Originally posted by lucifershammer
Isn't that true of Protestant pastors as well? Every Protestant minister I've ever known (and I'll admit there aren't that many of them) has had housing, utilities and even their kids' education paid for them by their respective congregations.
Well, having had a rather wide exposure to US Protestant pastors,
I've seen
some (but not most) get stipends for living expenses.
That stipend is indeed pre-tax and negotiated as part of their salary
structure. And they can use it for paying part of a mortgage of a
large house or the whole mortgage and utilities of a small house.
(They cannot use it for discretionary spending or even for their kids'
educations.) They also keep milage for their cars when used for
business reasons and get reimbursed by the mile (but not when they
go to the theatre, for example). But they pay for the car themselves.
They do not get cooks or housecleaning help, unless they pay for it
out of their salaries, of course.
In other words, their jobs have some fringe benefits, but they are
responsible for the appropriate management of those benefits (just
like I have to supervise the use of my continuing education budget).
The average Protestant minister certainly doesn't have 15k-18k worth
of discretionary spending to toss around (of course, Saint Thomas on
Fifth Avenue in NYC is going to have a different pay scale than Saint
Rumwold of the Shoals in East Ireland).
But, as I said, this is
negotiated by the congregation. It is the
congregation that decides whether they wish to support a stipend and,
if so, how much. Similarly, they define the position as part-time or
full-time and what the duties are. A Roman Catholic priest (and I've
known a lot of them) has no such duties. In a parish I know, there is
a pastor and a curate, one of which makes regular runs to the hospital,
makes calls to people, hears confessions on demand, and is basically
on call 24 hours a day; the other priest barely puts in 10 hours a week
beyond his required Sunday Mass schedule, never visits the sick, only
hears confession when they are scheduled (two half-hour periods a week),
and avoids contact with anything but the television if he can help it.
He is also 10 years younger and this has been his practice for over
30 years in the priesthood.
Both get the same salary, same benefits, same personal treatment.
Such a thing would never be tolerated in a Protestant church but the
RCs are obligated to tolerate it.
I wish I could say that this neglectful priest was an utter rarity, and
while it isn't rampant, it isn't isolated either. That is, the congregation
has neither a say in how their pastor ought to act nor protection from
a pastor who decides he doesn't want to do anything.
Nemesio
15 Jan '07 20:43
how much does your local spiritual leader earn?
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