Is it right for clergy to be paid?
There is a fundamental principle involved here: ‘For the worker deserves his wages” (Luke 10:7). People who devote their entire lives to the ministry cannot live on fresh air and good wishes. Like their flock, they need a roof over their heads, clothes on their backs and food in their stomachs in order to devote their lives to God and to serve him. The ministers at the Baptist church I joined (here in the U.K.) relied soley on answered prayer – prayer that the congregation would support them. They and their families lived in very modest houses – which they would never own. They forewent any pension plans or perks (like flash cars). The Senior Minister could have had a lucrative and rewarding career as a concert pianist – but gave it all up to serve God. They could not afford to pay for higher education for their children (because the annual stipend was so small), so the congregation chipped in to pay for that, too. They also paid a tythe to the church out of their GROSS earnings (not n
