wfn.org | GAC Raises Maximum Executive Director Salary Offer to $145,000

[PCUSA.NEWS@pcusa.org]

25-February-1998 
98069 
 
    GAC Raises Maximum Executive Director 
    Salary Offer to $145,000 
 
    by Jerry L. Van Marter 
 
LOUISVILLE, Ky.-Saying it needs to be able to offer a higher salary in 
order to attract the best candidates, the Executive Director Search 
Committee has sought and received permission from the General Assembly 
Council (GAC) to offer as much as $145,000 (excluding benefits) to whoever 
is hired as the next GAC executive director. 
 
    Lynda Ardan of Clarks Summit, Pa., GAC vice chair and chair of the 
search committee, told the Council at its Feb. 14 meeting here that the 
search committee will develop its "long list" of candidates by the end of 
February and cull it to a "short list" of finalists by the end of March. 
She said the committee still intends to have a candidate to present for 
election by the GAC and confirmation by the 210th General Assembly this 
June in Charlotte, N.C. 
 
    "Our concern, however, is that our salary offer may not be high enough 
to attract the very best person to the job," Ardan said.  The Council 
approved the salary hike by a secret ballot vote of 46-30 after spirited 
debate.  The minimum salary approved for the position as part of the motion 
is now $98,600. 
 
    The current maximum salary for General Assembly entities is $93,900. 
The churchwide median salary for pastors serving congregations is just over 
$36,000.  Other top denominational officials earn far less than the 
$145,000 the search committee is now authorized to offer. 
 
    The Rev. James D. