Understanding Types of Church Compensation
One of the hardest things to determine as the leader of a church is what to pay your staff members.
From your pastor and youth pastor to your finance director, what should their salaries be? While part of this will ultimately depend on your church’s budget, paying your staff fairly is vital to keeping the best employees.
Most of the time, a church salary guide just gives you an overall total, but it may not go into details on what’s included in that salary. Church compensation isn’t just a weekly or monthly paycheck. Instead, it’s a total of regular pay and benefits.
Some of the most common types of benefits that play into the overall salary include:
- Vacation time, Sick or PTO
- Retirement, such as 403(b)
- Housing allowance for clergy staff
- Housing Equity Plan
- Healthcare or health care allowances
- Cafeteria Plans
- Dependent Care Plans
- Flexible Spending Accounts
- Health Saving Accounts
- Health Reimbursements Plans
- Professional Reimbursement Plans
- Education
All of these benefits have a monetary value. For instance, you might pay a staff member $30,000, but include $10,000 of yearly benefits for a total salary of $40,000 per year.
Payscale lists the overall Christian worker salary as $
Christian Church pays its employees an average of $47,536 a year. Salaries at Christian Church range from an average of $28,186 to $79,139 a year. Christian Church employees with the job title Senior Pastor make the most with an average annual salary of $62,227, while employees with the title Youth Pastor make the least with an average annual salary of $34,723.
| Job Title | Range | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Senior Pastor | $36k – $102k | $62,227 |
| Pastor | $26k – $78k | $48,179 |
| Youth Pastor | $23k – $51k | $34,723 |
| Worship Pastor | $31k – $80k | $52,246 |
| Associate Pastor | $28k – $68k | $45,100 |
| Lead Pastor | $35k – $82k | $55,329 |
| Executive Pastor | $40k – $104k (Estimated *) | $68,089 |
| Job Title | Range | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Children’s Pastor | $26k – $56k (Estimated *) | $38,500 |
| Administrative / Office Manager | $28k – $62k (Estimated *) | $40,891 |
| Children’s Ministry Director | $25k – $47k (Estimated *) | $35,772 |
| Youth Minister | $25k – $55k (Estimated *) | $38,191 |
| Executive Director | $42k – $141k (Estimated *) | $75,352 |
| Director, Preschool | $28k – $54k (Estimated *) | $38,705 |
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Clergy Financial Resources serves as a resource for clients to help analyze the complexity of clergy tax law, church payroll & HR issues. Our professionals are committed to helping clients stay informed about tax news, developments and trends in various specialty areas.
This article is intended to provide readers with guidance in tax matters. The article does not constitute, and should not be treated as professional advice regarding the use of any particular tax technique. Every effort has been made to assure the accuracy of the information. Clergy Financial Resources and the author do not assume responsibility for any individual’s reliance upon the information provided in the article. Readers should independently verify all information before applying it to a particular fact situation, and should independently determine the impact of any particular tax planning technique. If you are seeking legal advice, you are encouraged to consult an attorney.
For more information or if you need additional assistance, please use the contact information below.
Clergy Financial Resources
11214 86th Avenue N.
Maple Grove, MN 55369
Tel: (888) 421-0101
Fax: (888) 876-5101
Email: clientservices@clergyfinancial.com