Clergy Compensation

How much should a clergy be paid. How much is too much? It so happen, a number of my friend from IBC left the church because they thought that IBC overpaid the previous pastor and seem to be continuing the policy, in their opinion. Christian clergies are not required to take a vow of poverty like clergies in other Asian religions. However, in Asia especially, Christians frown upon clergy who are well paid and are not living a frugal and modest life. It is almost expected that they follow other religious leaders, like the Budhist monk, the Hindu priest, and the Tao priest, and live like a poor man. How much is too much?

In Singapore clergy pay is tied to his/her qualification, i.e. education and experience. A clergy's pay is at the same pay level of an academia. It so happen, Singapore is one of those places where its university professors are among the highest paid in the world. Thus clergies with doctorate degrees can assume at least a six figure sum. And I believe this is a good practice.

In Indonesia, clergy's official pay is not very high. However, clergies do receive various in-kind gifts and red packets from various church members. I personally believe this is a distasteful practice on the giver part. Church members who think that their pastor is not paid enough should use the official channels to push for higher clergy pay package instead of giving cash gifts to their pastor. I'm not sure how clergies feel when they receive a cash gift, but here is my experience.

My husband and I have a personal experience receiving cash gift (we are not clergy). In 2000, after working for two years, the company my husband worked for gave him a bonus enough for the down payment of our first HDB flat. After paying the down payment, minor repairs on the flat, and other fees, we only had $500 left in our bank account for food and transport until the next pay day. We used our credit card to the limit to purchase necessary appliances like refrigerator washing machine and moved into our flat with no TV or sofa. Our family gave us some money which we use to buy a sofa and a TV. We needed the money, however, the gift from our family left us with a bad taste. It felt like a charity. My pride was hurt.

When a cash gift come from an employer, the recipient feel a sense of pride and that the gift is reward for a job well done instead of a form of charity. Pastors and evangelists in Indonesia deserve more than they are getting. It is disrespectful to pay them so little that they are made to swallow their pride and receive cash gifts to boost up their income.

So, how much should a clergy be paid? Enough so that when they go to dinner with their member at a restaurant, they too have the economic power to pay for the dinner, said a pastor I personally know.