Richard Branson once famously said, “Train people well enough so they can leave. Treat them well enough so they don’t want to.” This month, I want to take a moment to talk about the importance of providing strong benefits for your pastors.
I once had a friend tell me, “You can’t buy groceries with your benefits.” And, for the most part, he is right. However, this logic is flawed if you let it play out over an extended period of time. Allow me to explain…
From 2011-2018, I was an Associate Pastor at a church in South Carolina. My primary responsibilities were Youth & Discipleship. This was my first full-time ministry opportunity out of seminary. The people were wonderful, and I will always be grateful for my time there. However, even though I loved this church, they didn’t do a great job of providing for my family. Unfortunately, the only person they really took care of was the Senior Pastor.
Even though I was receiving a salary, I had absolutely zero benefits. No medical, no dental, no vision, no disability, no retirement, no anything. It was only a salary. Since I have a wife and kids, I wasn’t going to allow us to be uninsured, so I went out and purchased a medical and dental plan for our family. And, as you can imagine, this was very expensive since I was not buying through a company plan.
At first, we found a way to make it work. However, as the years went on, it became more and more difficult to afford everything. Every year, the cost of this plan increased more and more. Even when I got a raise (which wasn’t every year), it wasn’t enough to cover the rising cost of healthcare. As a result, my net pay went down every year.
So, even though you can’t buy groceries with your benefits, it’s hard to afford groceries when you don’t have benefits. Because now, you have to buy your own plans.
Now, I am at a church that provides a complete benefits package to all of our pastors, and it's amazing. You can see my benefits package HERE. Now, when I go to sleep at night, I don’t worry about things like healthcare or retirement because these benefits are paid by my church. And, when the cost increases for my benefits, my church pays that too. That means that my salary is actually my salary. And that also means that when I get a raise, my family sees those dollars.
An important part of any compensation package is benefits. Yes, salary matters, but providing strong benefits matters just as much. Trust me… I have been on both sides of this issue, so I am speaking from experience. When a church provides a competitive salary and strong benefits, they are creating an environment where the pastors can stay for as long as the Lord allows. If your church wants to see faithfulness and longevity from your pastors, this is an important part of the conversation.
And, if your church doesn’t currently provide strong benefits for your pastors, please forward this email to the right people and begin those conversations today. Please know, I will be glad to help you in any way that I can. If you need me to schedule a phone call with your personnel team or finance team, just let me know. I am glad to help.
