Why Women Pastors Make More
September 21, 2007 |
1. If you want to earn more, change denominations.
Briefly, if you want to earn more as a senior pastor, become a Presbyterian. If you want to earn more as a youth pastor, become a Baptist.
Presbyterian senior pastors earned the most in our survey—their average salary plus housing/parsonage was $78,000—while Baptist senior pastors earned next to last--$67,000. But virtually the opposite was true for youth pastors. Baptist youth pastors earned near the top--$44,000 in salary plus housing—while Presbyterian youth pastors earned near the bottom--$36,000. Why?
2. Female solo pastors earn more than male solo pastors.
Okay, so there aren’t many female solo pastors; in American churches responding to our survey, only 6 percent of solo pastors are women. Still, it’s intriguing that female solo pastors reported 10.4 percent higher total compensation. Their average salary was 8.6 percent higher than men’s; and better housing and retirement benefits made up the rest. Why the difference? Why do female solo pastors earn, for total compensation, $62,472, when their male counterparts earn $56,558?
My first hypothesis went like this: “Since there are precious few women hired as senior pastors—only 2.5 percent, in our research—women stay in solo pastorates longer, and their longevity leads to higher pay.” But that hypothesis doesn’t hold up: for solo pastors, the number of years served makes next to no difference in pay.
The more-likely explanation is regional. We know that solo pastors receive the highest pay in the New England and Pacific states (not surprisingly, given the higher cost of living in these regions). And these regions probably have the greatest cultural acceptance of women serving as solo pastors. Thus, women solo pastors tend to find work in regions with a high cost of living, and consequently, get a higher salary.
And before we assume that the church runs counter to the still-prevalent cultural practice of paying women less than men for comparable work, women were paid less than men in every other church position surveyed (except for secretary). On average, females earned approximately 80 percent of the compensation of males. Or, in other words, males earned about 30 percent more than females.
3. That additional degree is probably worth it.
Wondering whether to finish your master’s or doctorate? Even in pastoral ministry, from a financial standpoint, the answer is yes.
Roughly stated, moving from a bachelor’s degree to a master’s degree boosts your income from 10 to 20 percent, and getting your doctorate gets you 15 percent more on top of that. Or here’s another way of looking at it: that additional degree will earn you from $7,000 to $15,000 more per year. So if you’re going to serve with that degree for five or more years, you’ll probably end up ahead.
How to find out more
All data above is taken from The 2008 Compensation Handbook for Church Staff, which presents data on 13 church positions, based on research among nearly 2,100 American churches, who were surveyed between January 2007 and May 2007. To pre-order for October shipment, go to Compensation Handbook or call 1-800-222-1840.
Posted by Caryn Rivadeneira on September 21, 2007
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://blog.christianitytoday.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/632
Comments
Very Interesting! Causes alot of thought
Posted by: Rachel on September 28, 2007
Today's Western Woman thinks she knows better than God! She is self-centered, arrogant, rebellious and strives to unite a culture that will condone her hatred for biblical truth in an attempt to justify elevating herself over her husband's authority - Authority God gave him. She will deny the plain truth of Holy Scripture that tells her about her functional, God given roles in the family unit, society and THE CHURCH! She has even given herself over to the deceitful lie that women can be pastors. But She is in grave error! No amount of perversion of the Greek Text will remove her guilt. She may seek Theological training and pursue a "church" leadership role. She may argue against proper biblical interpretation. She may even blame men in a general scope for being overbearing, mean and controlling. But the REAL PROBLEM IS HER! Women who assume the role of "pastor" in a "church" are only fooling them selves,.. and those who will compromise enough to listen and "follow". It is NOT a legitimate church or ministry. It is NO biblical New Testament Church. She has NO AUTHORITY FROM GOD! And She NEVER WILL! She goes in her OWN strengh! She goes in her OWN power! With every action and word She does and speaks - Christ will NEVER be in it! She has concocted Her OWN Christ in her mind.., And Her relationship with God is not right.., and never will be! Nothing She can say, do or FEEL will change the Truth of Scripture concerning the local Church and The LORD Jesus Christ's commandments, principles, explicit and implicit teachings, and standards for His
Church. She is a feminist! She hates the idea of truly submiting to her own husband and caring for him and her children. She will not follow God's blueprint for her family or life. She will always try to keep a control key in the drawer by seeking support from societal perversion (including other rebellious women, women's groups and psuedo "ministries"). She will try to explain away the first biblical hermeneutical principle of proper and legitimate biblical interpretation... "WHEN IT MAKES PLAIN SENSE, SEEK NO OTHER SENSE"! She will ramble on about Pheobe (who was NO public preacher in the First Century New Testament Church). She will use feeble and needless arguements from history, culture transitions and her silly understanding of the Bible. She will make sophisticated challenges from the venue of her ambitious lies. She will talk about the Holy Spirit of God. She will mention HER GIFTS. She may even profess Mary (Mother of Jesus) as a righteous woman (who actually had no righteousness of her own and needed the Savior to save her from her own sinful nature)! She will do ANYTHING in an attempt to justify her pride and rebellion. Her desire to "preach" is NOT from God. She will call on compromising men to sound off a distortion of the Original Text of Holy Scripture. She will even turn to pseudo-christian information online to strengthen her position. But it will never, ever work! She is not REAL - no matter how many unregenerates (who think they are following Christ) she has deceived! She too is an unregenerate - riding on the carpet of false "religion" with a little bit of Bible thrown in to make it seem proper. She may even read this scathing rebuke and get very angry. She may pretend to be "religious" and say she prays for others - or this author. But this one thing She will NEVER DO! SHE WILL NEVER SUBMIT TO THE CLEAR TEACHINGS OF CHRIST CONCERNING HER, THE FAMILY AND THE LOCAL CHURCH! Her culture has snagged her. The feminist movement has hooked deep into her rebellious soul. She is depravity undercover. SHE IS NOT OF CHRIST!!! Mr. Mark S. Bias - Mainlinemark
Posted by: mark bias on February 22, 2008
Ans. Although joining a work at home job opportunity is the first step to start working at home but this first step can be the last step for those who join a scam work at home business. Scammers know that people have become interested in working at home a lot and they abuse this opportunity to cheat people but this doesn't mean that we shouldn't join a work at home job just because of the scammers. We can easily distinguish a legitimate and reliable work at home job opportunity from a scam one.
Income Opportunity - Turn your yearly income into your monthly income.
Internet Marketing Plan - Make $5,000 Per Month In Just 30 Minutes A Day.
Internet Marketing Course - Free 133-Page Book Reveals Secrets.
Internet Business Opportunities - Turn your yearly income into your monthly income.
Money Making Guide - Make $5,000 Per Month In Just 30 Minutes A Day.
Posted by: jollymandd on June 26, 2008