Congress weighs appropriations bills; Many pastors see uptick in compensation

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The financial appropriations decision making process is working its way through Congress.

Some of the priorities highlighted by the ERLC in the letter include pro-life issues, religious liberty concerns and opposing taxpayer funding for harmful “gender transition” surgeries.

“As a nation, our values and priorities are most clearly displayed through the allocation of our resources,” ERLC President Brent Leatherwood said in the letter. “It is our desire for those resources to be used in a way that promotes life, religious liberty and the flourishing of all our neighbors. It is in light of these core principles that we highlight the areas of concern and support below.”

Draft text for nearly all 12 appropriations bills has been released in both chambers, and the bills have passed through both the House and Senate appropriations committees. The deadline for the government to pass the required 12 appropriations bills for the 2025 fiscal year is Sept. 30, but Congress is expected to pass a continuing resolution to extend that deadline at the current funding levels.

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While the Consumer Price Index (CPI), the most widely used measure of inflation, grew 6 percent from June 2022 to June 2024, both the average compensation and pay package for full-time senior pastors climbed more than 13 percent, while staff ministers’ grew more than 7 percent and office personnel’s increased by at least 10 percent.

“The upward movement in full-time pastor salaries does not make up all the financial ground they lost between 2018 and 2022,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. “Many pastors financially ‘took one for the team’ during the pandemic, and it is encouraging to see many churches responding to begin to close this gap.”

For senior pastors, compensation, which includes salary and housing, grew 16.6 percent in the past two years, and pay package, which includes salary, housing, retirement and insurance, climbed 13.9 percent.

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