Eric Reiber serves as a College Minister at Penn State University and Ben Neiser started a college ministry at Brigham Young University and then transitioned to a church plant near the campus. Each responded with their thoughts as ones who have raised their salaries. These were their first thought responses to my previous blog and are re-posted with their permission.
Eric Reiber:
As someone who has raised his salary for years, it has confused me when conventions are reluctant to allow this. A couple things come to mind:
1. Campus Minister to Campus Missionary mindset. We are not here for the 1,000 or so Christian students but the 45,000 on campus.
2. There is a lack of awareness that support self funded guys have been in our SBC ranks for years! When they see the stats, ours are included, but most assume and may not be corrected, that we are salaried.
3. In the SBC world, the North American Mission Board (NAMB) actually has put us in great position to fundraise. They have a platform and cover the overhead to make it possible that our donating partners give 100% of what is donated to the specific ministry. This is a part of the Cooperative Program giving.
4. God will provide for those he called to a place. Much of it is fear, fear of losing control, fear of coming off as a beggar, fear of letting God do more than our infrastructure can handle until we catch up.
5. It may actually help relations with the state conventions. As the worry of being cut for funding, or on the other side, taking away tough decisions to cut funding, allows for a space for good faith partnership to occur. It will probably look different than what is currently in place. College Ministers are becoming a bit more autonomous as they have a slew of stakeholders in their ministry now, but trust and good contractual agreements can cover that gap.
Ben Neiser:
It is unfortunate to say but the most substantial work I have EVER done as a Southern Baptist happened when I was not held accountable by a Southern Baptist entity, ie. State Convention, NAMB, etc.
It happened when I was held accountable by local SBC churches and SBC individual partners. I took seriously consistent reporting to my partners. I was held accountable by them. The local church that I was a member of, housed my finances that I raised. So, they knew what my salary was and helped me set it. I was 1099, not W-2
Whatever the setup is, financial partrners need to be confident that their gift is actually going to the individual they are supporting. If an entity eliminates that position, then those funds need to roll into the operational budget of that campus ministry. If an entity wants to provide oversight and accountability, then THEY ALSO NEED TO BE TRANSPARENT.
In conclusion, set the bar high for ministers. Provide clear training of how to raise funds and provide consistent and clear reporting. Let the supporting local SBC churches and individuals hold a local minister accountable in their way. Allow the entities to provide training and encouragement - not oversight and control.
Arliss Dickerson writes college ministry books that some read and find helpful, if you might be one of those, go to Amazon.com/dp/B0BZ6Q7HSV and you can start there.
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