Are you adequately taking care of your Pastor and Staff?
If your Pastor can not take care of his family adequately… How effective can he take care of the Church he is entrusted to care for???
Directions: Often, compensation adjustments (raises) for pastors are left up to the pastor himself to pursue. This makes things awkward and places undue pressure on the pastor. Therefore, many go years without seeing a pay increase because it feels self-serving. However, if compensation adjustments are not made at least yearly, this could easily cause discontent and is not fair to the pastor or the church. We also highly encourage you to use this guide below to help in compensation adjustments for other pastors and/or staff as well. This guide takes out the guesswork and makes it easier for your team to be fair, and it allows them the opportunity to bless the pastor(s) and staff. OBE highly recommends that at the bare minimum, a cost of living raise for each employee yearly. OBE also highly recommends a yearly evaluation for all church staff, leaders, and volunteers. Annual evaluations are great tools to help the church, staff, and leaders become more productive in the roles they fulfill.
I Timothy 5:17-18- The elders who perform their leadership duties well are to be considered worthy of double honor (financial support), especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching [the word of God concerning eternal salvation through Christ]. 18 For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain [to keep it from eating],” and, “The worker is worthy of his wages [he deserves fair compensation].” AMP
1 Thessalonians 5:12- Dear brothers and sisters, honor those who are your leaders in the Lord’s work. They work hard among you and give you spiritual guidance. NLT
I Corinthians 9:11,14- If we have sown [the good seed of] spiritual things in you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? In the same way, the Lord ordered that those who preach the Good News should be supported by those who benefit from it. NLT
The Pastors Advocate
Every Church should consider assigning or creating a Pastor's Advocate. The Pastor's Advocate would be a person who regularly (at least once a year) oversees or heads up a review of the pastor's total compensation package. In most places of employment, an HR department handles regular compensation adjustments and raises. However, in the case of most Pastors, it is up to them to advocate for themselves, which feels self-serving and odd, so most do nothing, and the Pastor's family suffers. You could really help take the pressure off your Pastor by assigning or creating a Pastor's Advocate. The question arises then... should not that be the entire governing board's responsibility? Yes, it is; however, if no one person is in charge of bringing it to the governing board's attention, it can easily fall through the cracks and be overlooked. Above and below are several tools to help the Pastor's Advocate educate and support the board to quickly asses the total compensation for the Pastor, make adjustments, and account for regular raises. Thank you for your attention to this critical matter!
Pastor Josh Grimes , Regional Executive Director for OBE
Need help knowing if your Pastors Compensation is adequate? Use these resources below to help.
Thank you so much for taking a look and interest in paying your pastor well. I am going to include several different resources that I have found best to help church boards pay their pastor appropriately. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to call me.
2019 Guidelines for Local Church Personnel and Search Committees for Authorized Ministers and Professional Expense Reimbursement- Presented by the Clergy Leadership Development Ministry Council of the MACUCC (Very easy and middle of the road)- Link Here to Download
Lifeway Compensation Study- This will give you some great insight. LINK HERE and here is an accompanying "Compensation Planning Guide" Link Here To Download.
Pastor Salary Guidelines from Everance. They have an online or paper copy that helps when considering education and other important factors. LINK HERE. If you go to the link you can download the paper copies if you want. I have found it a lot easier to use the online form. (Best option)
I believe option 3 to be the best and most accurate compensation guide, however, there is value in all three. The best advice I can give is to pay your pastor well, err on the side of generosity. Of course, this will need to be in line with what the church can afford. Ultimately your pastor should be able to live comfortably in the community he is serving. These guides above will give you, a compensation committee, and/or the governing church board a good overview of things to consider when compensating your pastor.
Serving Together, Pastor Josh
Is the Church using the IRS Approved Housing Allowance designation for your Pastor?
If NOT… then your Pastor is unable to take advantage of this cost-saving resource. Go to the link below to get more information and practical resources to help you assist your Pastor in tapping into savings!!!
Pastors Health Insurance
One overlooked aspect of most pastors' compensation packages that tends to cause a lot of stress is health insurance. Most jobs offer health insurance or access to health insurance in some form, but because of the size, most churches do not. In this era and with the rising costs of health care costs, it is not wise to go without some form of health insurance. Churches would do well to help and assist their pastors in getting some form of health care coverage. Below, I am sharing information for a starting point for the different available options.
*Note—While some pastors may prefer to handle this on their own, it's important for churches to step in and assist with the costs as much as possible. This collective effort can significantly alleviate the financial burden on pastors.
*Note- Housing Allowance is NOT considered income when looking for income-based health insurance.
Option #1—State-Funded Health Insurance. Most states have a state-funded health insurance plan for those who can not get insurance through their place of employment (especially if they have children). This should be the first place to look. Remember that Housing Allowance is NOT considered when reporting income for state-funded health insurance. Some states do this through their Medicaid offices, and others have a separate office that accesses eligibility. Do an internet search for your state-funded health care program.
Option #2: Healthcare.gov is a federal program that helps with health insurance. Again, the income you claim is on your 1099, W-2, and/or tax return documents. (Link- www.healthcare.gov).
Option #3- Christian Healthcare Ministries. This is not traditional health care insurance as we know it, but it does help cover health care costs. Several companies do something similar to CHM, but I can personally endorse this ministry because I know several pastors and even have family members who are currently using this ministry, and all of them say that CHM is a blessing and has really helped them in their time of need covering exorbitant heath care costs that would have financially bankrupted them if they did not have this coverage! This is worth checking into. I highly suggest the Gold program if possible.
(For more info, go to www.chministries.org )
Option #4—Catastrophic Health Insurance—Many companies offer this as an option. It works by paying nothing until a large sum of out-of-pocket expenses is met, like $5,000, $10,000, or even higher. The higher the out-of-pocket costs, the more affordable the monthly premium is. I would only use this as a last resort for affordability, but this could very well keep your pastor from going bankrupt if a health crisis arises. Oftentimes, this would or could be coupled with a Health Savings Account to help defray the smaller healthcare costs that arise. For Catastrophic Health Insurance, do an internet search for companies in your state and shop around. To set up the easiest Health Savings Account for your pastor, reach out to the regional office to give you some direction on the best options.
Pastor's Retirement
Another thing that churches fail to consider is retirement. Most places of employment have options for self-funded or employee-matched retirement plans. Open Bible has one of the best retirement plans available to ministers: tax-free contributions and tax-free withdrawals if used as housing. Very few places can offer a 403(b)(9) for which all Open Bible Credentialed Ministers are eligible. This can be self-funded (employee-funded), church funded, or a mixture of both. Churches need to help their pastors prepare for the future by assisting in setting up a retirement fund for their pastor. Below is a link to more information. Be sure to contact the Open Bible National Office for any questions about the Open Bible Retirement or to set up a retirement account for your pastor.
(For more information - LINK)
Open Bible National Office - #(515)-288-6761