Should pastors get paid?

[Riders]

Pastors in the past did not always get paid and they're maybe a few today who don't either.
My newphew Jose was raised up as baptist and then community churches by my sister, the other still go to church.

I asked him why he quit. He says Aunt Elizabeth most the Communirty church i was going to paid their Pastor makes about 350 thousand a year and most of the pastors in Mesquite Tx make about 2 to 300 thousand a year. i don't believe Pastor should get rich on from teaching the word of God.

I'm just wondering could this be one reason why some of the membership at the Christian church has gone down because some people are tired of Pastors getting rich off the church?

 

[Ellen Brown]

Pastors in the past did not always get paid and they're maybe a few today who don't either.
My newphew Jose was raised up as baptist and then community churches by my sister, the other still go to church.

I asked him why he quit. He says Aunt Elizabeth most the Communirty church i was going to paid their Pastor makes about 350 thousand a year and most of the pastors in Mesquite Tx make about 2 to 300 thousand a year. i don't believe Pastor should get rich on from teaching the word of God.

I'm just wondering could this be one reason why some of the membership at the Christian church has gone down because some people are tired of Pastors getting rich off the church?

Lower Mormon officials don't get visibly paid. Jesus didn't, except to get murdered.

 

[Salvador]

Pastors in the past did not always get paid and they're maybe a few today who don't either.
My newphew Jose was raised up as baptist and then community churches by my sister, the other still go to church.

I asked him why he quit. He says Aunt Elizabeth most the Communirty church i was going to paid their Pastor makes about 350 thousand a year and most of the pastors in Mesquite Tx make about 2 to 300 thousand a year. i don't believe Pastor should get rich on from teaching the word of God.

I'm just wondering could this be one reason why some of the membership at the Christian church has gone down because some people are tired of Pastors getting rich off the church?

Little town church pastors shouldn't get paid much, the pastors who should get paid the big bucks are the megachurch pastors who have their own private charter jet planes, limos, and cable show ministries.

Evangelistic charisma = $$$

 

[SalixIncendium]

Of course a pastor should get paid. S/he is as entitled to receive a paycheck at her/his day job just like you and me.

But seriously, in my insufferable opinion, payment of someone who provides spiritual services to others, if anything, should be strictly though donations of those to whom that person is providing said services.

 

[Riders]

Little town church pastors shouldn't get paid much, the pastors who should get paid the big bucks are the megachurch pastors who have their own private charter jet planes, limos, and cable show ministries.

Evangelistic charisma = $$$

Jose told me that most medium and small church pastors get paid a lot probably in the 6 figures in the old days many pastors had a job to supplement the income pastoring is not a full time job why should they get full time paycheck

 

[Firemorphic]

Well, pastors shouldn't have money in their minds or intentions, when money is the exact opposite of what they should striving for if they truly are teaching the Gospels.

 

[dianaiad]

Lower Mormon officials don't get visibly paid. Jesus didn't, except to get murdered.

Actually, you need to define 'lower.' Nobody in our clergy gets 'paid' until they reach 'General Authority' status, and even then what they get is a 'stipend,' which is considerably lower than officials in the 'private' corporation sectors, get paid. Just sayin'..

These people are... hmmn...dealing with multiple congregations...as in, the whole church. They have to fly all over the world, most of them, (not on private planes, usually...) and simply do not have time to have a job aside from the church. Stake presidents and 'lower,' are 'part time' folks who get, hopefully, a great deal of help from other volunteers to deal with their congregations.

Those members of the clergy who actually deal with the members on a day to day basis don't get paid. Bishops, stake presidents, and all those who fulfill the jobs that run the local congregations are volunteers.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Pastors in the past did not always get paid and they're maybe a few today who don't either.
My newphew Jose was raised up as baptist and then community churches by my sister, the other still go to church.

I asked him why he quit. He says Aunt Elizabeth most the Communirty church i was going to paid their Pastor makes about 350 thousand a year and most of the pastors in Mesquite Tx make about 2 to 300 thousand a year. i don't believe Pastor should get rich on from teaching the word of God.

I'm just wondering could this be one reason why some of the membership at the Christian church has gone down because some people are tired of Pastors getting rich off the church?

I think monistic settings are somewhat okay where one receives get room and board.

My view in general is why should a person get paid for something that essentially wasn't theirs to sell to begin with?

There's absolutely no doubt that Christianity is a full blown cottage industry and for a number of 'clergy' a quite lucrative one at that.

