Psychic Paychecks

Here are a couple of my responses to discussion posts concerning non profit compensation policies from my Strategic Human Resources Management class I'm taking at WMU right now. Would love some feedback on feelings surrounding the pay of preachers.

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Post 1

Sarah, I’m also involved in church ministry and a have actually just taken the lead pastor position in a church plant. This idea of compensation in the church is of great interest to me and ties into one of the core values I’m working on articulating for our particular gathering—generosity and an “others-centric” focus in our finances. I want our people to be good stewards, as you mentioned. As leaders in the church, the staff should model this attitude. Paul reminds Timothy that elders or deacons need to be “free from the love of money” and not addicted to “sordid gain” (1 Timothy 3:3, 8 New American Standard Bible). In my opinion, there are few things more unsettling to me than preachers getting rich off the church. So I will be experimenting with a volunteer staff and will be unpaid myself, working bi-vocationally. Paul set this example with his tent-making gig; he had the right to be paid but didn’t want to put any obstacle in Corinthians’ way. As you mentioned, my compensation is the joy and honor of working in the church, pursuing the mission and loving others.

But the reality is, my family and I need to eat, too. Paul, also in 1 Timothy, says that “elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor [good pay?], especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching” followed by the reference to Deuteronomy 25:4 that “You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing” (1 Timothy 5:17, 18). Sounds a bit like a merit-based system according to Pynes, where “individuals should be paid according to their contributions” (2009, pg. 266), though I don’t see an emphasis on results but more on effort in these references. My situation allows me to keep the church position voluntary at this point in time, but that may not be feasible in the future.

Here’s another way to approach the idea of compensation in the church: should the organization be the one to limit the greediness of the staff by instituting a lag system, which forces the staff to be focused on more intrinsic rewards or should the church “bless” its workers for their efforts and allow them the freedom to choose between being greedy or being generous?

Post 2

Patrick, I liked the "psychic income" term from Manzo. As someone immersed in the non profit lifestyle, I admit I feel this way even about my own pay, that I need to focus less on cash and more on cognitive compensation. Why do I feel this way? Times when I've made better money (usually in brief jaunts into the secular business world), I've felt like I was stealing. I also identify with the community members who write in and challenge the pay of nonprofit workers. It's especially hard when donors see NPO executives making more than they do. Why should they give their hard earned money, even to a good cause, if the workers of the organization make more than they do?, their thinking goes. Admittedly, I think there are cases of abuse that support their fears. Not that this is one of them, but as I was researching Executive Director salaries for assignment 8, I looked up Richard Stearn's pay (ED of World Vision). He operates a global organization with a budget of hundreds of millions and I still thought, "Really? 400k? That seems a little high."

I think I need to be okay with my salary making its way out of my head and into my pocket.