Last spring a group of us, both clergy and laity, met via Zoom with Bishop Doug Fisher, Canon Rich Simpson, and Susan Olbon, along with the Rev. Heather Blais of St. James and St. Andrews Church in Greenfield. We were brought together and charged with the task of reviewing the clergy compensation practices for our diocese and making recommendations for a comprehensive new policy.

We were thanked energetically for agreeing to participate, asked why each of us accepted the invitation to tackle this issue, and offered help in any way they could provide going forward. And then, one by one, they clicked the red Leave Meeting button and slipped away. And there we were-- all alone – some colleagues, some acquaintances, and some total strangers – a bit stunned with the challenge set before us.

On the one hand, amazingly, we were given free rein to examine how clergy compensation was to be determined and to create a process that would work for our parishes, not influenced or prejudiced in any way. On the other hand, we were given no specific guidelines or timelines. We were on our own! It was like being presented with a pile of bones and being asked to assemble a creature.

We looked around at one another and began, realizing that the first thing we had to do was to meet in person, which we did, at All Saints in South Hadley through the hospitality of the Rev. Tanya Wallace. One member was about to go on sabbatical, while another was about to return. One awaited surgery, and then of course summer was about to intervene. Nevertheless, we persevered. We brainstormed all the aspects of the issue and quickly the Rev. Michael Tuck emerged as our guide.

The two next steps were these:

• Gather all clergy compensation information from the Diocese and any available data from other Provinces in New England

• Interview members of the clergy and wardens in our diocese – clergy members of the group interviewing other clergy and laity members interviewing wardens.

During the interviews we were not surprised to be reminded of how enormously complex this issue is and how many other dioceses were confronting the same questions and, actually, were hoping we would share with them our findings and wisdom. There is really no other profession like that of a member of the clergy – a person called by God to fit within the practicalities and culture of a particular parish.

What was surprising was how the clergy and laity diverged in what they shared. The clergy, during their conversations, quickly moved from discussing financial matters to the issue of vestry and parish support of their ministry. In the focus group involving wardens, the conversation centered primarily around the financial difficulties many parishes were facing and the worry that those situations inspired. It was clear how heavily the fiduciary responsibilities weighed on the vestry members we interviewed. Other aspects of clergy support did not come up in our conversation. Somehow there did not appear to be a thread connecting how salary was handled and how clergy and laity collaborated within the framework of our faith.

What the committee quickly realized was that we had an enormous opportunity, truly a golden opportunity, to affect the way parishes approach clergy compensation. It was not only about how clergy was determined. It was about how our Christian mission guided the process, how we related to one another. We became determined not to shy away from financial complexity, and we would work to address those complexities head on. We would also be guided by the core Christian tenet:

Our neighbor is our clergy. Vestry, parishioners, and staff are our neighbors. How we address the issue of financial compensation and how we support our common ministry go hand in glove. The policy we create will be guided by this core belief.

What follows is the current draft of our Statement of Purpose:

Our hope in constructing new clergy compensation recommendations and policy is to create a system where all aspects of clergy and lay compensation are rooted in the essential Christian value of love of neighbor. How might a love that calls us to do what is in the best interest of our neighbors lead us in our discussions about compensation when we begin to see clergy, staff, vestries, parish members, neighboring parishes in the diocese, bishop’s office, fellow parishes, and ecumenical partners in the diocese as neighbors in Christ, rather than as individual entities in competition with one another? What might a system for compensation that views everyone involved primarily as neighbors look like?

As we have examined our current compensation system, we have found that there is little to no consistency throughout the diocese. We have seen parishes of similar size differ in salary as much as $50,000. We see that the cost of healthcare is paid for by the parish in some places, while in other places it is covered by a spouse or Medicare. This creates a situation where the cost of having clergy can vary from parish to parish by tens of thousands of dollars each year. We have heard in focus groups how the current system often unintentionally creates an “us against them” situation, often, but not always, leading to vestry, clergy, parishes, and the diocese being in competition with one another when it comes to discussions about compensation. We have also heard how the current system too easily allows us all to be driven by financial fears, anxiety, competitiveness, a search for prestige, and biases both conscious and subconscious, rather than love. Because of what we have found, our task force invites everyone in our diocese into a deeper, more creative contemplation with us over this vital question: How can our compensation policy be better rooted in justice for everyone involved and in love of neighbor, where everyone and every institution is seen as a neighbor?

We believe that the Christian witness, particularly through the example of Jesus’s incarnation, tells us that love of neighbor must be wholistic and practical – concerned with both the material and spiritual. Throughout our sacred Scriptures, we also see that a concept of love must be intertwined with a concept of justice. In the Hebrew scriptures, God calls on the people to care for one another with justice, setting laws in place to assure that everyone has enough and creating times of Jubilee when the imbalances that inevitably grow in communities over time are made right again. The prophets continually call out people who have become focused on self rather than neighbor and Jesus himself tells us that love of God and neighbor is our highest calling.

We recognize the move from where we are into a new system rooted in justice and love of neighbor will have many practical challenges. We know that compensation discussions have many facets including salary, housing, health care, church size, parish financial health, complexity of the particular parish’s outreach and mission, location, clergy experience, age, gender, and sexual orientation, just to name a few. We do not suggest that we will be able to immediately create a perfect system with our work. Instead we hope to create a culture and a system that continually moves toward this vision of compensation rooted in love of neighbor year after year.

To begin with, our task force is looking at ways to adjust how we pay for healthcare across the diocese. Is there a way to levelize that cost which will both insure all of our clergy and lay professionals are properly covered without creating a situation where a potential new employee might have a $20,000 advantage or a $20,000 disadvantage that depends only on their ability or inability to be covered by a spouse or Medicare?

The task force’s next focus will be on creating a just base pay for clergy, a way to normalize annual cost of living increases, and a system where a full review and adjustment of compensation for a clergyperson mediated by the bishop’s staff can happen not only when a priest begins a new ministry, but also at regular intervals during that priest’s tenure.

It is our hope then to convey our findings in a document available to all that is practical, just, inspiring, and guided by loving hearts.

Submitted by Members of the Clergy Compensation Committee:

Ms. Susan Todd, Senior Warden, St. John's, Ashfield

The Rev. Erik Karas, Rector, Christ/Trinity Church, Sheffield

The Rev. Megan McDermott, Associate Rector, Grace Church Amherst

The Rev. Michael Tuck, PIC, St. Helena's Church & Rector, Trinity Church, Lenox