by David Washburn, BGAV treasurer

Building a minister’s compensation package can be overwhelming for churches and ministers. Some churches prefer to provide the minister with a lump sum, leaving it to the minister to determine how much to allocate for salary, housing, benefits, ministry expenses, etc.

I encourage churches to not take this approach, as it puts unnecessary pressure on the minister to know the intricacies of health insurance, mileage reimbursement, salary, housing, etc. It can also lead to greatly underestimating the total amount required to meet a minister’s needs. I suggest viewing each minister’s compensation according to three primary areas:

Income – This is paid directly to the minister each pay period.

·      Salary

·      Housing Allowance

·      Self-Employment Tax Offset 

Benefits – This is paid by the church on behalf of the minister through the church’s group benefits plan. 

·      Retirement

·      Health Insurance

·      Life Insurance

·      Long-term Disability

Ministry Expenses – This is provided by the church to the minister once the expense has been incurred and a reimbursement request has been submitted by the minister.

·      Conference & ProfessionalDevelopment

·      Books, Publications, andSubscriptions

·      Cell Phone

·      Mileage and Travel Expenses

Our faith tells us that a minister being called to serve a local church is a high and holy moment for the minister and the church. The minister is following God’s call to love and serve the congregation and community, and the congregation is called to love and support its minister. Planning for and providing the necessary financial resources is a spiritual and practical exercise of good stewardship, as well as an indication of the congregation’s care and appreciation for its minister.

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David Washburn can be reached at david.washburn@bgav.org.

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