In some form or another a congregation, when they call a pastor, promises to “pay him (her) fairly and provide for his (her) welfare as he (she) works among us; …” (From PC (USA) Directory of Worship). I doubt if any congregation would say that their desire is to underpay their pastor so that s/he cannot sustain their family and needs to monthly worry about how they are going to pay their bills. But then budget realities hit and the challenge of salary negotiation becomes a reality.
While some pastors are good at advocating for their own salaries, most are not. First, they don’t want to appear greedy, and second, most are very aware of the budget restraints of their congregation. Judicatories can and often do play a helpful role in advocating for livable salaries for the clergy. Presbyterians often establish a minimum salary for the clergy in their area each year. Many small congregations often resent the imposition of such a minimum but at least it deflects the resentment from the particular clergy to the higher judicatory.
I wonder if there could not be another role that the higher judicatory could play that might be healthy. What if churches of a similar size were invited to send a couple of representatives to come together and look at the issue of clergy salaries together. At such a meeting a couple of things could be introduced. First, an acknowledgment of the challenge of equitable salaries in difficult economic times. Second a recognition of the challenge for clergy to support their family and the effect of inadequate income on the practice of their ministry.
To facilitate the discussion, how about creating a blank budget itemizing the normal categories that any family would need to spend money on. Pass out copies and have the group work out a realistic budget for a family in their congregation. This helps create a realistic foundation for what is necessary to live within their community.
Then it might be interesting for them to guess at what the average income would be for members of their congregation. If the clergy of the invited congregations are willing, it would be interesting to gather information on what percentage of their income they pledge back to the church. If you can get that information and average it for the group, then you could say that the average pledge of your clergy is ?%. Take that percent and apply it to the average income that was estimated for their congregation. This is likely to be an eye opener for the group.
All of this is intended to broaden the discussion on salaries and encourage realistic discussion based on common understandings. It is difficult for an individual clergy to have this discussion but it could be helpful for a judicatory to provide such an opportunity.
