Congregations Improving Compensation for Staff The number of congregations that pay their professional staff at or above the minimum level recommended by the UUA has increased significantly in the past three years, a January survey shows. Rev. Ralph Mero, the UUA's church staff finances director, says 60 percent of congregations pay at least minimum levels, compared to 44 percent in 1997. "This shows a clear effort by congregations to increase salaries to the recommended minimums," he says. UUA-recommended pay figures are also being bumped up for the first time since 1997, factoring in economic changes, including the Consumer Price Index since 1997. The new pay scale, replacing 1997 figures, is on the UUA website; see "Resources" below. Congregations are encouraged to adopt or work toward the new scale in their next budget cycle. The new ranges (in thousands) are:
Figures include salary and clergy housing allowances, but not insurance or retirement contributions. Prorate pay for part-timers. The recommendations were developed by lay leaders on the Compensation, Benefits, and Pension Committee. The Idaho Falls (ID) UU Fellowship (55 members), realized several years ago that it wasn't being fair to Rev. Lee Greiner, its first permanent minister. In 1996-97 Greiner earned $27,592 in salary and housing allowance, well below the minimum recommended by the UUA for small congregations. This year her salary/housing is $33,600. Next year it will be $35,280, just below the new minimum of $37,000. Several factors prompted the increase. First, Greiner inspired the congregation. Says Louise Nelson, former chair of the committee on ministry, "She was standing up for what we believed in and we decided we owed it to her to pay her responsibly." The congregation had also grown from 37 members in 1998 to 55 this spring. Church leaders had read in UU publications about paying staff responsibly, she says, and that helped them take the first step. Leaders surveyed other small congregations, then wrote a five-year plan and presented a "faith-based budget" that assumed a gradual increase in membership and pledges, which the members supported. Says Anne Voilleque, the congregation's president, "It's still not enough, but it's what we can do." Greiner was hired when a member made a large donation to help the lay-led group obtain professional leadership. She notes the congregation had often started its budget discussions with talk about how to conserve that money––make it last longer. "This year the starting point of the conversation was that we need to be a fair compensation congregation" she says. "From there, pledges were up about 20 percent. It is striking to me that once the congregation was clear on what it wanted to do, everything flowed." UUA district offices have compensation consultants to help congregations find ways to pay staff fairly. The new compensation chart for professional staff, on the UUA website at http://www.uua.org/ministry/ocsf/ grid.html, went into effect July 1, 2000. A compensation report will be mailed to all congregations in August or September.
August 2000 Index · Money Resources · Contact the Editor
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