As a longtime preacher, I am offended by Thom Morgan’s letter printed Feb. 9. First of all, I share his father’s credentials. I have been preaching for nearly 59 years. Forty of those were as a bivocational pastor. My “full-time” ministry only came after I retired from teaching in 1985. Believe me, I am qualified to comment on pastors, bivocational and otherwise.
Since Mr. Morgan has such a high regard for the King James Bible (I use it but I use others also), I want to point to a couple of lessons from that Book. He attempted to make a distinction between the words “vocation” and “calling.” The apostle Paul made no such distinction. He writes, “I … beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye were called” (Eph. 4:1 KJV). Preaching is both a calling and a vocation.
The second lesson has to do with salaries. Paul, writing to preacher Timothy, says, “Let the elders that rule be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labor in the WORD and DOCTRINE. For the scripture saith, ‘Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth the corn.’” (1 Tim. 5:17–18 KJV). If he is attempting to prove that a meager salary or no salary is the order of the day for ministers, he will have to refer to some book other than the Bible as his authority. Moreover, Mr. Morgan characterizes many preachers as “momma called” or “too sorry to work.”
As a preacher who has been associated with countless others since 1947, I find that, on the whole, they are honorable, industrious and self-sacrificing men. For someone like Thom Morgan to resort to a broad brush and describe preachers in such a fashion is reprehensible to me. I am delighted that many preachers today have a livable salary, but I also know there are many pastors who have difficulty supporting a family on the salary they earn from their church. I can assure Mr. Morgan that I have known far more preachers who have existed on minimal wages than those who have received $100,000 a year.
And, by the way, before I read his letter in The Alabama Baptist, I knew of one Person who boldly proposed that His was the ideal by which to pattern one’s life. Now I know two.
Leroy Anthony
Jasper, Ala.
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