Author Archives: General Baptist Ministries

Making It On A Pastor's Pay
Standard

Posted by

Posted on

April 26, 2018

Posted under

Christian Life, Congregrational Ministries, Pastoring

Making It On A Pastor’s Pay

by Franklin Dumond, Director of Congregational Ministries

Four Attempts at Fairness

A prayer on behalf of a pastor was short and direct, “Lord you keep him humble; we’ll keep him poor.” Even if this prayer was never prayed the result in the local church has often been the same. Sometimes the result was never intended but the method to determine fairness was itself the culprit. I have seen four attempts at fairness when it comes to pastor’s salaries. Some are more fair than others.

1. WHAT IS THE AVERAGE INCOME FOR THE CHURCH?

On the surface this seems the most fair since it is based on incomes for the families in the church. Beneath the surface, however, the fairness may be lost if:

  • a) the salary package does not properly account for benefits that are also given to wage earners in the congregation,
  • b) the report from the congregation is incomplete,
  • c) the congregation includes a large number of retirees who have a smaller, retirement income that is adequate to their status as mortgage-free homeowners,
  • d) the pastor is an entry level pastor but the average income is substantially above entry level income. (Here the fairness to the church is lost since they would be paying more than necessary. In the other cases the fairness to the pastor is lost since he is being paid less that should be expected.)

2. WHAT DOES IT COST TO LIVE IN OUR COMMUNITY?

What a church needs to do to make this method work is to find the value of a respectable middle-class home in their area, factor in the pastor’s student debt, loan on the minivan, etc. and then figure out what kind of salary he needs to make to qualify for the mortgage on that home.

3. WHAT CAN WE AFFORD?

While this may be the actual bottom line issue for most churches “What do we choose to afford?” may be the real question. Church budgets should generally allocate 40-65% of income to employee costs.

4. WHAT IS THE PROFESSIONAL EQUIVALENCY IN OUR COMMUNITY?

The suggestion is that a church look at a secular profession that is most similar to pastoral work and pay accordingly. Most of the time this will be the high school classroom teacher. Local school districts will have salary scales developed based on educational level and tenure. So when the church looks up the education level of its pastor along with his years of experience in full time ministry a community-based standard of pay will be in hand. If the pastor manages a number of staff, then pay him as a building principal using the school district salary schedule.

Of all the systems reviewed this one seems most fair to all concerned. All pastors (not just senior pastors) receive a decent middle-class salary that directly compares to salaries being paid in the community. All pastors are compensated in accord with their education and experience with proper benefit packages. Those pastors who pastor larger churches are compensated in line with their expanded responsibilities.

The New Testament calls for fairness in pastoral salaries by insisting that “The worker deserves his wages.” (I Timothy 5:18 NIV) Continue reading →

Hope in the Darkness - A Story of Depression
Standard

Posted by

Posted on

April 24, 2018

Posted under

Christian Life, The Summit

Hope in the Darkness – A Story Over Depression

by Jeff Thomas

I have suffered from depression for years. It began when I was sexually abused by a school teacher when I was in my early teens. I have taken medication off and on for the last 20 years and have gone through a great deal of therapy with Christian counselors. I was excited to see the workshop entitled “10 Biblical Ways to Deal with Depression” by Brenda Poinsett at the Summit this past year. For years depression has been looked at with a stigma that causes most Christians suffering with it to remain silent and to hide it vigorously.

I attended the workshop expecting to be one of a few that did, but I was very surprised when the room began to fill up and ended up standing room only. Brenda and I visited before the session began and she actually asked if I would share a small part of my story about some of her talking points, which I was more than happy to do.

The content of her workshop was extremely helpful to me on a personal level and she is a wonderful and amazing person, but the one thing that stuck out to me was the attendance. Apparently the stigma is gone and people are willing to admit that they don’t have it all together. The fact that the room was filled to capacity encouraged me that perhaps people in general were finally ready to be open about their depression.

It was during this workshop that God placed it on my heart to come back to Arkansas and offer the same hope to the people in my community. “Hope in the Darkness” was born at the Summit. It was an idea to offer those suffering from depression the hope we all have in Jesus Christ to overcome any obstacle in our lives.

Hope in the Darkness, DepressionSo, for 4 months I met with a few family and friends, who have battled this enemy of the soul, to plan a one night event aimed at sharing the gospel of hope and victory. I also enlisted the help of a local licensed Christian counselor to co-host the event with me. Brenda was also a huge help. We emailed each other several times and she was more than happy to send me all the info I asked for. We advertised this free event with flyers, every door direct mailers and on Facebook.

Our goal for the event was two-fold. First we wanted to inform and educate people about depression. We explained the different types of depression, the symptoms of depression, the different types of treatment including medication, therapy and the biblical principles Brenda shared in her workshop. Second, we wanted to offer continuing help with either group sessions or one on one counseling. Our desire was to help the hurting find healing through the power of the Holy Spirit and to look at life with hope instead of despair.

So, on November 11, 2017 the team gathered to see what the attendance would be. We had about 20 pre-register for the event, but ended up with about 60 showing up. We had a panel that shared testimonies of their battle with depression and how these biblical principles helped them be victorious. I ended the night with a message of God’s love and desire to make us whole again. From this one event I now have about 15 individuals I’m seeing one on one to help in their battle with depression.

God began His plan at the Summit with a simple workshop held by a veteran of depression. Through that simple workshop He is now bringing healing to others hundreds of miles away and the work isn’t over yet. We are already planning another event after the first of the year on emotional wounds and getting to the root of our depression.

