October is Pastor Appreciation Month. Often celebrated on the second Sunday of the month, many churches take a special offering for their pastor and pastoral staff and encourage members to personally express their appreciation to their pastor.
1 Timothy 5:17 encourages us to show appreciation to our pastor: “The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.” Here Paul encourages Timothy to teach his churches that their pastor is “worthy of double honor.” And that is what Pastor Appreciation Month seeks to carry out.
But the Greek word for “to honor” in 1 Timothy 5:17 is timao (τιμάω) and means much more than showing appreciation. Timao also means “to pay,” and the following verse supports that second usage: “For Scripture says, ‘Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain,’ and ‘The worker deserves his wages.’” So when Paul tells Timothy that pastors are worthy of “double honor,” he is saying, “Make sure your pastors are paid well.”
Unfortunately, considering their educational level, experience, responsibilities, and the hours they work, pastors are at the very bottom of all professional pay scales. So having served as a pastor myself for twenty years, and in observance of Pastor Appreciation Month, I have a few suggestions for my readers on how you can help your pastor navigate this touchy subject in your church.
- Understand your pastor’s value to your church. Your church’s greatest asset isn’t your buildings. It’s your pastor (and pastoral staff). Care for them well and your church will prosper.
- Utilize standard and well-researched pay scales for pastoral staff. Don’t “guess” at what your pastor should be paid, or base remuneration on what the last pastor was paid. Research the subject by using published resources. One that I like is Church Law and Tax Report’s annual Compensation Handbook.
- Your church can’t pay the recommended salary for your pastor? Set a salary goal and step out on faith. Is your church small and not well-funded? Or is your church going through a rough patch? If so, then distinguish between what you can pay your pastor and what you should be paying your pastor (by researching this topic as I described above). Then explain this to your congregation and make paying your pastor and pastoral staff what they deserve a church-wide goal and trust God to reach it.
I guarantee that when your pastoral staff see their church doing this, they will be filled with love, gratitude, and commitment to you, even when they are currently being paid below-standard wages.
- Don’t wait for your pastor to ask for a raise. Are you a board member of your church? If so, then consider becoming an advocate for your pastor. Each year, go to your pastor and ask him what he thinks about his compensation and then bring the subject up to your board. Just knowing that someone on the board is taking the initiative on this matter will be an immense encouragement to your pastor.
- A proper compensation package includes benefits. Health insurance, vacation time, a retirement fund, and a sabbatical policy are important elements in any salary package.
- Understand that pastors have truncated and interrupted vacation schedules. The cheapest benefit any church can give a pastor is vacation time. All the church has to do is pay a substitute to fill the pulpit when their pastor is on vacation. But sadly, many churches skimp on this. One reason is because they are unaware of a few things regarding pastors and time off. First, pastors rarely get three-day weekends.
The reason is because the middle day of a three-day weekend is a Sunday, when they are working. (Yes, Sundays are work days for pastors.) Second, pastors rarely get “bookend weekends” when they take a week off. One week of vacation for most people is nine days: five work days and the weekends before and after. But for pastors, a week of vacation is seven days: five weekdays off and the weekend before or after. Third, a pastor’s vacation is often interrupted by emergencies.
There is never really a time when a pastor is not on call. Twice as a pastor I had to leave my family while on vacation and fly home early to address a major emergency. Of course, pastors accept these realities graciously. But it’s nice when the church understands the situation by giving him additional time off to compensate.
- Have a written sabbatical policy and encourage your pastor to take one. The majority of mainline churches have sabbatical policies, but the practice has caught on in evangelical churches only recently. Sabbaticals are an important way to support long-tenured service in the church and are to be distinguished from vacations. Sabbaticals vary in length, but usually last around three months and are used for rest, spiritual refreshment, prayer, theological study, nurturing family relationships, and travel.
Sabbaticals not only benefit the pastor, but train the church laity as they learn to provide substitute pastoral care, such as preaching, teaching, and visiting, while the pastor is gone.
I cannot think of a single pastor I have come in contact with who wasn’t deeply concerned for his congregation. Just knowing that his congregation cares for him back by supporting him well financially and emotionally will be a source of encouragement and blessing for him…and for you.
This post first appeared in NewCommandment.org.
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