The typical senior pastor receives compensation exceeding $38,000, an increase over previous years, whole Protestant church attendance continues to remain stable, Barna Research Group reports.
In its survey of senior pastors of Protestant congregations, the Ventura, Calif.-based firm found the median value of pastoral compensation is $38,214, up almost 9 percent from 1999.
Compensation includes salary and benefits, such as housing allowance, insurance, car allowance and retirement payments.
The income of pastors varied widely depending on the size of their congregations. The annual median income for those with congregations of more than 250 adult attenders is $56,429, compared to $29,808 for those with less than 100 adults attending.
Others with above-average income include mainline congregational leaders, seminary graduates and those with some more than 10 years of full-time ministry experience. Researchers found that the average number of adults attending Protestant services in a typical week remained at 90, the same total found in 1999. In 1997, the average attendance was 100 adults.
Black congregations had the highest median attendance- 120- while churches associated with charismatic (or Pentecostal) denominations such as the Assemblies of God and the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel had the lowest average turnout-80.
Researchers found, though, that churches that describe themselves as charismatic but with no ties to a denomination known for charismatic practices have an average adult attendance of 150 per week.
The profile of Protestant pastors has not changed much in 10 years. Most are male (95 percent), married (94 percent), and seminary graduates (60 percent). Relatively few have ever been divorced- 13 percent.
The survey results are based on telephone interviews in the summer of 2000 among a sample of 601 pastors. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
(RNS)
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