Quote:
Originally Posted by CC1
I remember way back in Bible College in the late 70's I was in a class where they talked about the importance of a pastor knowing when to retire. The sad truth at that time and even much later is that many Pentecostal churches were not funding any kind of retirement for their pastor and many pastors opted out of paying into Social Security because they could.
This meant for many pastors either no income or a significant drop in income if they retired. Sometimes churches who had not funded any kind of retirement for their pastor would find arrangements negotiated between his successor and him to give a portion of the tithes to the retired pastor for some period of time. Of course many smaller churches could not bear this burden as they could hardly pay the current pastor.
Pentecost has really changed as it has grown through the years. From preachers barely getting by to ones who now make triple digit incomes and use it to invest in real estate, income properties, etc.
Probably the strangest investment I heard about was when about 20 years ago a UPC pastor friend of mine told me of a conversation he had with a neighboring pastor who was so conservative he didn't even wear a watch. That pastor was sharing his investment portfolio with my pastor friend and mentioned that he had just invested in a movie video rental vending machine at a local factory! Of course none of his church members knew about it.
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I am not sure when you define it changing but being in the UPC from the early 80's to about 90 I remember ALL pastors (who had churches of over 100) driving Lincolns. It is what
Pentecostal Pastors Drove! Now at the same time, those who pastored
smaller churches lived like paupers. They weren't part of the official royalty and you could even tell how uncomfortable they were when asked to sit behind the pulpit area when visiting the larger churches.
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