How Do Clergy Members Get Paid?

[Brother Adam]

Should the Church be run like a business? No.

No.


and No.

That rules out coorporate theology!

I think the way the Church does it now is pretty cool. They have a home, they have food, they can get medical care. And they have a little bit extra, usually. The rest of the money goes to the Lord's work in hospitals (Catholic Church operates 1 in 10), orphanages, food kitchens, outreach programs, and ministry in general.

[littleflower+JMJ]

yeah our all collection the majority goes to the bills of the Church (we need light and heat/cold ya know! lol)

very little goes to our priest.....all their necessities are taken care of (housing, food, etc.)

i have known priests who will eat only one meal a day to give the rest to the Church...or another i know did the job of the secretary as well so that income would stay in the church and pay off stuff.....

anything needs money to function, its just the way things are, and i know priests are the ones who work to make things meet, for their parish and for themselves.

thats why you need to invite your priest for dinner! our family would take any food we have from lunch and dinner over, and they really appreciate it!!

[crusader1234]

Hey,

Interesting question. I asked a Jesuit at my school about how that works.

The Priest at my Chuch lives in an apartment above the Church offices, it is fairly nice I've been told.

The Jesuits live together in a big old house, kind of like a fraternity. Well, it IS a Fraternity in one sense. But anyways, the school pays them what they would pay any teacher, and that money goes to the Society rather than directly to them. The money is then distributed by the Society. So its sort of run like a business... I think that how they are doing it is good.

[PedroX]

St. Paul said to pay a laborer according to his worth. Well, we ask our Priest to accept being paid less than their worth, but it is a noble sacrifice. I know that priests in my diocese make around $14,000 a year plus food and housing. The last Protestant church I went to paid its pastor $80,000 a year plus books, travel, etc. As a master's level social worker with 8 years of experience, I make between $30 and $40k so there's some perspective on what a sacrifice it is to be a priest. I truly think its noble.

peace...

[the_rev]

Usually priests are on allowances.

They get a certain amount for a year for food, gas, etc.

[littleflower+JMJ]

i never knew preachers got paid [i]soo[/i] much

[Brother Adam]

Not all preachers are, some of those who are members of primative baptist movements get paid much less. Lutheran pastors also make comparatively less, as an example.

[Crusader_4]

No offence and i dont say this to be mean or offensive but it is something that i have noticed. My Grandparents live in the southern states and my Grandfather is a doctor by trade. He lives on a fairly nice and rather expenisve street. There are professors, ceos and other doctors that live on his street yet the person who has the biggest house in the neighborhood is the Minister. I dunno maybe its just me but it doesnt seem right. Altough in CAtholicsm it was the same way for a long time in the middle ages with the Clergy too...thankfully it really is not that way anymore.

[Mickey's_Girl]

Definitely I'd want my priest to have book money, and any other "scholarly" stuff he'd need. Music, newspapers, etc. And $ to buy his family birthday presents, etc. The occasional candy bar. :-)

We think about food, housing, clothing, and transportation, but there are a lot of other things that the average middle-class person takes for granted, I think.

MG

[M.SIGGA]

A lot of the priests salary goes back into the parish too sort of right? Don't they have to buy their own vestments and additions to the Church decor and stuff like that?

[cmotherofpirl]

No, usually the parish pays for vestments and stuff like that.

[Aloysius]

most of our parish vestments and other stuff are donated in memoriam of someone.

[Aloysius]

well....

not always in memoriam of someone, but most are donated i'm pretty sure

[homeschoolmom]

About two years ago, our Baptist pastor did an entire sermon on tithing and used himself and his wife as examples. He very humbly disclosed his income and expenses. (I say humbly even though I thought it was kinda weird for a Sunday sermon.) He was making something in the $50,000 range (which is quite modest for this area.) He disclosed to us how much goes back to the church as their personal tithe (way more than 10%), and other charities. He honestly wasn't doing it to show off (although I am sure that some of you won't believe me)... He did it to show us that we can give more. (Our church never really has a financial problem... our current parish constantly does, but that's for a different thread) He had two daughters of college age at the time (don't remember if the elder had married yet or not)... Anyway, something to consider: protestant pastors are concidered members of the congragation, with families to raise etc. Many of them aren't raking in the big bucks, to be sure... But they aren't living at the poverty level like priests... I guess my point is not to compare them... It's apples and oranges.