QUESTION: HOW MUCH DO PASTORS MAKE?

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PASTOR'S SALARY

• A: On average, an ordained Protestant pastor serving a small congregation received a median salary and housing package of $31,234, according to a study by sociologist Jackson Carroll. But there is a wide disparity in compensation between Protestant pastors serving small congregations and those serving medium and large congregations. For example, a Protestant pastor serving a congregation of more than 1,000 members received a median salary and housing package of $81,923. Considering that the vast majority of churches in the United States are small, the overall compensation package for Protestant pastors is low when compared with teachers and social workers. Roman Catholic priests earned less than Protestant pastors, in part because they have no family to support. Depending on the size of the parish, the median salary for Catholic priests runs between $21,000 and $26,095. Jewish rabbis earn more than Roman Catholic and Protestant pastors combined.
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http://hirr.hartsem.edu/research/fastfacts/fast_facts.html#sizecong

PERSONAL SALARY AND TOTAL PACKAGE:

• I served in 1971-73 in Minford Ohio as pastor of a church. Salary and housing: $1,820 that is per year. ($35 per week in 1973) In 1980 my first year at FBC in Altoona Kansas, salary: $2600 plus a house. In 1996 my last year at FBC: $15,600 total package. In 2001 my last church, brief stay, $24,000 total package. (Membership was 450). Last church I was asso pastor total package $10,400 in 2003. Last church I worked in for a real brief time: pay: none. In all these churches I worked just as hard as if I were getting the biggest salary. I worked full time in the ministry.
• And Charity and I raised Eric, Becky, Chad and Kyle. While in Altoona, for sixteen years, Charity didn't work outside the home. I did have a full time job working as a supervisor at at Nursing Home for ten years ($260 in 1996). And I put in over forty hours in the ministry of the church. ($300).

PURPOSE OF THIS REPORT:

• The purpose of this article is not to address what preachers should get paid. Preachers should be paid. Personally I don't believe preachers should have another job. Sometimes its necessary. Personally I don't believe preachers should every think they are working for the Lord part time.
• I often hear at Fellowship Meetings, the comment is: "Will all the "full time preachers/pastors stand up." What they mean is those who work only for the church? Every pastor should be full time in the ministry. Even when you have another secular job, you should give yourself to the ministry. My personal opinion.

• Since there is really no biblical guidelines on salary for pastors and staff its up the the church to make that decision. What I am saying and have practice for all my ministry is do it unto the Lord. Every church has a responsibility to take care of the pastor and his family, they should have no needs that the church is not willing to take care of. FBC in Altoona, always it seemed took good care of us for sixteen years.

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A CHURCH STAFF POSITION:

• As for being on a church staff, my experience has been good and bad. Few churches that I have been the Youth Pastor, etc. has been a pleasant experience with the Pastor. Pastors generally want someone they can control. Most pastors it seems that I have worked with, want us to look like them, talk like them, be like them, and never be better then them.

• One pastor said to me "Who gave you that authority to change those chairs around in the class room?" I said "my position!" He didn't like that. Another time, I took some Deacon coats that was haning up on a rack for over two years, down, changed the coat handers, and the pastor came almost unglued. He felt he had lost control of the coat hangers. I really could tell you a number of times where the pastor wanted control over the place the bus or van was to be parted. Preachers are funny. And worse of all, when the membership begin to like you, you know you are on your way out the door of the church.

MY MOTHERS COMMENT TO ME ABOUT WORKING IN A CHURCH

• I mother said to me way back in 1968, "Charles if you are successful at the church, the pastor will have you out the door and painting his houses." And that was the truth, and still is today. In 1968 or 2008 its still the same.

ATTITUDE YOU PERSONALLY MUST TAKE IN MINISTRY.

• What personally the pastor or churches does to you, just or unjust, you must be able to say at the end of the day, or your time at the church, "I have done with all my being, the best I could do, for the glory of the Lord. And I will continue to serve the Lord with that spirit."

Remember this ministry is a ministry that God has called us to. Often its not what you expected about ministry, but its what God has called us to do.

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DON'T QUIT. DON'T JUMP THE SHIP.

STATEMENTS THAT PREACHERS MAKE ABOUT OTHER SERVANTS OF THE GOSPEL
Part Two

So how do you learn the REAL TRUTH! What is the Biblical teaching on Truth? What is truth about living life. Listen to Dr. Wayne Dyer. Who? Ask Charity. Really he does say a lot of good common sense things. But is it true?

How often when I was the pastor/teacher at FBC that visiting preachers would say, "Charles, you teach correctly, but you need to be more Baptistic." So to be correct you needed to be Baptist!

I had made the comment that there are some preachers who are not Baptist who could possibly be saved and go to heaven. That went over well with the brethren.

I remember when I introduced the teaching of John MacArthur to our church. Of course they didn’t know who he was, but if I liked him they would. Boy, did we have some very wonderful people.

But outside our church, once the pastors found out I liked MacArthur, I was in real trouble. Of course that has never really bothered me a whole lot, to be in trouble with other preachers.
My father-in-law thinks that is my calling–to see just how much I can get other preachers riled up.

SO WHAT IS TRUTH? WHAT IS THE BIBLICAL FORM OF TRUE CHRISTIAN LIVING?

Every body has their own idea of what a true Biblical Christian looks like and acts like, and believes, don’t they? Isn’t God great to allow so many of us to believe a little bit different on this and still be a Believer. Thank the Lord.

