You guys are in for a real treat with this post; it’s the first time that I’ve ever written about religion.
I’ve thought about this topic for a while now, but didn’t feel any reason to communicate it until a class discussion that I had yesterday in a communications course. The discussion dealt with the televangelist scandals that rocked America in the late 1980′s and the lack of ethics and oversight for religious charities/organizations. Many of you have probably heard or feel that some American churches have become too much like a corporation. Several of the churches that I’ve attended have definitely been structured this way. And, it may not necessarily be a bad thing that churches have moved to this form of organization. But it can be easily abused, and I think that it has been. I want to talk about the leaders of these corporation churches and two changes that should be made.
I have become increasingly convinced that churches are hiring overqualified, money-minded, worldly leaders. The churches I’m talking about are mid-sized. These are the churches that have a congregation between 1,500 and 7,500 people. This probably isn’t an accurate definition, but it’ll do. For these congregations, I believe that the pastor, at the very least, should not be paid a salary of any sort. They would be provided a house and car owned by the church, receive a meal allowance, clothing allowance, and any other amounts necessary to live and support their family. Basically, they would live as missionaries in their “church home”. The pastor and his family would live in a neighborhood that badly needs the Word of God, not in the country club. My understanding of being a pastor does not involve a lavish lifestyle and frequent vacations. It’s a calling where one devotes their entire life to leading the church and relies on the church family to support them. Having a salary and seeking pay increases allows the pastor to lose sight of leading their flock and to focus on their own desires.This might seem a bit radical, but I think we’d have a new generation of God centered pastors who would have the drive and passion to make real changes in their communities and congregations.
The second point is pretty fickle, but I’d like to see every pastor of every congregation wearing something besides a suit. I understand that the point of the suit is to look your best in reverence to God, but it makes me sick.
I’d be very interested to hear your comments.
Posted by Mike 
