"Send in those donations now............God will bless you......"
Posted on 05/30/2006 3:59:13 PM PDT by ElkGroveDan
When it comes to salaries among some church leaders, the policy seems to be "don't ask, don't tell," even though tithes from parishioners pay those salaries.
While Catholic and Greek Orthodox churches have no qualms about revealing pastors' salaries, many local Protestant churches do not reveal salaries to nonmembers.
Salaries of pastors at Protestant churches tend to be set by overarching religious associations or by a church board or both. The figure is often based on the church's location and parish size. Salaries tend to fall within the lower to upper middle-class range.
A general rule among Protestant churches may be that the larger the church, the higher the clergy salary, though that's not fool proof since a financial board or council typically still must approve the salary.
Some large Protestant churches, such as Canyon Hills Assembly of God, where 3,000 people regularly attend, do not reveal pastors' salaries even on their financial statements, where the salary is lumped in with all staffer salaries, said the Rev. Steve Vinson of Canyon Hills.
Others, such as Laurelglen Bible Church, reveal salaries only to members.
The Rev. Roger Poppen said ministers' salaries at Laurelglen Bible aren't revealed for the same reason he doesn't ask members what they earn annually -- it is bad form. Poppen, however, did offer more than most Protestant preachers, saying that 50 percent of the church's $2.2 million annual church budget goes toward paying the salaries of about 22 staffers.
Ray Hammond, pastor of Grace Bible Church, said revealing clergy salaries is a no-win situation.
"I make more than some and significantly less than others," said Hammond, whose nondenominational church has 135 members. "Usually the people who have a problem with what a pastor makes are those who make $1 less than the pastor."
Then there are those like the Rev. Charles Twist, ordained a Foursquare minister and the leader of the Restoration Word Fellowship Church. Twist said he takes no salary because his parish is small, 35 people, most of whom are poor.
The books at St. George Greek Orthodox Church show that the Rev. Joseph Chaffee earns $1,455.59 biweekly, which yearly computes to $37,845.34. Chaffee, who's been at St. George eight years, also receives a housing allowance and gas-mileage reimbursement.
His salary was determined by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of New York and St. George's church council. Chaffee supports a wife and nine children, ages 1 to 20, with his income.
"The goal is to cover my needs," Chaffee said of his salary, "not to reward me for my labor."
The Diocese of Fresno sets the salaries for Bakersfield Catholic priests. The annual base amount is less than $20,000, said Jesse Avila, diocese chancellor. Salaries are not based on parish size.
The Rev. Craig Harrison of St. Francis of Assisi Church makes $16,200 annually. Rectory housing, health and life insurance, and retirement benefits bring his yearly total to $25,590, he said.
Harrison, who has been a Catholic priest for 16 years, receives gas-mileage reimbursement for hospital visits and other job-related activities.
He said the modest salary reminds him why he joined the Catholic church and of his obligation to help the needy.
"We are not distracted," he said of Catholic priests.
Are you willing to surrender the sovereignty of the Church over to Caesar? At this point Caesar doesn't want it. Do want to change that?
The money that I give to God belongs first to God. He gets the firstfruits, not the after-tax income. To tax it before I give it to God is to put a tax on God's property.
Non-religious charitable organizations get the benefit of the tax deduction. Are you willing to have the church treated less equally than Planned Parenthood?
"Can one "get rich" being a Bishop, Cardinal or Pope?"
Not on the Pope's salary.
Dear Yahoo!:
What is the Pope's salary?
Josh
El Paso, Texas
Dear Josh:
A search on "Pope salary" lead us to a thread from a message board, where someone had posed just that question. According to one reply, the Pope's compensation consists of, "a place to stay and something to eat. I'm sure he does not receive a salary as you or I would think of a paycheck."
We searched for confirmation and uncovered another site, beliefnet. There we found another answer to your question: "The Pope does not receive any pay, nor does he have a bank account."
Try and try as we might, we could find no other mention of compensation for the Pope. We did learn that he is an elected official who, according to the New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia, is "the Bishop of Rome, who, in virtue of his position as successor of St. Peter, is the chief pastor of the whole Church, the Vicar of Christ upon earth."
