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How much do pastors/priests/rabbi make annually? (1 Viewer)

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I belong to a mid-size temple in Phoenix metropolitan area, and both of our rabbis make over 100k.  Head rabbi makes high 100s, assistant rabbi low to mid 100s.  They each have 3 year contracts - and the head rabbis is on his second contract with us.

 
Some of you know I was in Seminary preparing for full time pastoral ministry and decided not to finish my MDiv or go into ministry. I now have a business development job. 

There were many reasons for my decision but relevant to this thread was research showing that many pastors would take a job outside ministry but they feel stuck with the training/education they have. 

Leading a church is tough on a family. You are constantly under scrutiny. Many churches assume that the pastors spouse/kids are essentially free employees. You deal with a lot of brokenness, tragedy, church politics etc.. And most aren't compensated that well although as mentioned already there are allowances that help. 

Its definately a calling and if that doesn't motivate a pastor/clergy person then they will burn out. 

Oh, and an MDiv is minimum 60 credits. So you have the equivalent course load and expense of 2 MBAs but won't see the salary commensurate with the educational expenditure (though not all churches require a Masters for their ministry staff). 

 
I'm not certain, but I'd guess our senior pastor makes in the six figure range.  He has been there for 25 years and the church has grown from a regular attendance of 30 up to over 10,000 people.  He is essentially the CEO of a large non-profit with around 100 employees, that coordinates thousands of volunteers and handles millions of dollars in annual donations.

Some of the lower level pastors that I have done taxes for make around $32K a year in salary and some of that is considered a housing allowance which is tax exempt.

 
Preachers who are not believers (PDF)

Planning His Exit
He is firm about his decision to leave religion entirely, stating that, “I took many years making my mind up on this issue; I don’t need to try another brand of it.” He is planning to leave the ministry as soon he finds another way to support his family. He would leave sooner, if he had enough money to pay off his debts:
If somebody said, “Here’s $200,000,” I’d be turning my notice in this week, saying, “A month from now is my last Sunday.” Because then I can pay off everything.
In the meantime, he is quietly pursuing another career. His wife is aware of his plan to switch careers, but he hasn’t told her yet of his reason for the change. He thinks she will be both upset and supportive of whatever he wants to do. Mutual support has been the pattern in their marriage:

I couldn’t ask for a better wife. I was very fortunate. We get along great. We support each other, and always give each other words of encouragement, and just support each other in every way we can think about. She doesn’t need to hear this right now. It’s not going to serve any of us. I feel like when the time’s right, I can talk to her about it. She won’t like it, but I will share it with her. And after I share it with her, I will start sharing itwith other people. But she’s going to be first. Because I know it’s going to be --- it’s going to turn her life upside-down … she’s a very dedicated Christian. Very devout.

He thinks she is aware that he has been changing, but she doesn’t press him about it and he has no intention of trying to change her beliefs:
I think she definitely sees me pulling away from it though. And we’ve talked about it, but in very superficial ways. I don’t get into details about it.
I’m not going to try to force her to change her mind. And if she wants to continue to live her life that way, I’ll be supportive of her. And I’m not going to try to demean her or belittle her or belittle her beliefs.

He thinks his children won’t have a problem with his change in beliefs. They haven’t seemed to notice or care that he no longer says prayers before meals. Recently, he was very open with his son who asked him about some Bible passages:
We were talking about some scriptures in Revelation and some other things. He said, “Dad, do you really believe?” Before I could think, I said, “Son, I don’t believe any of it. No way.” He just smiled.
Evolutionary Psychology – ISSN 1474-7049 – Volume 8(1). 2010. -142-
Click to expand...

 
My boss is an evangelical presbyterian.  Church has like 250 families.  He's the finance guy for the church.  The pastor makes about $150k with housing provided.

 
Not sure why your buddy thinks someone's salary has anything to do with how well or committed they are to the job? Would he be OK with not getting called for his "emergency" if the pastor was making 20K? 

 
GroveDiesel said:
The pay must not be worth it for most of them as 35-40% leave the ministry within 5 years. 60-80% leave within 10.
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The fella that married my wife and I left the ministry. As soon as his mom passed away, he was out....and by out, I mean out of the closet. 

Great guy who probably had a huge internal struggle for many years. 

 
I worked at a country club after college and there was a church next door.  The two priests were regulars for golf, lunch and the bar pretty much every Monday through Friday.  They didn't pay for an annual membership, greens fees or any of their food/drink.  And they both drove Lincoln Town Cars.  Tack things like that on top of their healthcare, housing and reported annual salary.

