Thread by @sometimesalight

Wait... you all are getting paid to do ministry?!?

https://twitter.com/stenersonMN/status/1420838324902760450

Obvs, this is a joke. Today, I'm blessed to be able to do a lot of good ministry work & be fairly compensated for it. But it wasn't always like that

Speaking from perspective of pastor's wife, I believe 1st FT salary was $22,000, use of parsonage (above church fellowship hall), no benefits. This included both my husband & my involvement (children, music ministry, etc) & some manual labor (his maintaining coal-fired boiler).

After we had our third kid, he asked for a $4000 raise so we could avoid using food stamps. (We were already using Medicaid.) Church approved $2000, saying "no one gets the raise they ask for--it's always a negotiation."

We went on food stamps.

We left after 3.5 years, the financial burden being a significant part of what made it unsustainable. But really, finances were only reflecting a deeper reality. The board saw us as a good deal, cheap labor to get certain work done.

Our salary in our last position was more in line with surrounding community, but it didn't cover full needs. Like many of our neighbors, we relied on supplemental govt insurance & I found ways to make extra money. A single-income household is a rare thing.

I don't know what else to say except I'm always still shocked by how much money some churches have while others have so little. I also see churches around the world operating on less. So I don't think it's just about the $--it's about what the $ represents.

A lot of folks leave seminary thinking they're part of the professional class only to realize they're working for day laborer wages. Sometimes less.

It can be really disorienting & a source of profound shame. After all, in our culture, money is about value. This is especially hard to take from other Christians.

God always provided for us & the years we spent ministering in hard places were not wasted. But we also need to take stock.

If I were advising a young person headed to ministry today, I'd tell them to develop a marketable skill & don't rely on church infrastructure to be . stable source of income. Especially if you're called to low income spaces.

Serve God, love his people, but don't put all your eggs in a basket someone else is carrying. Don't get caught in relationships that take advantage of you--it's not good for you, your family, or the church.

I honestly hope co-vocational pastoring becomes more norm b/c I think it might help break cycles of co-dependency that can grow btwn pastor & church.