Isaiah 53:5 says, “But He was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.”(NLT) Yes, Jesus suffered so we could be forgiven and have eternal life, but He also came to give us an abundant life. For those with depression the abundant life seems impossible. Isaiah says He was beaten to make us whole, to put back together the broken pieces of our fractured mind and emotions and that every lash of the whip was to heal our broken hearts so that we can have the abundant life here and now. God desires for us to enjoy the gift of life we have now. The promise of God is not just joy and peace when we get to Heaven, but true joy, peace and life now.

I’m so thankful for the executive team for thinking outside the box and making things like this available at the Summit instead of just focusing on church growth. There is so much out there for us all to learn and grow from that we can take back to our own churches. I’m also very thankful for Brenda Poinsett and her willingness to share her struggles and victories with perfect strangers in such an authentic way. I wish we were all as open and honest as she is. Most importantly I thank God for His leadership, guidance and power. He had a plan long before I decided to go to the Summit and He showed up. Then He showed out by changing lives forever. I am in awe of Him always and forever.

I encourage our denomination to keep offering things like this. I also encourage the members to realize that workshops like Brenda’s are a church growth workshop. If your members aren’t healthy then the church won’t be either. So, take a chance next year and attend one. You never know what God may have planned.

Church Planting Honduras - Moving Forward
Standard

Posted by

Posted on

April 19, 2018

Posted under

Honduras, International Missions, Mission One Teams

Comments

1 Comment

Church Planting Honduras – Moving Forward

by Rodney Walls, Missionary to Honduras

General Baptists are blessed with a good group of pastors here in Honduras who are faithful and hardworking, and it is a joy to serve Christ alongside of them! They have seen a lot of missionaries come and go over the years, and building a strong relationship with them continues to be a top priority. Relationship building takes time and the last year and a half have been fruitful in many ways.

The vision to start new works has been in place. The challenge to our pastors has been for us as a group to prayerfully identify areas where we can start a new church. Once God has given the location, the design is to have a pastor, along with a trained new leader, begin the work in that community. That way the new pastor can observe and learn from the experienced pastor. During the next six months, the lead pastor will gradually give more and more ministry responsibility to the new pastor. We (the mission and the pastors’ association) want to provide a bit of a safety net to our new pastors and leaders. The desire is to then bring Mission One teams alongside the new works to provide a short-term ministry boost.

The church is the hope of the world because the church has been commissioned by Jesus to tell others about Him and to make disciples! The ability to reach people with the gospel, to start more churches in areas without churches and to see our existing churches thrive, depends on leadership development. However, as in many areas in the States, there is a leadership vacuum here. The question became, “How can we best train up leaders in our churches as well as identify and equip future pastors?” Without development of potential pastors within our existing works, the potential for growth is extremely curbed, and the mission becomes dependent on people outside General Baptist ranks. Though there are many good people who can and hopefully will join our ranks. Growing leaders from within is paramount to the mission. Simply put, we need more pastors, because we need more churches!

In September 2017, we took a giant step forward. Miguel Ramirez a long-term employee of the mission was brought on board. He and his wife have served as house parents for Faith Home for years. Miguel has always had a heart for our churches and has served as president of the pastors’ association. He is a powerful preacher and a gifted teacher. Miguel also graduated with a bible degree in Theology in 2013. Miguel and Eduarda continue to work some for Faith Home, but Miguel’s primary responsibility is to work with and train up prospective leaders in our churches, preparing them to better serve alongside their pastor and/or preparing them to be pastors in the future. This is exciting news!

For several years, Miguel has in his own time been working with some churches and leadership groups. In fact, Ezequiel the new pastor at Emanuel church, came out of Miguel’s classes. We believe Ezequiel is the first of many. We are putting together an effort to intentionally train young men and women to be servants in the church. On top of that, Miguel will also be teaching classes to our pastors, better equipping them to be instruments in God’s hands. I told you this was exciting news.

The training will be localized not centralized. That will mean a lot of traveling for Miguel and myself. The Honduras Bible Institute has reformed, and we are working with Pastor Rene Rodriguez who leads the effort to train pastors and leaders in California and Mexico. Pastor Rene has provided materials and support to our efforts here. Thank you, Pastor Rene! Moving forward we want a unified effort among all our General Baptist Hispanic ministries! This is powerful stuff!

Miguel began his first class in October. He travels to a different church Monday through Friday, and 102 men and women from seven of our churches have signed up and are attending a class in homiletics. Yes, you read that correctly (102). I will admit it. That number is significantly higher than I had thought or hoped. And, (and this is exciting), 12 teenagers are taking the class as well (ranging from 14 years of age to 17). Tell me that is not exciting?

We have a basic curriculum in place and believe that God is going to use the Honduras Bible Institute to prepare pastors and leaders for our existing churches and to start new ones too. Soon the leadership vacuum will be no more, and there will be many new General Baptist churches here reaching people with the Good News that Christ tasted death for us all! If just 5% of this group are God called to be a pastor, then we can begin five new churches.

Moving forward… We need your prayers and your support as we move forward following Jesus! The Church Planting ministry here is dormant no more. Things are busy and getting even more so! Thanks to a couple of churches that are already helping to fund this effort by helping to underwrite Miguel’s salary. Your support is making an impact. I will also need support to purchase books and supplies as I have already used my resource for buying books. Don’t wait, join in what God is doing here. I will keep you posted as we move forward.