When you look at the average base Pastor salary ranging from 78,000 yr/ $1500.00 wk to 100,000 yr / $1923.00 wk . Not a bad haul if you ask me.

Salary for Pastor | Salary.com

Of course then you start getting into the evangelist realm.......

 

[Salvador]

Jose told me that most medium and small church pastors get paid a lot probably in the 6 figures in the old days many pastors had a job to supplement the income pastoring is not a full time job why should they get full time paycheck

If a pastor only works part-time, then he/she should be paid a six digit income. Only the ones with full-time ministries should be paid six or seven digits, like Joel Osteen or Kenneth Copeland


.

 

[Ellen Brown]

Actually, you need to define 'lower.' Nobody in our clergy gets 'paid' until they reach 'General Authority' status, and even then what they get is a 'stipend,' which is considerably lower than officials in the 'private' corporation sectors, get paid. Just sayin'..

These people are... hmmn...dealing with multiple congregations...as in, the whole church. They have to fly all over the world, most of them, (not on private planes, usually...) and simply do not have time to have a job aside from the church. Stake presidents and 'lower,' are 'part time' folks who get, hopefully, a great deal of help from other volunteers to deal with their congregations.

Those members of the clergy who actually deal with the members on a day to day basis don't get paid. Bishops, stake presidents, and all those who fulfill the jobs that run the local congregations are volunteers.

I'm more cynical about this than you can even imagine. Just let it go.

 

[Deeje]

Jesus said...."You received truth free, give free." What Pastors give to their flocks, cost them nothing. Why should they get paid? Its not a job.....its a vocation that one volunteers for. One for which a person could accept the hospitality of the flock in perhaps board and lodgings, but 6 figure salaries? That is nothing but greed.

Jesus' admonition was...."So never be anxious and say, ‘What are we to eat?’ or, ‘What are we to drink?’ or, ‘What are we to wear?’ 32 For all these are the things the nations are eagerly pursuing. Your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
33 “Keep on, then, seeking first the Kingdom and his righteousness, and all these other things will be added to you. 34 So never be anxious about the next day, for the next day will have its own anxieties. Each day has enough of its own troubles." (Matthew 6:31-34)

The apostle Paul also wrote..."To be sure, there is great gain in godly devotion along with contentment. 7 For we have brought nothing into the world, and neither can we carry anything out. 8 So, having food and clothing, we will be content with these things." (1 Timothy 6:6-8)

He also wrote....

"Those who are determined to be rich fall into temptation and a snare and many senseless and hurtful desires which plunge men into destruction and ruin. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of injurious things, and by reaching out for this love some have been led astray from the faith and have stabbed themselves all over with many pains.” (1 Timothy 6:9-10)

We have seen it happen....

So that is some of the scriptural basis for why those supposedly working for God should not get rich off it.

The elders in the congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses do not get paid. They are all self-supporting volunteers.

 

[Hockeycowboy]

No. Jesus said "you received free, give free."

 

[Spirit of Light]

Spiritual teaching should be free from payment. Buddhist monks is a good example. They are not allowed to earn money, or use Money

 

[Riders]

Spiritual teaching should be free from payment. Buddhist monks is a good example. The are not allowed to earn money, or use Money

Yes Ive read about that wonderful.

 

[Ellen Brown]

Spiritual teaching should be free from payment. Buddhist monks is a good example. They are not allowed to earn money, or use Money

With Judaism, Islam and Christianity, the documents they follow are readily available, so believers should simply study themselves. In Christianity, there is "The Priesthood of the Believer". People are inherently lazy so they think having a Pastor to blame will get them off the hook.

 

[Valjean]

Aren't Pastors laying up their treasure in Heaven?

 

[PureX]

The pastors and priests I've known over the years were being paid very little for doing a very difficult job that often involved very long hours and very trying circumstances. They believed in serving their fellow humans and they dedicated their lives to doing it.

 

[Twilight Hue]

It's pretty weird that people get paid for their belief. Makes you wonder why lay people don't get a stipend then.

Eh. I suppose if people want to just throw money at you.......

 

[Vinayaka]

I think pastors should get paid, if a congregation wants a pastor, or has a collective psychological need to go I that direction. But I think salary should be determined by an unpaid trustee board. A fair basic wage should be considered. Everyone has to eat, after all.

An alternative is to have an alternating system of volunteers leading services.

Most certainly it shouldn't be a method of attaining great wealth.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Spiritual teaching should be free from payment. Buddhist monks is a good example. They are not allowed to earn money, or use Money

Apparently not universally, since my ex-brother-in-law was both a Buddhist monk and a stockbroker.