Alabama Baptist pastors fell from sixth place nationally to 10th. In the Southeast, Florida, Tennessee, Arkansas and South Carolina were all ahead of Alabama. Obviously, Alabama Baptist churches need to look at the protection coverages provided their ministers when church budgets are being prepared.
The survey also showed some real disappointments. Some churches running between 401 and 600 pay salaries less than the average of churches reporting attendance of 76–100. In every bracket that kind of information emerged.
In other instances, churches provided only a salary. There was no indication of any kind of protection coverage or ministry expense. This action was not limited to just the small membership churches. It, too, was evident in several attendance brackets. Unfortunately, some churches appear determined to “buy” their pastor as cheaply as possible. Their mind-set reflects the old satirical prayer, “Lord, if you will keep our pastor humble, we promise to keep him poor.” A healthy church cannot exist alongside such a spirit.
The most important elements in determining salary and protection coverage, the survey found, were attendance and financial resources of the congregation. Every Baptist pastor and every Baptist staff member deserve the best support a church is able to provide. After all, the church expects nothing less than the best leadership and ministry the pastor and staff can provide.
If you would like more information about the compensation study or to see information about churches similar to your church, visit the resources section of www.thealabamabaptist.org. Under links, go to Southern Baptist links and then the link for the study.
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