The goal of every church personnel team should be to become more effective and to be an advocate for church staff, according to an Alabama state missionary.

“Who else is charged to advocate for the staff?” asked Lee Wright, coordinator of church compensation services for the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions. “It’s your job, and I’m glad you’re here to learn how to do this better,” he told participants at a Sept. 30 Personnel Conference at the SBOM facility in Prattville.

Wright noted that coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic is a good time to make decisions about the future of churches and their staffing.

Compensation

“We’ve found the average church budget devotes about 50% to personnel expenses,” he said, “so this area is a major investment and concern for the churches.”

The median family income in Alabama is $66,700, he reported, and that should be the least amount most churches consider for a full-time pastor’s salary.

Wright noted that ordained ministers have dual tax status according to the IRS, which accounts for much confusion.

This article was originally published at thealabamabaptist.org.