Running head: Pastoring a church

Pastoring a Church
Hudson C. Smith
Salt Lake Community College

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Abstract

The title of pastor gives people a certain idea as to how the person who holds this title
should be and how they should act. Generally a pastor is thought of as being: holy, blameless,
well respected, kind, a good leader. All of these may be true, however, there are several other
facets of being a pastor that are not often viewed as being needed to pastor a church such as:
being good in business, managing people, communicating plans and ideas. Pastors, on a daily
basis, make just as many business decisions as any other corporate executive. There are also
different levels of pastors; a senior pastor is the equivalent of a CEO in a regular corporation, and
assistant or associate pastors fulfill many other positions that appear in business. For the
purposes of this paper I will be focusing on the job and responsibilities of a senior pastor. All of
this research and information is based on a church with a congregation of 2000 5000 in weekly
average attendance.

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Pastoring a Church

Before getting into the nitty gritty details; I would like to define exactly what a pastor is.
Websters dictionary defines it as: a spiritual overseer; especially: a clergyman serving a local
church or parish (Webster, 2016). This a very simplified definition because it only scratches the
surface as to what the responsibilities of a pastor are. While it is true that a pastor serves a local
church, he does this in more than just spiritually feeding his congregation.
Job Description
The job of a senior pastor is two-fold. The first is his responsibility to his congregation to
fill their spiritual needs. These duties include but are not limited to: preaching, studying,
counseling, visitation, baptisms, funerals, weddings. Each of these responsibilities directly
corresponds to a spiritual need in the church that only a pastor can fill. This is often viewed as
the senior pastors primary directive, however, an article from the Ministry Journal for Pastors
says, There may be those who hold the opinion that the work of the pastor is entirely divorced
from anything that savors of secular business, yet it is an accomplished fact that he who is not a
good businessman cannot adequately discharge his responsibilities as pastor of a church (Scott,
1957). This statement applies to all pastors and there are certain levels at which assistant pastors
are a part of this business, but they are often in more of an administration position, whereas
senior pastors tend to have more duties related to business similar to everyday businessmen.
Some of these responsibilities are: having meetings with his staff, developing a bulletin, updating
facilities, and handling business deals with outside vendors. Some of the more specific points
involve the senior pastor discussing with the churches board of elders on large purchases, such
as a new bus, or updating the church building to meet ordinances. While regularly recurring
expenses generally do not require the senior pastor to review, any irregular expenses and or

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purchases must be approved by the senior pastor and the board of elders. He must also hold
meetings with his staff, should the church employ a full or part time staff. These meetings are
frequently about operations in the church such as, events, dates, general operations during
service times. Often the meetings do not involve his spiritual responsibilities at all, but instead
his business and administrative responsibilities. It is also worth noting that 97% of senior pastors
are men and only 3% are women (Hammar, 2011, pp. 30-43).
General Career Path
There are many different paths to becoming a senior pastor of a church. Often times a
congregation may seek out a replacement for one who has died or moved to a new church. Other
times succession from within the pastoral staff is the way to go. Lets discuss the latter. First
off, I would like to explain what the mindset is supposed to be of any staff member at a church.
That is, the furthering of the Gospel (which is the good news of Christ) is first and foremost, and
any personal gain comes second. This being said, if any person were to strive and do their best
to become the next senior pastor, more often than not they will never be one. The position itself
is that of a servant, not of one who is being served. Now with all of this in mind, the general
entry level for a pastor is that of youth pastor. Youth pastors are generally young and full of
energy. This is not the most favorable of positions as the compensation is generally low, and
men who have been through Bible College and seminary wish to minister to an adult
congregation, not to junior high and high school students. Because of this the retention time for
youth pastors is generally low, often taking the first offer from any church to become an assistant
or associate pastor. If, however, a youth pastor were to stay in their position, after several years
in the youth ministry they will most likely be moved into the position of administrative or
assistant pastor. Now a senior pastor who has been with a congregation for many years will

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often not retire but will remain in his office until he is no longer able to. The board of elders
then sets up something like a church will that gives instructions as to the order of succession
should anything happen to the current senior pastor. This is usually in the order of assistant and
associate pastors with the most tenure who would be able to pastor the church for at least a
decade before retiring or moving on (Keith Radke, Personal Communication, March 3rd 2016).
Promotion to higher positions may be based on merit, but that is not a guarantee in this
profession. Experience with larger congregations is also plays a large part in being placed into a
senior pastor position. The one other way into this position is to start a church from scratch and
build it yourself from zero. This is how Pastor Terry Long of Calvary Chapel Salt Lake City
began and is still senior pastor over the congregation (Long, 2002).
General Education Experience
The education qualification varies greatly from denomination to denomination. For
Presbyterian pastors you need at least a Bachelors degree to even be an assistant pastor, and for
senior pastors it is expected that you have at least a Masters degree in Theology. For Calvary
Chapel, however, it is expected that one should attend at least 2 years of Bible College or
seminary. Along with those schooling requirements and expectations, one must be ordained or
licensed by their denomination or church in order to hold the office of senior pastor.