 
Real pastors? $0-60K would be most common. $40Kish being the norm. A lot of times they get things subsidized for them like housing, cars, etc by the church, parishioners or area business people. A large car dealership from my home town would give a lot of the pastors preferential leases that were basically at cost. Some special tax breaks too so their dollar tends to go further than your average Joe. I have heard of mainline denominations that their pay is approaching or over six figures.

Fake TV people? Make sickening amounts of money that they pocket for their fake smiles, bad theology and preying on the most vulnerable.

 
mr roboto said:
Some of you know I was in Seminary preparing for full time pastoral ministry and decided not to finish my MDiv or go into ministry. I now have a business development job. 

There were many reasons for my decision but relevant to this thread was research showing that many pastors would take a job outside ministry but they feel stuck with the training/education they have. 

Leading a church is tough on a family. You are constantly under scrutiny. Many churches assume that the pastors spouse/kids are essentially free employees. You deal with a lot of brokenness, tragedy, church politics etc.. And most aren't compensated that well although as mentioned already there are allowances that help. 

Its definately a calling and if that doesn't motivate a pastor/clergy person then they will burn out. 

Oh, and an MDiv is minimum 60 credits. So you have the equivalent course load and expense of 2 MBAs but won't see the salary commensurate with the educational expenditure (though not all churches require a Masters for their ministry staff). 
Click to expand...
And then there are a lot of people who think that as soon as they get bit by a squirrel that you should be at their immediate call and if you don't respond fast enough then you are a big jerk. It can be very rough and many burn out quickly.

 
here in southern california, religious leaders lead lifestyles similar to doctors, big time lawyers and such.  they drive 60-100K+ cars and usually live in areas where the median home price is north of 1M.  the ones running the huge churches drive bentleys and live in the 3M and up neighborhoods.

ridiculous  

 
Having been a Mormon bishop for 5 years while maintaining my vocation, I can tell you I earned exactly zero in terms of money.  In fact, we pay tithing, so I paid 10% of my income for 5 years and served in that capacity, and I can say that my time involved and duties were identical to a paid clergy.

 
Mad Cow said:
Having been a Mormon bishop for 5 years while maintaining my vocation, I can tell you I earned exactly zero in terms of money.  In fact, we pay tithing, so I paid 10% of my income for 5 years and served in that capacity, and I can say that my time involved and duties were identical to a paid clergy.
Click to expand...
Did you show up in that outfit in your avatar? 

 
Deepster said:
I worked at a country club after college and there was a church next door.  The two priests were regulars for golf, lunch and the bar pretty much every Monday through Friday.  They didn't pay for an annual membership, greens fees or any of their food/drink.  And they both drove Lincoln Town Cars.  Tack things like that on top of their healthcare, housing and reported annual salary.
Click to expand...
wait, this sounds familiar....

 
Deepster said:
I worked at a country club after college and there was a church next door.  The two priests were regulars for golf, lunch and the bar pretty much every Monday through Friday.  They didn't pay for an annual membership, greens fees or any of their food/drink.  And they both drove Lincoln Town Cars.  Tack things like that on top of their healthcare, housing and reported annual salary.
Click to expand...
I graduated from a Jesuit Catholic high school.  One of the English teachers was a priest; I never had him as a teacher.  There were maybe 20 priests employed by the school in various capacities, teachers, chaplains, administrators, etc., and they mostly lived in an on-campus rectory that was like an apartment building.  

A few years after high school, I was at a liquor store and ran into him.  He had in his shopping cart, I kid you not, the most booze I have ever seen one person purchase.  Tons of liquor, tons of wine, like absurd amounts, piled atop the full-size shopping cart.  Easily $1,000 of alcohol.  I don't know if he was buying for himself or buying for the rest of the priests or what, but I've always wondered.  Dude must love to party.  Odd bird though.

 
Preacher salary:

House 

Car

Benefits (Healthcare, most meals free, 401k, vacation time)

Not a bad gig.  When you add in a salary of around 50k a year. 

 
Our new pastor just gave us his first financial update last Sunday. He makes $65K. He threw out a bunch of stats, and one was that the average pastor salary in the U.S. is $72K.

 
mon said:
Our new pastor just gave us his first financial update last Sunday. He makes $65K. He threw out a bunch of stats, and one was that the average pastor salary in the U.S. is $72K.
Click to expand...
Creflo Dollar and Joel Osteen skews the numbers, I think.

 
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