What do you think is a righteous sum for a pastor to earn?

Answer 1

A good shepherd should be well taken care of according to the Bible - the Bible gives them "double honor" - it's in Timothy.

A second job leaves a Pastor with no time for his family and it even short changes the church - unless the church is very small.

It depends on the size and demands of the congregation. Most Pastors are also well educated. They should be paid well and they should not be hirelings but real shepherds.

Answer 2

This depends on many things.
Is he bi-vocational? Full time?
When a Minister is full time, it really is FULL time. Consider what the calling entails:
On call 24/7. Even on his day off, if something comes up, he's got to go. There's the possibility of being called to an emergency room in the middle of the night because a congregant had an accident. Hospital rounds. Visitations. Counseling sessions when called on. Funerals, and the need for a sermon. The sermons need to be written for all services. Of course, you have to have time to do the work for that, maybe it gets sandwiched between the business meetings and the few hours you get to spend with your family.
You're still a Christian yourself, so you need time for personal devotions. Perhaps he'll need to take time for marriage counseling himself, since ministerial families are really strained considering the call.
I think there's a few finer points that others can tell you about. So, what do you pay a Pastor? Whatever you think he needs I would say.

Answer 3

I signed the letter of agreement Sunday to be the full-time pastor of a church. In my two months of being the interim pastor, attendance has risen to 55, and there's plenty of room for growth.

As I was driving to my full-time job this morning, I was thinking of designing business cards, and a flyer promoting a church event I'm planning, my sermon, the sermons and services for the next month, baptisms we're going to do at a public lake in a month, and the planning that needs to go into that -- a poster at church, permits at the park, do we even have enough gowns, and we need church members to help. Tomorrow, after 9 hours at my day job, I'm meeting with a couple at my office at the church -- the couple has been homeless for nearly three months -- and before that, I hope to stop by a nursing home, and visit two members of the church. The church also wants me to lead a young adult Sunday School class, as well as a Wednesday night Bible study. I have a meeting with my denomination next week, as part of the process of being licensed -- I'm brand new, and still in seminary, and am not yet licensed . . . . speaking of seminary, I'm also taking four classes - one of which requires volunteer work.

In the next month or two, I need to meet with the different church committees, worship, outreach, evangelism, stewardship, and we need to plan a special service for the new elders and deacons, and we need to plan what we'll do for the Christmas season.

And of course, when someone dies, or someone wants to get married, those are more important than everything else I've mentioned . . . and there's another service at 11 a.m. next Sunday.

And so many people responding to this board expect all of that to happen for FREE, AFTER I've worked 55-60 hours at my day job, and when I'm not studying for school.

"What's a righteous sum for a pastor to earn?"

How do I prioritize? Who must settle for less? My job of 10 years? The new Christian who needs and wants to be baptized? Or the blind old woman who has no one to drive her to the nursing home where her husband is slowly dieing?

A pastor should be paid enough to be free to respond to God's call in every way possible. The problem is, there's a whole lot more to being a pastor than most people realize, and frankly, it's no one else's business who I meet, or talk with, or council, so no one knows exactly how much I do, or what gets left undone.

Keep all of this in mind the next time you think a pastor should work for free.

Godspeed.

Answer 4

A righteous sum as opposed to a sinful sum? Good grief. They are doing a job, just like you do. They don't get paid enough.

Answer 5

Why should a pastor get paid to teach the word of God!?

The bishops in our church do NOT get paid - they have their own jobs outside of the church in which they earn a living. Nor do the missionaries get paid for the two years they are out. Actually they earn their own way...

When it comes to teaching the Gospel, one should not get paid money for it. Spreading the Gospel is not a job where you needs earn money. It is our obligation to spread the word.

Answer 6

The Word shall be free to all men. Charging for the Word means we have brought it down to a human platform. Jesus said, "You will know my followers for they will have no shoes upon their feet." Not High dollar suits and new cars etc...

Answer 7

I think that like any other job, it depends on his education level, how much work he does/how many responsibilities he has, the cost of living in the area he lives, things like that.

Hey, "Never Forget", FU2.

Answer 8

For me, I'd appreciate just a little gas money.

Answer 9

Depends what his JOB is....

His priesting shouldn't involve "earning" money on a personal level at all.

Answer 10

From the congregation? $0. Any self-respecting pastor will have a seperate job outside the realm of his or her congregation's wallets. The collection is for taking care of the "flock".