A matter of simple justice

A matter of simple justice: remuneration for pastor's wives

The case for paying pastors' wives involved in ministry

Brian D. Jones, Ph.D., is pastor of Berkley Springs and Charles Town Seventh-day Adventist churches in West Virginia.

Happy is the church that has a pastoral couple who are partners in ministry, blending their energies and gifts in God's work. This arrangement brings balance and enrichment to pastoral service and a corresponding sense of stability and com fort to the church. Churches so benefited have increased confidence in the spiritual care they receive.

"The work of God demands most ear nest labor, and the Lord would have ministers and their wives closely united in this work. The husband and wife can so blend in labor that the wife shall be the complement of the husband. . . . They should be as free as possible to attend campmeetings and other general gatherings. And the wife may continually be a great help to her husband in visiting and other personal labor." 1

"When it is possible, let the minister and his wife go forth together. The wife can often labor by the side of her husband, accomplishing a noble work. She can visit the homes of the people and help the women in these families in a way that her husband cannot."2

Some neglected counsel

Not all spouses of pastors feel called to pastoral and evangelistic ministry. Some may feel called to minister as teachers, a strong complement to the pastor's work, especially if the teacher serves in a church school. Other spouses may be counselors, medical workers, business people, or office secretaries, to name a few. But I believe that our neglect of certain portions of inspired counsel may explain why our denomination, at least in North America, has relatively few couples who jointly share ministry as a vocation.

That neglected counsel calls for conferences to pay the wives who vocationally share the burdens of ministry with their husbands. Some conferences do this; in addition, major media ministries such as Amazing Facts, Breath of Life, It Is Written, Quiet Hour, and The Voice of Prophecy pay wives who work full time with their husbands in evangelism. This is a matter of simple equity and justice. Those conferences and ministries that pay pastoral partners devoted to ministry are to be commended. But what about the conferences that do not follow this plan? Indirectly they may be allowing undue financial burdens to rest upon pastoral couples who serve the church full time, while living on only one salary.

An uninspired objection

Most conference administrators would like to pay wives who substantially help their husbands in ministry, but a predictable objection is, "We can't afford to do it." On the same basis church members with limited resources might plead, "We can't afford to tithe." "We can't afford to send our children to church school." Most of us would contend that such objections indicate a weak faith or a limited grasp of Divine instruction. It is regrettable when pragmatic considerations govern our decision to obey or disobey such authoritative counsel. In some instances wives who strongly desire to work in ministry with their husbands are obliged to take a secular job to help pay for decent housing, church-school education for their children, and a reliable car that meets the high mileage demands of a busy pastorate. But in many other instances, pastoral wives work unsalaried with their husbands, to the detriment of family finances and the quality of life.

An inspired counter-objection

Ellen White objected to this inequitable order. In reference to wives who were giving as much of their time and talent to ministry as their husbands, she wrote, "These women give their whole time, and are told that they receive nothing for their labors because their husbands receive the wages. I tell them to go forward and all such decisions shall be reversed. The Word says, 'The laborer is worthy of his hire.' When any such decision is made, I will in the name of the Lord, protest. ... I know that the faithful women should be paid wages proportionate to the pay received by ministers. They carry the burden of souls, and should not be treated unjustly."3

Nor should pastoral couples have to apply to be appropriately remunerated for their joint ministry. "The method of paying men-laborers and not paying their wives who share their labors with them is a plan not according to the Lord's order, and, if carried out in our conferences, is liable to discourage our sisters from qualifying themselves for the work they should engage in. God is a God of justice, and if the ministers receive a salary for their work, their wives who devote themselves just as disinterestedly [i.e., unselfishly] to the work, should be paid in addition to the wages their husbands receive, even though they may not ask for this.''4

Practical benefits

I am convinced that the spiritual health of many of our churches would be improved, the morale of congregations elevated, and the missionary activity of families augmented if we would provide more of our churches with pastoral couples who work together in ministry. Increased tithe resulting from such an arrangement would resolve the affordability factor. Well-cared-for congregations have no difficulty providing for the temporal needs of their ministers. Further, it brings closeness into a pastoral family if both husband and wife can work and plan together in the same calling. This can eliminate the domestic disarray and incohesiveness that sometimes results from spouses' demanding dual careers.

How can a change be implemented?

Those who are in the relevant decision-making leadership roles need courage to adopt the counsel to pay pastoral couples an equitable salary. It will be necessary to establish appropriate criteria for eligibility. A minimum average number of weekly service-hours could be stipulated, and varieties of service specified, including such activities as sermon preparation and preaching, visitation, Bible studies, and specialized ministries such as neighborhood Bible clubs, prison ministries, and women's prayer fellowships. The pastor's ministering spouse may not preach and conduct evangelistic services, but public speaking, which is the most conspicuous part of a pastor's work, does not constitute the whole of ministry. Personal visitation and Bible studies with individuals or small groups are no less legitimate forms of ministry than public preaching, and sometimes this quieter, less lauded work, is more fruitful in winning souls. Pastors' spouses who are effective in personal work are engaged in a pastoral ministry that demands no less time, skill, tact, or spiritual-giftedness than does preaching, writing, and conducting board meetings.

It seems appropriate for the General Conference or for each conference to appoint committees consisting of a suitable mix of laypersons, ministers, and church administrators to formulate eligibility criteria for remuneration to wives who effectively labor with their husbands in ministry.5 When the committee's recommendations are re viewed and duly adopted in council, then they ought to be publicized in church papers and heartily put into effect without delay. No damage but only great benefit will come to the church for adopting God's stated counsel in this matter. Compliance with it, even though belated, will add to the church's credibility and to the vocational fulfillment and effectiveness of its pastoral workers.

1. Ellen G. White, Pastoral Ministry (Silver Spring, Md.: Ministerial Association, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, 1995), 76; Manuscript Releases, 6:43.

2. ————, Evangelism (Hagerstown, Md.: Review and Herald Pub. Assn., 1946), 491.

3. ————, Manuscript Releases, 5:29.

4. Evangelism, 492 (emphasis supplied).

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5. For guidelines on this subject, see Ellen G. White, Evangelism, 491-493; Manuscript Releases, 5:323-327; Testimonies for the Church (Nampa, Idaho: Pacific Press® Pub. Assn., 1902), 7:207-209.


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Brian D. Jones, Ph.D., is pastor of Berkley Springs and Charles Town Seventh-day Adventist churches in West Virginia.

August 1998

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