Baptist and Reflector
FRANKLIN — Tennessee Baptist Convention churches that have not yet completed the 2024 Church Compensation Study are encouraged to do so by the June 30 deadline.
The survey is a joint effort of GuideStone Financial Resources, Lifeway Research and Baptist state conventions, including the TBC.
Results of the survey, which is conducted every two years, will be available in early fall, in time for many churches considering their 2025 budgets.
Churches of all sizes can utilize the survey’s results to determine comparable wages and benefits. The survey at GuideStone.org/CompensationSurvey takes about 10 minutes to complete.
As of May 31, 240 TBC churches had responded to the survey, reporting 619 total positions, according to Roger “Sing” Oldham, pastor engagement specialist for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board.
The responses place the TBC first among reporting state conventions, Oldham noted.
Oldham expressed his appreciation for the response thus far while encouraging churches that have not yet sent in the surveys to do so by June 30.
Making sure that the majority of our churches representing every association are included contributes to a more robust, and therefore more helpful, report, he noted.
“We need every church — smaller churches, legacy churches, inner-city churches, county-seat churches, ethnic-language churches, large churches, churches at the crossroads — to provide compensation information.
“The more complete the information, the more it helps pastors and other staff members when personnel and search committees are considering compensation packages for their staff,” Oldham said.
Roc Collins, director of strategic objectives for the TBMB, thanked TBC churches for their response thus far in a video on the TBMB Facebook page.
He reminded Tennessee churches that by completing the survey, they are giving a gift to other ministers across the state. “I would love to see every Tennessee clergy participate in completing this survey. Your data impacts all churches statewide regardless of size. … Help us finish strong.” B&R


