by Thom S. Rainer
Pastors enter ministry knowing it will be demanding, but few expect the financial pressure that follows them week after week. Still, it’s a reality in far too many churches.
Most of the time, the issue isn’t intentional neglect. It’s a mix of assumptions, old habits, and blind spots. Many churches simply haven’t updated their thinking about what it costs for a pastor and family to live today.
Rising housing costs, healthcare expenses, and basic living necessities hit pastors just like everyone else—sometimes harder. Yet many congregations don’t realize their compensation plans haven’t kept up.
If churches want healthy, long-term pastoral leadership, they must understand why these gaps happen. Only then can they begin paying pastors with fairness, dignity, and the care Scripture calls us to show.
1. No One in the Church Is Paying Attention to the Pastor’s Compensation
In many churches, the biggest reason a pastor is underpaid is surprisingly simple: no one is actually paying attention. Compensation just drifts from year to year with no review, no comparison, and no real conversation. It’s not that anyone is trying to ignore the pastor’s needs. It’s that no one feels responsible to look closely at them.
Budgets get copied and pasted. Committees assume someone else is handling it. Leaders hesitate to bring up salary because it feels awkward or “unspiritual.” And before long, years pass without a single honest evaluation of what the pastor needs or what the church should be providing.
When no one owns the process, the pastor ends up absorbing the gap—quietly, and often at great personal cost. Fair compensation rarely happens by accident. Someone must step up, ask the right questions, and make sure the church cares for its shepherd the way Scripture calls it to.
2. The Pastor’s “Package” Is Considered the Pastor’s Salary
One of the biggest points of confusion in churches is the idea of a “salary package.” Many congregations roll everything—salary, housing allowance, insurance, retirement, reimbursements—into one big number and call it the pastor’s pay. It looks generous on paper, but in reality, it’s not even close to the pastor’s actual take-home income.
This misunderstanding creates constant tension. A church may think it’s paying a competitive wage, while the pastor quietly absorbs the difference in rising costs and shrinking disposable income. When a package is treated like a salary, insurance premiums feel like a raise. Retirement contributions look like extra cash. Reimbursements become “benefits.” But none of these put real money in a pastor’s pocket.
Until churches separate salary from benefits—and clearly understand what each line item means—pastors will continue to feel the strain of being underpaid, even when the numbers look fine to everyone else.
3. Older Church Members Often Don’t Realize Today’s Cost of Living
Many churches with an older membership simply don’t grasp how dramatically the cost of living has changed for pastors today. It’s not intentional; it’s generational. A house that cost $40,000 when they were raising their families now sells for $350,000. Rent that used to be $300 a month is now $1,800. Healthcare, childcare, groceries—almost everything has skyrocketed.
Because these members lived through a very different economic reality, they often assume pastors can make things work the same way they did decades ago. They remember stretching dollars, so they expect the pastor to do the same. The problem is that the numbers no longer match the mindset.
When churches rely on outdated memories instead of current data, compensation decisions fall far short of what a pastor actually needs to live in the community they serve. Awareness—not blame—is the key to closing that gap.
4. Some Church Members Believe “Starving the Pastor” Is a Form of Sanctification
A small but vocal group in some churches holds to an old, unhealthy idea: a pastor should struggle financially because it keeps them humble. It’s usually not stated outright, but it shows up in comments like, “We don’t want the pastor getting too comfortable,” or “A real pastor shouldn’t care about money anyway.”
This mindset is rooted more in folklore than in Scripture. It treats financial hardship as a spiritual virtue and implies that a pastor grows holier by living on the edge. The problem is that this thinking burdens pastors and their families with stress that has nothing to do with godliness.
When a church follows this philosophy, compensation decisions are made with suspicion rather than generosity. Instead of honoring the pastor’s calling, the church unintentionally undermines it. Healthy churches reject the myth of the “starving pastor” and embrace biblical care—providing for their shepherd with dignity, fairness, and gratitude.
5. The Church Assumes the Spouse’s Income Makes Up the Shortfall
Another subtle but damaging assumption appears in churches where members believe the pastor’s spouse can simply “make up the difference.” If the pastor’s salary is low, the thinking goes, the spouse can work extra hours, pick up another job, or carry the family’s insurance. On the surface, it sounds practical. In reality, it places an unfair and often unrealistic burden on the pastor’s home.
This mindset ignores the fact that many spouses are already carrying significant responsibilities—raising children, managing the home, or working part-time to maintain balance. It also overlooks the emotional strain of expecting a family to function on two or three jobs just so the church can avoid addressing compensation. Instead of being a supportive partner in ministry, the church inadvertently turns the pastor’s family into a financial safety net.
If churches want healthy, long-term pastoral leadership, they must stop assuming the spouse can absorb the gap. Fair compensation is not a “family issue”; it is a church responsibility. And when churches get this right, both the pastor and the congregation thrive.