Yesterday's Meeting

The proposed 2008 budget for the congregation included a $200/month pay-cut for the pastor. The congregation cannot afford that. Even having been bailed out (by outsiders) to the tune of $9000 this year, they're still behind on bills, and paychecks are running late. A realistic view shows that offerings would cover the pastor's health insurance and the utilities at the church and parsonage, with about $800/mo left to pay the pastor. So the big decision yesterday was whether they were going to cut the pastor's pay a little ($200/mo) or cut it in half. Even cutting Pastor's salary in half would be a financial stretch for them.

Several suggested eliminating the pastor's salary altogether, as that's the only way to "keep this organization afloat." The circuit counselor pointed out that this would require a severance package.

Even though the congregation cannot afford it, the final decision was to keep the so-called full-time pay, with the $200/mo cut. It was made clear that this is just a plan, not a promise. The paychecks may be late or skipped if necessary. One of the men pointed out that pastor had been saying he'd rather get a smaller paycheck that he could actually rely on to be there, rather than a bigger amount but never knowing when we'll actually get it. But so many people could not bring themselves to vote for $1200/month for their pastor.

So the plan is to try to pay him the $2400/mo salary. But pastor's family needs to remember that it's not a promise; it's what the congregation wants to pay but may not be able to. And they will cut his salary when he finds secular employment. They don't know how much to cut his salary now, because they don't know how much he'll be earning when he gets a job. It's kinda nice to know that they would rather give him more for a bit longer, not knowing if/when he'll be able to get secular employment. (It's awfully hard to job-hunt when you're answering the phone at church and making shut-in calls and keeping up with his responsibilities here.)

Interestingly, the circuit counselor pointed out that the congregation is not now paying a living wage. He said that if Pastor earns an extra $1000/mo flipping burgers or sweeping floors, that the congregation ought not cut his pay, but consider that a supplement to what is already a too-small paycheck. Problem is, the reality is that they're only go to be paying $1000-1500 per month (max), regardless of what the budget says they'll pay.

So, for those of you waiting for news of yesterday's meeting, there ya go.

Anticipating the next question (because it's been asked a lot!), yes, we have food on the table. During our "fat years," back when Gary was actually earning almost 1/2 of district scale, we scrimped and put money in the bank. Furthermore, God's saints from all over the country have been sending money directly to us or giving us grocery scrip. There for a while, in my panic and unbelief, I thought we might need to start spending money on lottery tickets. But as the paychecks from the congregation fail, God has been giving and continues to provide daily bread through the generosity of His saints.