Clergy

[gollysailor]

If all clergymen were to become unpaid, do you think the vocation would be less attractive?

[sandyRoe]

Man can not live on bread alone. But at the same time if they had no stipend how would they survive?

[Celtigra3]

Didn't ascetics in the olden days get by with begging?

[Ankou]

yer average vicar gets about 30k a year. given that it is generally a 365/24/7 job (and twice on sundays......badaboom tish) i don't really think the money is the appeal.

[gollysailor]

What about the colourful uniforms?

[Ankou]

they hide the stockings and stilleto's.

[naomi24]

Matthew 6:26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither
do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly
Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

Doesn't quite seem to work like that these days.

Actually, one or two friends of mine are priests, and it's not a bad job. Free accommodation, some utilities paid for, and if they're smart they get churchwardens and lay people to help out with the work.

[Ankou]

average for a roman catholic priest is even less than for a vicar at around £10k per year salary.

at least they get board, free bread and wine, so its a bit like an all inclusive arrangement.

[jno]

very few vocations become more appealing if they're unpaid. Buddhist monks still beg, but they don't have to offer sermons every week or have other pastoral duties.

[Old_Geezer]

I'm unsure about an occupation that seems to have things going for it, but doesn't seem to hand over enough of the reddies to make the future seem more secure. It's a job that would require a lot more faith in God providing in the future than I could muster.

[jake-the-peg]

A number are.

Our local one isn't paid they are NSMs Non Stipendary Ministers

12 years ago there were 2000 of them compared to 9000 paid

http://trushare.com/46MAR99/mr99nsms.htm

don't know about now

[wildwood]

there are certain benefits which are not talked about.

[birdie1971]

Ankou - “... average vicar gets about 30k a year. given that it is generally a 365/24/7...”

That's not a bad salary when, as Naomi pointed out, they throw your accommodation in for free. Given that a person's mortgage is typically their single largest expense, a free house is quite something. Also, they're hardly an emergency service. They're not on call 24/7 as you say.

As jobs go, it's pretty easy and straightforward. The only real 'difficult' aspect of the job is dealing with the emotional impact of people's lives. If you can do that and shrug it off, the job's a piece of the proverbial.

[Ankou]

maybe, but i wouldn't do it, and i really do think they are on constant call and their door is always meant to be open.

[naomi24]

Except on their days off and when they're on holiday.

[Ankou]

yeah, but even then they have to keep the divine office.

[birdie1971]

I wouldn't do it either Ankou. Only because I couldn't keep a straight face when telling someone an obviously made up fairy tale which they 'need' to believe is true.

[goodlife]

When Jesus said that ‘the workers are worthy of their wages,’ he was not talking about salaries for these teachers of this good news. (Luke 10:7) He said that they would receive their necessities. To such ones he also said: “You received free, give free.” (Matthew 10:8) What will be their reward? Ah, exactly what Jesus, the greatest man who ever lived, promised—eternal life in a cleansed, paradise earth. Salaries in the millions of millions cannot equal that!

[naomi24]

Ah, so God provides for his teachers. Shame he consistently forgets to provide for the starving millions in Africa.

[goodlife]

You are so loveing, for a athiest

[Old_Geezer]

He probably can't keep up with so many with a desire to live in a place where it can clearly can not support them. To do so would spoil the need for it to remain in the background unnoticed. Like a question left for the reader, it is down to the human race to solve that one.