Revised Study Shows Southern Baptist Senior Pastor Pay Trailing Inflation Since 2024

Senior pastors at Southern Baptist churches have received small pay increases in recent years, and their purchasing power has declined, according to revised figures from a study conducted by Baptist state conventions with Lifeway Research and GuideStone Financial Resources. The revised numbers for 2024 show smaller increases in senior pastor compensation (9.4%) and pay package (7.9%) than the figures reported for 2022, and the story has been updated to reflect those revisions.

Compared with two years earlier, the average Southern Baptist pastor’s pay package and total compensation grew slightly but still trailed inflation. The Consumer Price Index, the most widely used measure of inflation, rose 6.3% since 2024. Over the same period, average compensation for full-time senior pastors grew 5.1%, and the average pastor’s total pay package grew by the same 5.1%. Other full-time staff ministers saw increases of 4.9% in compensation and 5.3% in pay package, both below inflation. Among full-time church staff, only office personnel saw salary (9.2%) and total pay package (8.5%) increases that outpaced inflation.

Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research, said many churches are feeling financial pressure because they have fewer active members than before COVID-19. “Some pastors may be bearing the consequences of churches barely affording a full-time pastor,” he said, adding that there will be increased pressure on some pastors of smaller churches to take a second job to make ends meet. McConnell also said the study’s estimates are intended to help churches consider fair compensation by using pay estimates for other Southern Baptist church staff and accounting for cost-of-living increases.

Hance Dilbeck, president and CEO of GuideStone, said the health of churches and pastors is closely linked. “When a church thoughtfully invests in the compensation and well-being of its pastor, it is investing in the long-term effectiveness of its ministry,” he said. He added that fair and appropriate pay can reduce unnecessary financial pressure on pastors’ families and give pastors greater freedom to focus on the ministry to which they have been called (Colossians 3:23).

Over the past four years, the study found, pay and benefits for all church staff have kept pace with or exceeded inflation. The CPI rose 12.7% since 2022. Senior pastor compensation grew 14.9% and pay package 13.4%. Other staff minister compensation rose 12.7% and pay package 13.5%. Full-time office personnel compensation rose 20.3% and pay package 20.9%.

The study also examined church budgets. Since 2018, churches have spent a similar percentage of their budgets on employee compensation and benefits, and the average Southern Baptist congregation now spends 45% of its budget on personnel. The share generally rises with church size. The smallest congregations, those with fewer than 50 in attendance, spend a median of 42% on personnel, compared with 46% for churches with 50 to 99 in attendance, 47% for those with 100 to 249, and 50% for churches with 250 or more. McConnell said larger churches pay senior pastors more and have more paid staff, and that both lay people and ministers are increasingly drawn to them. The average Southern Baptist pastor has worked in a church vocation for 22 years and has served at his current church for 10.

Most Southern Baptist congregations (63%) do not provide medical insurance for their senior pastor. More than a third pay for it, including 18% who cover the pastor and his family, 11% who cover the pastor and his wife, and 9% who cover the pastor only. The share of churches paying for this benefit has declined over the past two decades, from 65% in 2008 to half by 2016 and 37% in 2026. As with compensation, larger churches are more likely to provide coverage: 26% of churches with fewer than 50 in attendance, 36% of those with 50 to 99, 46% of those with 100 to 249, and 67% of those with 250 or more. Fewer congregations provide other coverage for senior pastors, including life or accident coverage (20%), dental (20%), disability (17%) and vision (14%).

McConnell said medical insurance costs have grown faster than inflation, and as a result many churches have stopped providing the benefit. “When it comes to paying for healthcare, many ministers are forced to walk by faith,” he said.

Source: Read the original report