Dear Pastor Whoever

Dear Pastor Whoever….

Nobody should be shy about speaking of church finances. Church people assume the evangelical method of collecting and distributing money is pleasing to Jesus, the “head of the church”. But is it? Let’s talk about what nobody talks about…. your salary.

If I were to ask someone in your congregation, “How much is the pastor’s salary?”, chances are they wouldn’t have a clue. If I asked,“Shouldn’t you know?” they just might reply, “I never thought of it.” If I suggested, “Why don’t you ask him?”, they wouldn’t say, “Yes,good idea.” No, asking such a question might be considered uncouth,even challenging; everyone instinctively knows one never challenges Pastor Whoever. I suppose there has been about 25 salaried pastors(senior, associate, youth pastors, etc) in various churches I regularly attended over the years: I never knew their salary. Not one. For some reason salaries are kept a secret from the very people financing their salary. Isn’t this unreasonable? Unfair? Unrighteous?

My guess is that many pew-people would be somewhere between surprised and shocked to learn of your salary. I have a “2019 Church Staff Salary Guide” (Vanderbloemen Search Group). According to this guide, the average annual salary for a senior pastor in the U.S. with a0-500 congregation is $102,293 ($134,003 CAD). Executive pastor:$69,710 ($91,320 CAD). Worship pastor: $52,440 ($68,696 CAD).Youth pastor: $48,973 ($64,154 CAD). Your congregation has the right to know, to the penny, what your services are costing them. And since they won’t ask, tell them! Don’t you want them to know?

Again, don’t you want the congregation to know your salary? Are you concerned many would be surprised/shocked/angry? Still, the right thing to do is make sure they are informed. Secrecy must be outlawed. Announce your salary (and every other person’s salary),from the pulpit. Isn’t that what Lord Jesus would have you do?

Respectfully, Larry Jones