… that the average salary for a first-time pastor in a rural/small town congregation is $26,000 a year? And that the average debt load for these pastors is $30,000?
Compare this salary to other graduate school professionals: a new lawyer makes an average of $55,000 a year ($80,000 in private practice); a new doctor: $137,000; a new financial analyst: $62,000.*
You can help lower seminarians’ debt so they can accept calls to congregations that offer modest salaries. Find out how.
*From the Occupational Outlook Handbook 2006-07 edition.