Finances are one of the more difficult things for pastors and sessions to discuss in a healthy manner. They are also very difficult for families to discuss among themselves. The tension around finances can seriously affect the health of the pastor and family. This next quarter is focused on finances and its affect on the health of ministry. Your presentation at presbytery can begin with acknowledging the difficulty for congregations as well as clergy.
As an opening presentation, have copies of a blank budget with the major categories listed but without any dollar figures. Tell them that we are working with 100% of whatever salary we have. Ask people to divide up the budget according to the % of a monthly salary that they think one should expend on each category. What % should be spent on housing, food, church pledge, transportation, savings, entertainment, education, etc. Feel free to consult with those who are near you. Remember you are just dealing with percentages and not dollars.
After everyone has made their gestimates, provide some salary figures ranging from minimum salaries, mean salaries, and even some mid-level salaries in the presbytery. Ask people to take their sheet and assume one of the salaries shared and calculate the dollars that would then be involved. Then, if one can obtain some average figures for the area, that could also be shared.
When a congregation issues a call to a pastor, they commit themselves to pay him or her fairly and provide for his or her welfare as s/he works among us. No congregation seeks to underpay their pastor so that s/he cannot sustain their family and needs monthly to worry about how they are going to pay their bills. This quarter’s health discussion is how to determine an adequate salary that liberates the pastor for a healthy ministry.
