Pastors Are People - Compensate
“Why the Church Fails to Compensate”
by Josh Fuentes
In my last post, I shared the importance of ministerial compensation. In fact, a proper compensation glorifies God because his children are being obedient to the command to give “double honor to their elders” (1 Timothy 5:17-18) and it honors the Pastor by affirming his obedience to the call to ministry. If this is the case, then why don’t most churches properly compensate their Pastors? Of course, the immediate assumption is churches are full of disobedient people who have no respect for the role of the Pastor. Yet, even though this may be true of some churches, I don’t believe this is true of all churches. Nor do I believe this is the real reason why churches fail to compensate their pastors properly. In all honesty, I believe a majority of churches desire to compensate their pastor, and to believe otherwise only sows seeds of disunity between the pastor and the congregation.
The real reason churches fail to properly compensate because they simply don’t know. No one has taken the time to discuss proper compensation or encourage a culture of open dialogue towards one. It’s an education issue, and guess who gets to be the teacher? You do. You’re the Pastor and part of your job is helping your church be well informed about how to properly compensate you and the rest of the ministerial staff. Now, I know this is not what you signed up for or what you were taught at seminary. In fact, you assume someone in your church already knows this information, which is why you’re not making an issue of it; however, the simple truth is, no one does and to stay passive will only hurt you, your family, and the church in the long run.
Sadly, I took a passive approach, and it took a family medical crisis to teach me the importance of cultivating a church culture that seeks to be proactive concerning proper compensation. Thankfully, my church came alongside me during my family crisis, and we all grew together for the better. Yet, my failure to be proactive is now your gain, and my prayer is that you learn from my mistakes, and that you ask God to give you the courage to start the dialogue towards proper compensation. In my next post, I’ll share the new mindset we have to embrace to start the compensation conversation.
Questions to consider:
What are some signs that show your church is ready to discuss proper compensation?
What can be the best outcome by taking a proactive attitude towards compensation?
Click HERE if you missed the first Pastors Are People Post!
I am so very excited to introduce you to Josh Fuentes! Josh is the Senior Pastor at Crestview Baptist Church in San Antonio, Texas. Josh has shared with me his insights and experience after reading “Pastor Are People Too” by Jimmy Dodd and Larry Magnuson.
TWP, with the help of Josh, will have a series of articles and thoughts on this topic. I pray that you will be encouraged, challenged and refreshed by the words to come! Take it away Josh!