Resolutions will be central part of Annual Meeting
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More @ • 204th Annual
Meeting information page
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May, 2003
The Commission on Leadership Development is proposing a 1.5 percent hike in the recommended salaries for clergy in 2004. If approved by Annual Meeting, it would be the first increase to the guidelines in two years.
The new guidelines would range from a low of $25,882 for a pastor with no experience serving a small church to a high of $70,918 for a pastor with over 10 years experience at a church with over 1,000 members.
John Hudson, a member of the commission and pastor of West Concord Union Church, said the recommended increase takes into account various national price and cost of living indexes while also recognizing the down economy.
“This is probably the hardest year in at least a generation for stewardship in our churches,” he said. “The recommended salaries needed to go up, and they also needed to reflect the truth of the environment that our churches are working in.”
Hudson said the commission also plans to start making available to local churches information about the compensation packages offered by other churches of comparable size. He said that will help churches determine whether they are compensating fairly.
Hudson said in difficult financial times, churches need to be creative.
“We encourage churches to be as generous as they possibly can, and be as creative as they possibly can,” he said. “These compensation guidelines are also about benefits and about ways churches can affirm the performance of their pastors. Churches can give more time off, put aside money for sabbaticals or in reimbursable accounts, such as health care accounts.”