Of course, I am almost afraid to tell people what my theological position is. (That really is not true.) But I am afraid to say that my position is totally 100% correct.

For example, over the last month, there have been some good debates. Lordship Salvation vs. Free Grace. The Emergent Movement is a new debate today. Separation debate. The form of Worship debate. Fundamentalism vs. Evangelicalism. Postmodernism. The Cultural debate. Then the debate over John Piper and John MacArthur as well as those in the Emergent Movement

"Postmodernists are generally suspicious of rational and logical forms. They especially do not like to discuss truth in plain propositional terms." MacArthur quote in his book coming out in the spring. That ignited a great debate of terms. And it got me studying this issue.

One of the favorite topics on the evangelical agenda these days is how the church should "engage the culture." Do Christians need to imitate the boorish aspects of a quickly-decaying civilization in order to remain "relevant"? Some evidently think so.:" MacArthur again made this statement.

"We keep hearing from evangelical strategists and savvy church leaders that Christians need to be more tuned into contemporary culture." Well, I have heard that statement many times in different forms. Of course fundamentalists think you need to keep the old landmarks, or you have fallen prey to the culture.

John MacArthur has said a lot about this issue of engaging in the culture. But our Baptist friends think he is wrong because he is not a Baptist, and when Grace Church might use a different form music than the fundy that they think like

"MacArthur is a hypocrite who has an electric guitar shaped beam in his own eye."

"I hope everyone here agrees that such a statement is not only overstated, but it is patently unkind. It is a gross exaggeration and misrepresentation of John MacArthur. But it makes life easy. Just paint your opponents the darkest shade of black you can––that’ll make you look white on any account." Bob Haydon over at Fundy

I have discovered that just about every preacher, Christian leader, every pastor, who holds to the truth as he knows it, will have a different slant on that truth, and a different idea of how that truth is fleshed out. Is not the Lord so good to give us the option to have different points of view on the same truth.

Drafted by Charles E. Whisnant, proof ready Charity 12 19/20 2006

STATEMENTS THAT PREACHERS MAKE ABOUT OTHER SERVANTS OF THE GOSPEL

"Nothing is clearer than 2 Timothy 3:16-4:2. If I ever want to hear "Well done, good and faithful servant" I will have to preach the word––just as it is clearly revealed, and without compromise. I must strive prayerfully and by God’s grace to keep it from being tainted by my culture." wrote Jim Harris over at Pulpit Magazine.

You know he is 100% correct. When was the last time you were at a Pastor’s Conference and heard a preacher get up and say, "I have no idea if what I am about to say is true, but I am going to preach tonight about sin. " Few, I would suspect, if any.

Most preachers I know, think what they know is correct, or they will not preach on the subject. They may say there are several opinions on this topic, like the Rapture, or the Great Tribulation, but they have their idea what they believe.

What I have learned over the last few years, that I didn’t know, is that there are a lot of theologians and teachers that totally disagree with my position on just about every thing that I believe. That was a total shock to my belief system. How could that be true?

For the first thirty years of my teaching ministry, I was quite confident that what I was teaching was 100% correct, well at least 80% possibly correct.

I would have never preached a single sermon that I really believed was not biblically correct. The people who heard me preach for years believed what I was preaching to be correct biblically.

What many, I would suppose, didn’t believe was maybe how I applied the principles that I was preaching. For example: I believed all Christians should read out of the KJV. I believed that certain music styles were not necessarily wrong but should not be played in church worship. And the big one, when people came to worship they should look their best. My wife and four children could mention several other ideas that they would disagree with.

I have certainly done my share of pointing out the error of others who didn’t hold my view point. I thought it was my pastor/shepherd’s responsibility to share information about the error of other preachers, organizations, and ministries. Except for ones I really liked I would be silent on.

I didn’t realize just how many theologian do not accept the book of Revelation as Prophecy.

I have always believed, (still do) that the events in Revelation have yet to happen

Premillenial, Pre-Tribulation, and Israel is not the Church. I never knew that others held a different point of view. Can you imagine that. Where was I..... in a theological cave? No, just reading my good KJV Bible.

There are an equal number of theologians who do not hold to dispensationalism. I didn’t know there were several forms of dispensationalism. I believed there were seven. But today I would get laughed at by many if I were to preach that pont of view.

Well, not only doctrinal teachings of the Bible are in question, but how we view the application to those doctrines.

I didn’t know there are some churches that are not Baptist Churches. Think of that! Well, I did of course, but we were told that they were not real churches. And if they were not WBF Baptist churches they were not real churches either. What a shock to learn that was not the truth.

So what is the truth of this whole matter.

"[They] are wrong in their practice of separation. Separation is a Bible doctrine. This means they are off-base doctrinally on separation. Music is a doctrinal issue and their music is wrong"
fundyreformed.wordpress.com is quoting. It’s not Bob’s position, but it’s the position of so many.

My children have believed I have always been wrong on my viewpoint of music. How could it be, when I went to all the Basic Institute of Youth Conflict for over fifteen years?

I should say this, I remember walking out of a service in a church, because I didn’t like the music. Even though the preacher was one of the best teaching preachers in the state.

Well, I could write several of those stories. But I don’t want to embarrass myself any more that I already do quite well anyway.

I didn’t know that some churches (not Baptist Churches) believe in infant baptism! There are theological terms for those who hold that position and terms for those who do not hold that idea. But I discovered that in both sides of this issue, they believe salvation is by grace in the Lord Jesus Christ!

Confession is good for the soul.

Drafted by Charles E. Whisnant, Proof Read by Charity