What are Attendance,
Experience, Education,
and Location Worth?
SBC Compensation Study 2010:
Analysis of full-time senior pastor
compensation and vacation
2
Methodology
The SBC Compensation Study was conducted
by LifeWay Research in cooperation with
GuideStone Financial Resources and Baptist
state conventions
 The study was conducted between January and
June 2010
 Data acquired by the study can be accessed at
www.lifeway.com/compensationsurvey
 Responses from 3,580 full-time senior pastors
were used for the analysis shown in this report

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What are attendance, experience,
and location worth in compensation?
Among full-time senior pastors
Each additional attendee
$38.32
Each additional year at current church
$300.92
Each additional year in the ministry
Each additional year of age
Located in Midwest
$574.15
$(481.09)
$(2,877.33)
Each level of education
Seminary graduate
$(3,000)$(2,000)$(1,000) $-
Results of regression analysis. Dependent variable: Total compensation
$3,485.70
$4,591.07
$1,000 $2,000 $3,000 $4,000 $5,000
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How to View Differences in Total
Compensation


Independent variables tested (region, years at current
church, education, years in ministry, resident
membership, seminary, age, average weekly attendance)
account for 53% of the variance in total compensation (R
square of the model), so other factors that were not
measured or not measurable also can impact pastor
compensation.
With the exception of the Midwest, compensation does
not differ by region of the country, so comparisons should
at least be made to all churches in your region to
maximize sample size.
5
What’s It Worth in Total
Compensation?




Each year the pastor increases in age, gains more
experience, and adds a year at the current church. Total
impact +$393.98 (-$481.09 + $574.15 + $300.92)
Larger churches pay their pastors more. For every 100
attendees pastors compensation is $3832 higher.
(Growth in resident membership also has a slight
additional impact: $302 for every 100 members)
Compensation is higher at each level of education. A
difference of $3485.70 is seen with each of the following:
bachelors degree, masters degree, doctorate degree.
Seminary graduates have a separate bump of $4591.07
in total compensation.
6
Percent of one week change in vacation for
location, attendance, education, & experience
Among full-time senior pastors
Located in South
-32%
Seminary graduate
14%
Each level of education
12%
Each year at current church
4%
Each additional year in the ministry
2%
Each year of age
-40%
-1%
-30%
-20%
-10%
Results of regression analysis. Dependent variable: Number of weeks of vacation
0%
10%
20%
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How to View Differences in Total
Vacation



Independent variables tested (region, years at current
church, education, years in ministry, resident
membership, seminary, age, average weekly attendance)
account for 31% of the variance in weeks of vacation (R
square of the model), so other factors that were not
measured or not measurable also can impact pastor
vacation time.
The model begins with a constant of 2.2 weeks of
vacation; the impact of each independent variable moves
this up or down.
Churches in the South are currently provide the least
vacation to pastors. 32% of a week less means they
barely get two weeks of vacation total.
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What’s It Worth in Vacation Time?




Each year the pastor increases in age, gains more
experience, and adds a year at the current church. Total
vacation impact +5% (-1% + 2% + 4%) meaning it takes
almost 3 years to add a day of vacation.
Larger churches give their pastors more vacation. For
every 150 attendees pastors get about 1 day more
vacation.
Vacation is higher at each level of education. A
difference of 12% (almost a day) is seen with each of the
following: bachelors degree, masters degree, doctorate
degree.
Seminary graduates have a separate bump of one day
of vacation.
What are Attendance,
Experience, Education,
and Location Worth?
SBC Compensation Study 2010:
Analysis of full-time senior pastor
compensation and vacation