While the Pope may not draw a formal salary, we are fairly certain the benefits and honor of such a position make up for the lack of paydays. And he does get to live in the Vatican Palace.
"Send in those donations now............God will bless you......"
Perhaps they have been good stewards with what God has given them. If we start measuring the value of our pastor by how poor he is, then we ought to hire homeless people who have squandered all that God has given them to lead our flocks.
I suspect that my pastor makes more money than I do. He also works a lot harder than I do. If he was a lousy or a lazy preacher, then I'm sure his salary would be commensurate with his value to the flock.
The workman is worthy of his meat.
It says, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
If I put $10 in the offering plate to worship God and Congress takes one of those dollars, then they have determined that I am only permitted to worship God $9 worth.
They have both determined the nature of my worship and they have restricted it.
For what it's worth, pastor salaries are like any other salary and are taxable income from the employed person.
With very few exceptions, the salaries of protestants pastors are regularly published in church budgets, church financial statements, and denominational journals. In short, the title of this article shows Barna to be less informed than I thought he was.
I have never been in a church where the pastor's salary was a state secret.
In my last church, we had a rule of thumb: the pastor's salary should reflect that of the congregation. I rather liked that. To a degree it keeps the pastor from appearing to be the hired help.
I've not yet seen a Catholic or Orthodox church building emblazoned with the name of the pastor in 24" letters on the side of the building.
I've not yet seen a Catholic or Orthodox priest (and the apartments at "HQ" buildings for popes, metropolitans and patriarchs don't come close) living in a multimillion dollar mansion.
I've never seen a Catholic or Orthodox priest break down in tears to beg for money on their "talk show."
Need I continue?
San Antonio Express-News/June 20, 2003
By Analisa Nazareno
As the nonprofit organization's president, Hagee drew $540,000 in compensation, as well as an additional $302,005 in compensation for his position as president of Cornerstone Church, according to GETV's tax statements.
He also received $411,561 in benefits from GETV, including contributions to a retirement package for highly paid executives the IRS calls a "rabbi trust," so named because the first beneficiary of such an irrevocable trust was a rabbi.
The John Hagee Rabbi Trust includes a $2.1 million 7,969-acre ranch outside Brackettville, with five lodges, including a "main lodge" and a gun locker. It also includes a manager's house, a smokehouse, a skeet range and three barns.
Taken together, his payment package, $842,005 in compensation and $414,485 in benefits, was one of the highest, if not the highest, pay package for a nonprofit director in the San Antonio area in 2001.
We all have our problems, don't we? I'm not defending Hagee's salary. I don't really know that all the stuff he owns is even his. I don't know anything about him. Since he's not my pastor and I don't set his salary, I really don't care what he makes. He has to answer to the Lord for what he does with the money he gets, not me or you.
Dear P-Marlowe,
I know that this is off-topic, but could you give a little explanation of your tagline?
Thanks,
sitetest
I'm familiar with the law. The topic was whether or not churches should "render unto Ceasar".
I believe that a pastor's compensation should reflect his value to the congregation. Our church has people in it that make minimum wage all the way to corporate heads and business owners that make millions of dollars a year. I suspect (I've never bothered to find out) that my pastor is paid roughly somewhere in the middle.
Some days I wonder if all this "research" Barna does is really a good thing.
1 Kings 7:23-24 is often used as a proof text to attack the reliability of the Bible. That formula shows just how incredibly accurate the Bible is. A cubit is roughly 18 inches and a "handsbreadth" (noted in 2 Chronicles 4:2)is roughly 4 inches . The formula is for the inside circumference of the molten sea mentioned in those verses.
Okay, thanks.
Perhaps, but that search criteria represents a fairly small portion of Protestant pastors in the U.S.
I'll not condemn nor defend Hagee, et al, for what they make, but you also have to consider what these people give. What do they tithe on a regular basis? What sorts of ministries do they personally fund? I know some of these guys live ridiculously extravagant lives, and they'll have to answer to God for that. For that matter, we'll all have to answer to God for how we use the resources given us.
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