Online Archives

NEWS

by Erik Alsgaard
UMConnection Staff

A comprehensive survey of clergy in the Baltimore-Washington Conference has yielded some surprises, exposed some myths and revealed a significant gap in salaries between clergymen and clergywomen, according to leaders who produced the survey.

Planned four years ago by the conference's Commission on the Status and Role of Women (COSROW), the survey is an important resource, not only for the annual conference, but for the whole church, said Bishop John R. Schol.

'The survey's results help us see that sexism hinders the ability of women to be effective discipling pastors,' the bishop said. 'We need to insure that barriers women face are eliminated and that they have the necessary support to excel in leading congregations.'

Chattin

The survey, approved by the 2002 annual conference and conducted in the summer of 2003, was headed by a task force, led by the Rev. Terri Rae 'T.R.' Chattin, pastor of Reisterstown UMC. Both COSROW and the conference's Board of Ordained Ministry sponsored the survey.

A total of 362 clergy, or 63 percent of clergy in the Baltimore-Washington Conference, responded. The respondents reflected the gender and ethnicity of the conference as a whole, the report states: 58 percent were male, 42 percent female; 76 percent White/Caucasian, 18 percent African American, three percent Asian American or Pacific Islander, and one percent American Indian. Two percent also identified themselves as Hispanic.

'Instead of operating on assumptions, this survey gives us some concrete data,' said Chattin. 'There's some good news in here, and there are some concerns.'

The good news: the survey shows that the retention rate between male and female clergy is practically the same.

'We had assumed that clergywomen left the ministry at a higher rate than men,' said Chattin, 'but the good news is that this is not so.'

The survey reports that the attrition rates are the same for both men and women, hovering around two percent annually.

'The fact is, most respondents didn't think that often about leaving the ministry,' said Chattin, noting that only 11 percent of the respondents thought of leaving 'very often' or even 'fairly often.'

Using analysis provided by Westat, an independent research agency, and Virginia Lapham, a member of Dumbarton UMC in Washington, the survey shows that the younger the age a person first considered ministry, the less likely they are to consider leaving. The older the current age of the respondent, the more likely the respondent ever considered leaving.

Another area of good news, Chattin said, was in clergy moves. 'Most respondents felt that they were moved appropriately,' she said.

The survey asked clergy to provide basic information about each of their appointments and the reason they left that appointment. The most frequent response - 44 percent - was 'Bishop moved me with consent.' African American/Black clergymen gave this response 65 percent of the time. However, only 11 percent of African American/Black clergywomen agreed to the statement. White/Caucasian male and female clergy gave this response 49 and 41 percent, respectively.

The second most frequent response was 'My ministry was complete; time to move.' Half of the White/ Caucasian male clergy gave this response, the survey said, compared to 36 percent of White/Caucasian female clergy; 26 percent of African American/Black male clergy and 19 percent of African American/Black female clergy.

Out of the 686 'pastor moves' the survey encompassed over the past 40 years, seven percent of the respondents said the move was made by the bishop 'without consent.'

One of the concerns the survey shows is that nearly seven out of 10 clergywomen who responded earned less than $50,000 per year, while less than half of the clergymen earned below that amount.

'There are some salary differentials between men and women,' said Chattin, adding that COSROW expects to address this concern at many levels in the coming months.

As incomes grow, the gap widens. One out of three clergymen earned more than $50,000 per year, while only 21 percent of clergywomen reported the same. For incomes more than $70,000, 18 percent of clergymen fell into this category, and only six percent of clergywomen.

One of the variables tested in the survey and found not to be associated with the income differential is the number of years a pastor serves in a local church. No matter how long a pastor has served a local church, a woman generally earns less than a man.

At annual conference this May, the survey will be part of the Leadership Development report. Legislation will be developed and brought to conference to receive the report and assign various boards and agencies the task of reporting back in 2006 on their plans of action on the report's recommendations.

Among those recommendations is for the bishop and Cabinet, along with local churches, to address the fact that overall compensation for clergy is low by today's professional standards. Clergy salary differentials, housing preferences and clergy support are other areas to be addressed.