First, it’s not as easy question. In the open market people should be paid at the intersection of what they’re willing to work for and what someone is willing to pay them. You will never hear me complain either that some jobs don’t pay “enough” nor that some pay “too much” so long as both parties are in agreement.
The church, however, isn’t the marketplace, and should not be treated as such. Pastors are not church employees, but shepherds. “What the market will bear” no longer seems to me to be the right metric. Pastors, after all, are not supposed to be in it for the money. At the same time, there is in many churches the misguided notion that paying the pastor poorly will keep him humble. I suspect it’s more likely to make him resentful.
So how do you decide? First, the pastor doesn’t get to decide. Yes, he can certainly turn down a calling if it pays insufficiently. But he doesn’t get to determine by himself how much he will be paid. He is not an honest pastor who says, “Every Sunday after the service I offer the whole offering plate to the Lord by tossing its contents into the air. That which comes back down to earth, that’s what He wants me to have.”
Instead, those in positions of leadership in the church ought to be making these decisions. For many Presbyterian churches, that would be the session of the church. For Dutch Reformed churches that would be the consistory. For many Baptist churches that would be the deacons. These are the men in the church who are called to steward what God provides. Corporately, they rule in the church.
What about the congregation? I understand the reasoning that suggests they ought to approve the church’s budget. My concern is that such tends to encourage members of the congregation to see themselves more as stockholders in a company that sheep in a fold. Budget approval is an act of ruling in the church, which is why it belongs in the elder/deacon bailiwick.
That said, I’d suggest that wisdom dictates that the congregation be informed of how the pastor is paid. Secrecy is generally not a good thing in the life of the church, especially when it comes to money. I can think of at least three reasons. While some in the congregation might take offense at the pastor’s pay when they should not, those same people will surely be suspicious if they are kept in the dark. Second, keeping such information secret can cover for pastoral pay that actually is embarrassingly high. Third, keeping this information secret can cover for pastoral pay that is embarrassingly low.
Because of all the dangers in this sticky wicket, there is a temptation to keep everything on a need-to-know basis. That, in the end, however, makes the wicket that much more sticky.
Most pastors I know are woefully underpaid. Most of these, however, are not underpaid because the church leadership is stingy, but because most churches have little income. Tithers are a rarity. Most churches are small. Most churches are zealous to do the work of ministry, to do outreach in the community, to support local and worldwide missions. The cupboard can get pretty bare pretty quickly. But the work of the ministry goes on.
The answer to the question- how much should pastors be paid- is one I don’t have the perfect answer for. The bromides, “Enough that he need not worry about providing for his family” or “As much as the average parishioner” I fear are not much help. First, everyone, no matter what they make, has money worries. Second, the average parishioner’s earning is market based. The pastor’s ought not to be.
To get to the answer, however, we need to remember money can be both a blessing and a curse. Handle with care, and handle with prayer.