Average Salary
The average salary of a senior pastor varies greatly from church to church and is
generally based solely on the churches income. Based on numbers from 2013 the average pay of
a senior pastor with the churches income being greater than $1,000,000 annually is $104,907
(Hammar, 2011, pp. 30-43). This number is based solely on monetary compensation. The

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average senior pastor also receives benefits including: health insurance, life insurance, disability
insurance, retirement, and continuing education. All of these benefits included the average total
compensation of a senior pastor in a church with the above listed conditions is $123,124.
Career Outlook
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics there are 46,510 employed clergy nationwide
(Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2015). This number is miniscule compared to the near 319 million
people in the U.S.A. as of 2014. It may be a very small percentage of the total number of jobs,
however it is one that will not be going away in the near future. As long as the Bible continues
being the bestselling book of all time, there will always be people longing to understand it and
have somebody teach them about Jesus and the Bible. However in the past several years,
protestant churches have seen diminishing numbers in their congregations leaving less available
openings to seminary and Bible College graduates to get become full time pastors.
Biography of Terry Long
Terry Long, born July 24th, 1961 grew up as a delinquent boy. He was the classic bad boy
in his teenage years with a quick temper, long hair, tattooed, drinking, and smoking. He married
his wife, Alison, at the age of 19 having dated her for several years already. And they moved
into a house where he began growing and selling pot. From there he only grew worse, abusing
Alison, shooting up her car, getting high and drunk every day. It was only after reading the book
of Revelation out of the Bible as a joke during one of his drug induced highs, that he began to
fear that if anything in that book were true, that he would be in a lot of trouble with God after he
died. It was then that he called a Baptist pastor saying that, You need to come here right now
before Jesus comes back or Ill go to Hell. The pastor did end up coming and sat down in
Terrys living room, with a bong sitting right on the table. After talking with this Baptist pastor

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for several hours, Terry then decided to give up his life to Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.
After Alison came to faith in Jesus as well, Terry started on the path to becoming a preacher for
the Gospel. Starting out as a zealous kid wanting to spread the word, Terry searched for a place
that would take a young tattooed boy as an apprentice of sorts. He eventually came across
Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa and began as an intern there and eventually became a junior pastor.
He attended their Bible College in Costa Mesa, California for several years until he received his
certificate and moved to Sacramento to become an assistant pastor at Calvary Chapel
Sacramento, whose senior pastor at the time was John Cowan. After pastoring in Sacramento for
several years, Terry and Alison felt that God was calling them to Greely Colorado to plant a
church; however, as they were driving through Utah, (and this is how Pastor Terry tells the story)
he audibly heard as they looked over the valley, This is the place. After several visits and
meetings with his senior pastors in both Sacramento and Costa Mesa, Terry, as the senior pastor,
with Alison started Calvary Chapel Salt Lake City in their own living room in 1991. Since then
the church has grown and moved between several locations ranging from a Reams storefront, to
a remodeled warehouse where the church currently resides. The church is now considered a
mega church by Utah standards seeing nearly 1,500 people during the weekly Sunday services
(Unshackled, 2002).
Pros and Cons
One of the major pros of being a senior pastor is the opportunities for travel, as there are
many pastors conferences all over the country that welcome spousal and familial
accompaniment. Another is something called a Housing Allowance, which was originally meant
for pastors who were living on-site in a parsonage, but is now allocated for their mortgage or
rent. This Housing Allowance is exempt from Federal and State income taxes and is not

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considered regular income. Along the same lines as the above, pastors are able to opt out of
Social Security tax should they have a moral objection to having the government support them.
This is grounded on the argument that the Bible places on families taking care of their own, and
the church providing for the widows and orphans (Treibs, 1999). The cons, for the most part, are
viewed from a secular standpoint only, as negative. Long hours often exceeding sixty a week;
not having a day off for several weeks; people spreading rumors and lying about you; stressing
over peoples lives; dealing with criticism and antagonism day after day; extreme emotional ups
and downs; these are some of the heavy cons that come with being the pastor of a church.
My Fit with this Career
Over the course of my public school life, I have grown a very thick skin to criticism and
rumors being spread about me. Through my life experiences and having grown up in the church,
Ive gained much knowledge about the Bible and about people in general. I am currently
working at Calvary Chapel SLC as an assistant accountant / administrator and have been
shadowing two of the pastors. Having interviewed them both multiple times about their
immersion into the job as a pastor Ive come to the conclusion that it is a fitting career path for
me. I love the Lord and I do wish to shepherd His flock. There are those who say that you need
to have a burning bush experience in order for you to be called to be a pastor. Ive never had
one of those experiences, and I stand by the idea that God does not work in the same way for all
people. Marc Cortez, a professor of theology and the Dean at Western Seminary, says that, We
do need to leave room for the possibility that God is calling an unlikely person into ministry. He
does that a lot. But let's think twice, even thrice, before giving our call to ministry the stamp of
divine mandate. Too many people have led churches tragically astray by thinking that they alone
knew what God wanted (Cortez, 2013).

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References

Cortez, M. (2013, January). Questioning the Call. Retrieved March 07, 2016, from
http://www.christianity.com/church/pastors/questioning-the-call.html?p=0
Hammar, R. R. (2011). The 2012-2013 compensation handbook for church staff. Carol Stream,
IL: Christianity Today International.
Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2014 21-2011 Clergy. (2015, March 25). Retrieved
March 7, 2016, from http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes212011.htm#(3)
Radke, K. D. (2016, March 7). Pastor Keith Radke [Personal interview].
Scott, F. R. (1957, March). The Pastor's Responsibility in Church Business Matters. Retrieved
from https://www.ministrymagazine.org/archive/1957/03/the-pastors-responsibility-inchurch-business-matters
Treibs, D. C. (1999). The Biblical View of Social Security, Social Security Numbers, and other
welfare programs By David C. Treibs. Retrieved March 07, 2016, from
http://www.godandguncontrol.com/ssnbible.htm
Unshackled: Pastor Terry Long [Advertisement]. (2002, January). Retrieved March 7, 2016,
from http://www.calvaryslc.org/content.cfm?id=213&download_id=625
Webster. (n.d.). Pastor. Retrieved March 7, 2016, from http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/pastor