74% of Churches Expect to Give Raises Next Year

Posted on 12/11/2012 by Stephanie Jackson in the Learnings Blog

This is the second post highlighting select findings from the recent 2012 Leadership Network Economic Outlook Survey which was conducted by Warren Bird, Ph.D., our research director. You can read the first post in the series here.

Many church staff can expect a modest increase in their pay next year. 74% of all churches surveyed will be giving staff at least a 1% pay increase in the next budget cycle, with 29% of churches planning to give a 3% pay increase. The majority of churches fall into one of two clusters: either those projecting a 2-3% raise or those projecting no raise at all. Planned pay cuts are rare; less than 3% of churches expect to decrease salaries in 2013.

The larger the church, the more likely its staff will receive a more significant increase in pay.

In addition to pay increases, more than half of churches surveyed (62%) expect to add new staff members in the coming year, and most will be hiring between 1 and 4 new team members. As with pay increases, the larger the church, the more likely to be adding staff. Staff cuts are also rare; only 8% of churches plan to reduce staff by 1 to 4 members in 2013.

These findings are just a few of the insights from the 2012 Leadership Network Economic Outlook Survey. Next week, we will be posting additional highlights from the survey, with a full, illustrated and free report to follow in early 2013.

Related reports are also available: For additional insight into the salary and staffing landscape of large churches, download the 2012 Large Church Salary Report Research Trends from Leadership Network, by Warren Bird, an insider’s look at the salary trends from 209 “game changer” churches across North America. Most are influential, many on a national scale. The vast majority are also innovation leaders in one or more areas of their ministry.

If you are interested in finding out how your church compares to others like yours (in size, budget and number of staff), Leadership Network is offering a customized salary analysis for churches with an average weekend worship attendance of 1,000 - 50,000. Click here for more information.