National Association of Evangelicals launches 2021 ‘bless your pastor’ initiative in midst of church leader burnout

I use the term “unionize” in a loose sense. Pastors who are not part of a “tight” denomination are very often abused and not treated fairly. I am not one of them. I have no stake in this, other than my concern for my peers. None of the problems cited in the bullet points of this article are true of me (though decades ago they were).

Non-denom, Baptist, and other affiliations are good to recognize the autonomy of the local church. The problem is that the local church is often out to get too much bang for the buck when it comes to taking care of pastors. There always seems to be money for that building project, but not enough to give the pastor a decent wage. As a matter of fact, churches that are cheap with their pastor during lean years often continue to be cheap with their pastors when the church finances improve.

Churches and pastors need to form some sort of international guild so that pastors and church members are treated fairly, an index of minimal expectations from the pastor (e.g., how often they visit those in the hospital, etc.) as well as minimal benefits for the pastor.

One pastor friend makes a great suggestion: a pastor’s wage and benefits should be at least those of a public school teacher with similar education and years served. A teacher’s wage is considered modest, although teachers do have a long summer break. So that would be a perfect minimum starting point.

The truth is some board members should not really be board members; they are not in touch with reality, but love to control and “keep the pastor humble.” People who are extreme and nasty can easily find their way onto church boards, which is the bane of the non-denom/Baptist/loose denom church. This is much less of a problem in a church with a lot of professionals who understand how organizations operate. They have a better feel for fairness.