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About half the nation's full-time pastors report they received no salary increase in the past year, continuing a downturn in salaries among top leaders in churches, according to a new survey published by Christianity Today International. In fact, the extensive survey, publishing this fall in the 2010-2011 Compensation Handbook for Church Staff, shows a slight decline or stall in pay levels for the majority of every church employee surveyed this year.

The Compensation Handbook was developed to provide church leaders and employees with a current and reliable picture of compensation practices across a broad spectrum of American churches. It presents survey data from nearly 5,000 churches representing more than 10,000 staff members in 13 ministry positions, both full-time and part-time, ranging from pastors to childcare positions. The survey was conducted in February and March from subscribers of various Christianity Today International magazines, e-newsletters, and web channels, including Church Law & Tax Report, Church Finance Today, and Leadership, a journal for pastors and church leaders.

Among the findings:

• After a slight bump up in salaries in 2008, the new survey finds a small decline reported in 2009.
  
• Tenure provides little impact on the economic benefit to pastors who serve as their congregation's only clergy person until they have exceeded 15 years of service.
  
• Women clergy, though smaller in numbers than men, showed a few financial gains, but overall, women's income still trails their male counterparts primarily in full-time positions.
  

The total compensation for all lead pastors (combined solo and senior pastors' data), including housing, insurance, and retirement benefits, was down about 2.4% to an average $70,806. The average for senior pastors who lead multiple pastoral staff declined about one-half of 1% to $80,745, compared to the solo pastors' average of $56,189, down about 6.6%. According to these figures, the average solo pastor lost more than $300 per month in salary and benefits last year.

"One of my church compensation-related concerns," says Dan Busby, president of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, "is that fringe benefits are often cut along with salaries. Because many fringe benefits are tax-free or tax-deferred, there is a multiplier impact when some benefits are cut (such as church provided health insurance). First, church staff must pay the costs formerly covered by the church and then the costs must be paid from after-tax dollars instead of pre-tax dollars. In many instances, it is better stewardship to reduce pay and maintain full fringe benefits instead of cutting fringe benefits and sustaining pay levels."

As in previous years, regional differences are reflected in the study, as are the effects of congregation size and location. In general, churches in the Central-Southeast and Mountain regions reported lower compensation than the overall averages, while salaries in New England and the Northeastern states were above average. As expected, smaller churches, especially those in rural areas and small cities, reported lower salaries. The exceptions, in most cases, were the rare churches dotting the countryside that have attendance of 1,000 or more worshipers per weekend. Their compensation packages more closely matched their large counterparts in suburban and urban settings.

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