Southern Baptist senior pastors saw a pay cut over past 2 years: study

Most senior Southern Baptist pastors have seen their pay packages and compensation decrease over the past two years, even as employer-sponsored healthcare availability for these leaders varies widely by church size, a new study finds. 

Lifeway Research released its 2026 Southern Baptist Church Compensation Study on Tuesday. The report — a joint effort by Lifeway, Baptist state conventions and GuideStone Financial Resources — collected responses from 3,888 full-time senior pastors, staff ministers and office personnel at Southern Baptist churches.

Researchers defined the pay package of ordained ministers as including salary, housing allowance, fair rental value of church-owned housing, utilities on church-owned housing, Social Security equivalent, retirement benefits and insurance paid for by the church. For non-ordained ministers, as well as office and custodial personnel, the pay package was limited to salary, retirement benefits and insurance.

The research found that compensation for full-time Southern Baptist senior pastors declined 1.5% between 2024 and 2026, while the pay package decreased 0.4%, according to the data.

Full-time staff ministers, by contrast, saw compensation rise 4.9% during the same period, with pay packages rising 5.3%. Among full-time office personnel, compensation and pay packages increased 9.2% and 8.5%, respectively.

"Many churches are feeling the financial pressure of having a smaller number of active members than before COVID," said Lifeway Research Executive Director Scott McConnell in a statement. "Some pastors may be bearing the consequences of churches barely affording a full-time pastor. There will be increased pressure for some of these smaller church pastors to take on a second job to make ends meet."

The research also examined the prevalence of employer-sponsored health insurance for senior pastors at Southern Baptist churches. A large majority (63%) do not provide any medical coverage, while 18% pay for the pastor and his family, 11% cover the pastor and his wife, and 9% cover the pastor alone.

"When a church thoughtfully invests in the compensation and well-being of its pastor, it is investing in the long-term effectiveness of its ministry," GuideStone President and CEO Hance Dilbeck stated. "Fair and appropriate compensation can help reduce unnecessary financial pressures, strengthen a pastor's family's resilience, and provide greater freedom to focus on the ministry to which he has been called."

McConnell said that over the years, medical insurance expenses have grown faster than inflation, forcing many churches to stop providing insurance benefits.

"When it comes to paying for healthcare, many ministers are forced to walk by faith," he said.

The report found a correlation between church size and whether the senior pastor has employer-sponsored health insurance.

A plurality of Southern Baptist churches with 250 or more attendees (45%) provide health insurance for the senior pastor and his family. Thirty-three percent do not provide any medical coverage, while 13% provide health insurance for the pastor and his wife and 9% cover only the pastor.

By contrast, a majority of smaller churches do not provide any employer-sponsored healthcare to senior pastors. The overwhelming majority of churches with fewer than 50 attendees (74%) do not offer it, along with 64% of churches with 50 to 99 attendees and 54% of churches with 100 to 249 attendees. Twenty-seven percent of churches with 100 to 249 attendees provide healthcare for the pastor and his family, while just 13% of churches with 50 to 99 attendees and 9% of churches with fewer than 50 attendees do.

Meanwhile, a minority of Southern Baptist churches fully or partially cover the costs of specialized insurance for their senior pastors, including life and/or accident insurance (20%), dental insurance (20%), disability insurance (17%) and vision insurance (14%). Churches with more than 250 attendees were most likely to offer all forms of specialized insurance, with more than half (52%) fully or partially covering life and/or accident insurance.

Among large churches, 44% paid for pastors' disability insurance, 40% covered dental insurance, and 26% paid for vision insurance. Among churches with 100 to 249 attendees, the proportion paying for specialized insurance ranged from 19% for vision insurance to 27% for life and/or accident insurance, while 13 to 20% of churches with 50 to 99 attendees covered at least some type of specialized insurance. Among the smallest churches, coverage ranged from 9 to 13%.

"Not only are lay people increasingly drawn to larger churches, but so are ministers," McConnell stated. "Larger churches pay senior pastors more and have more paid staff."