Fairness in Ministerial Compensation: Solidarity and Incentives

A response to two referrals from the 2012 Special Committee on the Church for the 21st Century.  How can we raise the salaries of ministers in churches barely able to pay Board of Pensions’ dues, including disproportionate numbers of women and racial ethnic pastors, and of what relevance is our theology of compensation to our modified market system, both in the parishes and in our national agencies?  Although at root Christian incentives are not financial, sharing and mutual aid are not enough: the report outlines certain forms of mutual accountability and intervention for declining ministry situations.  This report combines Gospel solidarity with realism about an enduring challenge.