LOOKING IN ON THE PREACHERS PAY
by Norman Parks

How well are preachers paid who make a professional career of the pulpit in the Church of Christ? This information is not usually revealed. Rarely do those who foot the bill know their preacher’s total take from the treasury, much less how much more he makes in gratuities and time-off “gospel meetings” for other churches.

It is typical for the elders to bring in several preachers for “trial sermons,” but the members are left out of the selection process. They are left only to speculate on who will be the winner, and generally are better able to pick the losers. A preacher “on trial” in a Murfreesboro, Tn. church spoke on Fellowship, presenting an impressive lesson around the poem, “He drew a circle that left me out … I drew a circle which took him in.” Members left the service realizing that this preacher would be sent on his way with a polite thank you. The members, even though they pay the bill, have no knowledge of the contract terms with the new minister, and it is considered none of their business. Even the annual budget does not usually reveal the terms, for all the salaries are lumped together. His “extras,” such as utilities, are added into church utilities, and his gasoline bill may turn up under “Misc.” This is not the practice among others, such as the Methodists, for the minister’s pay is clearly listed as base pay along with specified extras.

The curtain has been pulled back somewhat as to what our preachers are making by a survey made by G. R. Holton and published in Firm Foundation (Jan. 6, 1976). His findings show that ministering in the Church of Christ is hardly a sacrificial vocation. The random sample survey, centered largely in Oklahoma, a below-average state in income, shows the following results:

Preacher	Size Church	Salary
2	below 100	11,650
11	100-175	13,489
27	175-300	15,692
13	300-450	16,141
8	460-600	18,356
5	above 600	22,289

 

These figures show only the salary itself, not such extra income as weddings, funerals, meetings with other churches (with time off with full pay), and other employment. One third of the preachers had either an additional job or a working wife. The lowest salary, apparently part-time, was 7,600 and the highest 25,750.

This survey confirms my conviction that our preachers make more money in the pulpit than they could ever make at any other employment, considering their education and ability. It also reveals that Church of Christ preachers make much higher salaries than their counterparts in such large denominations as the Methodist.

The Methodist superintendent of the district around Nashville looked at the Holton data and shook his head in disbelief. “I am amazed,” he said, “These Church of Christ salaries are far in excess of what is paid in my church, in some cases nearly twice as much.” Their salary schedule reveals that only two churches in this prosperous area paid as much as 10,000 in salary, and one of them had 854 members and the other 1154. The highest salary in Nashville, the capital of Methodism, was 18,000 plus parsonage, and that was the richest and largest Methodist church in the city.

Their beginning salary in Tennessee is 6,200. It goes to 6,700 for a man with a college degree and experience, but this presumes four summer terms at Emory Seminary. It goes to 8,200 for the man with both a college degree and a seminary education. Their schedule, obviously much lower than what our men make, is based upon experience, education, and seminary training. The Holton survey shows no relationship between the salary and the age, education, experience, or graduate training of the man. Even the size of family or self-improvement in terms of study have no bearing. It all seems to depend upon the size of the paying church. Perhaps this explains why preachers enter the competitive market, seeking pulpits in larger and larger churches. Our preachers move more often than do the Methodists, and the major consideration is apparently more pay. If a preacher stays with one church and doesn’t keep moving to larger ones, he has to pay for it with less increase in income.

While the amount of education of those surveyed was sketchy, it showed that 5% had only a high school education. The majority apparently had not completed college, while one-third had done some graduate work. Yet the salaries of these men are well in excess of those with doctor’s degrees in the universities.

And yet 47% of those responding to the questionnaire expressed dissatisfaction with their salaries!

The professional pulpit in the Church of Christ is proving to be a costly enterprise. The cost is not merely the financial outlay in keeping a professional as the chief pastor of the flock, but in the passivity and debilitation of the members, spoon-fed as they are by such a system. The clergy, as Alexander Campbell observed, has always been the main reason for the devitalization and corruption of religion. What a difference it would make if these churches would send these ministers out as evangelists among the lost and the needy and tend to their own growth through mutual ministry! —404 Minerva Dr., Murfreesboro, Tn.
 

“My bread may be a material matter. My brother’s bread is a spiritual matter.” — Berdyaev