Benchmarking Salary for Pastor

After I had published the earlier post regarding Pastor Prince’s pay, someone asked me how much should a pastor salary be (excluding love offering or any others income) and how should it be pegged (benchmark)?

To be frank I have no answer…what is enough or correct? In the first place, I do not think it is appropriate to use the size of monetary reward to measure the worthiness of any Christian workers. Like we cannot say the pastor driving BMW is more anointed and God loves him more than the one who drives KIA or vice versa.

So what is enough? Is driving a KIA less "enough" than driving BMW? If I could afford a BMW, than what is wrong with driving one..... On the other hand, if driving a KIA means I can contribute more for my son expenses or lighten my family financial burdens than why insist on a BMW. I do not need a BMW to show that God loves me more, or I have arrived. KIA is already a great blessing, for many people are without car.

I think I am not in favors of the Board of NCC to give such big salaries (closed to 1 million, maybe more) when the church is in loan for its upcoming building project. The One-North project is already costing more than initial estimation, and the church needs to raise more....so should these salaries or bonuses be more restrained. But there again, with a $55 millions ++ income (95% from tithes and offering), what is 1 million.

The core business of the church, however, is not to generate profit, but to preach the good news of our Lord, Christ Jesus. In the same way, a preacher does not preach for money; he preaches because God has called him to do so, to declare the Grace. If there is profit, more should be channeled to outreaches, the poor, widows, orphans and blessing the congregation, like “lighten” their building project funding.

What is appropriate than? Here’s an article I read…maybe readers can decide yourselves. Are these Christian workers paid enough to live comfortably? You decide.
"The Trinity Christian Centre, which holds services in Adam Road and Paya Lebar, paid two directors below $150,000 each in 2007.

They are its Senior Pastor Dominic Yeo and resident apostle Dr Naomi Dowdy. The church employs 112 staff and had an income of $17.4 million in 2007.

Singapore Campus Crusade for Christ paid its three top executives - Reverend Chan Chong Hiok, Dr Ho Chiao Ek and Reverend Lam Kok Hiang - below $100,000 each in its last financial year. The group, which provides Christian counselling, training and Christian publications, collected $11 million in ‘local donations’ then.

It pegs its basic salaries to social workers’ pay, which is between $2,000 and $2,700 for a fresh graduate, as stated on the National Council of Social Service’s website.

Mr Leslie Chiang, its director for corporate communications and IT, said: ‘We use this benchmark as the nature of our work is very similar to what an average social worker is doing - serving the needs of a community.

’"http://thechurchofjesuschrist.wordpress.com/2009/03/31/income-fit-for-a-king-joseph-prince-and-the-pastors-pay/