{"id":691494,"date":"2016-11-07T04:00:34","date_gmt":"2016-11-07T10:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thomrainer.com\/?p=691494"},"modified":"2020-02-07T15:44:29","modified_gmt":"2020-02-07T21:44:29","slug":"six-surprises-about-church-staff-salaries-and-budgets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/six-surprises-about-church-staff-salaries-and-budgets\/","title":{"rendered":"Six Surprises about Church Staff Salaries and Budgets"},"content":{"rendered":"

The new research on church staff salaries and budgets is amazing.<\/p>\n

I have been poring over the data of the study recently released by Leadership Network and Vanderbloemen Search Group<\/a>. It is rich with helpful information.<\/p>\n

As I read the study, I looked for surprises or changes in patterns from what I have been seeing in recent years. And though the data I\u2019ve collected in the past may not compare perfectly with the research of this latest study, the contrasts are, at the very least, instructional and interesting.<\/p>\n

Here are six of those surprises or changes:<\/p>\n

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  1. Growing churches pay their pastors and staff slightly less than declining churches. <\/strong>At first glance, this information seems surprising. But growing churches often reach new Christians who have not established healthy giving patterns. Other growing churches may be more likely to reach younger families with lower incomes.<\/li>\n
  2. Only two percent of the churches\u2019 budgets are funded outside congregational giving. <\/strong>Some churches receive funds from leasing facilities, from schools that are in the church\u2019s building, or from investments and endowments. But, in reality, those sources of income are very small compared to congregational giving.<\/li>\n
  3. One third of the churches increased the outsourcing of staff over the past five years. <\/strong>As I have noted in other articles, outsourcing is a major trend in churches. Leaders are increasingly becoming aware that many typical employee functions are not part of the core that makes a church unique. Here are some of the more common church staff outsourcing I have found with an example of each (affiliate links included):\n