Commentary: Appreciating your pastor through proper compensation

Hance Dilbeck

Appreciation is about communicating to another person that we value who they are and what they do for us.”

When I graduated from high school, I received a gift from a family in our church with the following note. “Hope you can use this throughout your whole life.” I have. Over 40 years later, I still use that gift almost weekly. The gift? The Random House College Dictionary. (I know, I’m a luddite, still using a real, hard-cover dictionary.)

I am thinking about my dictionary because I looked up a word this morning: Appreciate. Here is the definition:

1. To be grateful for
2. To value highly; place a high estimate on
3. To be fully aware of

Of course, I am thinking about the word Appreciate because October is Pastor Appreciation Month. Appreciating your pastor means taking some time to consider who he is and what he does, being fully aware of his work, and understanding the pressures and challenges of his calling. It also means expressing thankfulness for him in your conversations with others, family and friends at church and expressing thankfulness to him with words of gratitude. These two go together. Our expressions of gratitude are more powerful when they show a true understanding of the pastor’s service – and a thoughtfulness about his work.

Our English word appreciate comes from Latin; it speaks to value or price. Thus, the second definition above. To appreciate is to value, to value highly. In this way, our English word appreciate is similar to the Greek word for honor. In the language of the New Testament, to honor is to esteem and to put a high price on something. Honor is about value.

Paul uses the word Honor in an important text about your pastor.

The elders who are good leaders are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says: Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain, and the worker is worthy of his wages.” (1 Timothy 5: 17-18 CSB)

A footnote in the Christian Standard Bible explains “double honor” as both respect and remuneration. I agree. When Paul thinks about showing appreciation or honor to a pastor, he thinks about showing that you value him, partly by how you compensate him.

During Pastor Appreciation Month, we need to consider how we pay our pastors. A solid raise might be the best way for your church to make your pastor and his family feel valued.

No pastor wants to deny his family the same lifestyle and opportunities other leaders in his church and community enjoy. Ensuring that your pastor earns The Proper Wage requires a couple of steps: First, compare your pastor’s compensation with that of comparable professionals in your community. What do local business owners, accountants, school administrators and other public servants earn? Consider those with similar education, years of experience and similar supervisory or budgetary oversight.

Consider, too, if you haven’t adjusted your pastor’s salary in several years, he is making less in real dollars today than when you last adjusted his salary. Annual review of church staff salary is an appropriate, God-honoring activity.

While ensuring your pastor is paid The Proper Wage, make sure your church pays him in The Proper Way, too. Too many churches still use a “lump-sum” package approach, where a church sets aside an amount and leaves the burden of allocating dollars toward salary, benefits, expenses and housing allowance to the pastor. This approach seems to be the most flexible, but in reality, pastors pay more in income tax than they legally need to in this approach. Instead, take time to follow a structured salary-and-benefits approach where the church assumes responsibility for allocating dollars. Even if you can’t raise your pastor’s salary significantly today due to budgetary constraints, shifting from a lump-sum package to a salary-and-benefits package will put more money in your pastor’s pocket while not costing the church one additional dollar.

Appreciation is about communicating to another person that we value who they are and what they do for us. We can and certainly should show our appreciation for our pastors with a good word. We should also be careful to show our appreciation with a good wage.

Church leader, let me encourage you to look at our website to learn more about how to plan compensation for your pastor and the rest of the staff at your church. I promise it’ll be a blessing to him and his family and will communicate tangibly your appreciation of him.