Forrest Valkai is a frequent guest on shows produced by The Line and the Atheist Community of Austin. Valkai is a biologist, and when it comes to explaining complex science to mere mortals, he does an outstanding job. However, when it comes to Christianity, Valkai often makes claims he can’t support, such as claiming that preachers are in the ministry for the money. I have yet to see a fellow host correct Valkai’s false assertion, so I assume they have similar sentiments.
Are preachers really in the ministry for the money? I am sure some are, but most preachers believe God has called them to preach, and while they certainly need money to provide for their needs, making money is not their first priority. Remove megachurch pastors from the mix, and most preachers pastor congregations of 60-90 people and are bi-vocational. Preachers work outside of the churches they pastor because the congregations don’t pay them enough for them to make ends meet.
Most of the preachers I knew either struggled to make ends meet, worked part-time outside of the church, or were on social security or government assistance. I was in the ministry for twenty-five years, pastoring rural/small town churches that ranged in attendance from 50 to over 200. I was a full-time pastor for every church I pastored, but not one of them paid me a living wage, with benefits. This forced me to work outside of the church. Later in my ministerial career, Polly went back to work, easing the financial pressures we had been under for years.
Did I know any money-grubbing preachers? Of course, I did. I knew a few lazy-ass preachers who were in the ministry for the money. When looking for a new church to pastor, how much the congregation paid was their first priority. Money never mattered to me. I preached and ministered to people whether they paid me or not, and that included preaching revival meetings that cost me more in expenses than the church paid me. I never complained, though, to be honest, there were times I should have been clearer with congregations regarding my financial needs. I quickly learned that if I didn’t say anything, no raises would be forthcoming. In retrospect, I should have appointed a group of members who were responsible for setting my salary and benefits. Sadly, I was always hesitant to talk about money, and because I never mentioned it, church members thought everything was fine.
Granted, some of the churches I pastored couldn’t pay me a decent salary, with benefits. That never stopped me from being their pastor, but there were times when I thought congregations were taking advantage of me. I remember one church in West Virginia that wanted me to be their pastor. They were sitting on thousands of dollars, yet when I asked them to pay my moving expenses, the church board said they could only pay half. I told them that the church would have to pay all of my moving expenses. They eventually agreed, but demanded that I only preach from the King James Bible. A King James-only family was outraged by my preaching from the English Standard Version (ESV). I declined, knowing that this KJV-only family would be trouble for me, and since the board wouldn’t stand up to them, I declined to be their pastor. They hired a retired pastor, instead; a man who wouldn’t rock the boat and would be happy with the meager salary the church paid.
Megachurch pastors and TV preachers deserve every bit of the criticism they receive. They have turned Christianity into a circus, a clown show. Some preachers makes millions of dollars from not only preaching, but from book and media sales. They also rake in loads of money holding conferences and revival meetings. But, these men and women do not represent most preachers, and atheists such as Forrest Valkai would do well to remember this. (And I know how much Valkai hates being painted with a broad brush.) By all means condemn and criticize their doctrine, but unless there’s evidence to the contrary, we should assume that most pastors are decent, hardworking clerics. I know I was, as were many of my colleagues in the ministry. I was dead wrong about what I believed and preached, but my motivations were pure. I sincerely wanted to help other people, and that desire remains to this day.
Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
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