Salaries of many Protestant leaders kept under wraps

Bakersfield Californian ^ | Monday, May 29 2006 | MARK BARNA

[P-Marlowe]

Best that I can tell, there is no basis in the NT for tax exemption. "Render unto Ceaser..."

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?

[siunevada]

"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.

[marshmallow]

"Send in those donations now............God will bless you......"

[P-Marlowe]

"Send in those donations now............God will bless you......"

[P-Marlowe]

I don't like wealthy preachers. If a preacher is better off than most of his parishioners, somethin' ain't right, IMHO.

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.

[xzins]

The basis for the tax exemption is in the US Constitution.

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.

[xzins]

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.

[Gamecock]

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.

[AlaninSA]

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?

[AlaninSA]

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.

---

And the list goes on...

Just google "fill in the name of a televangelist Protestant preacher" and "salary" - and you'll find a host of articles like this.

[P-Marlowe]

I've never seen a high profile, highly compensated protestant pastor molest hundreds of little boys. I've never seen a high paid highly compensated protestant pastor bow and kiss the koran. Need I go on?

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.

[P-Marlowe]

There you go. What Hagee makes is public information. So that is irrelevant to this thread, isn't it? The thread is about the pay packages of pastors that is not publicly revealed.

[sitetest]

Dear P-Marlowe,

I know that this is off-topic, but could you give a little explanation of your tagline?

Thanks,


sitetest

[Invincibly Ignorant]

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."

I'm familiar with the law. The topic was whether or not churches should "render unto Ceasar".

[P-Marlowe]

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 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.

[Corin Stormhands]

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.

Some days I wonder if all this "research" Barna does is really a good thing.

[P-Marlowe]

I know that this is off-topic, but could you give a little explanation of your tagline?

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.

[sitetest]

Okay, thanks.

[opus86]

Just google "fill in the name of a televangelist Protestant preacher" and "salary" - and you'll find a host of articles like this.

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.

[blue-duncan]

"If churches are going to claim their tax exemption, they oughta reveal individual salaries"

Why? Churches are voluntary associations. If you don't like it move on. If you don't think your pastor is worth what he is paid, whether disclosed or not, move on. As an aside, to get the housing allowance, there must be a disclosure as to the amount and there is the balancing "excess remuneration" rule used by the IRS when it thinks executive remuneration is excessive.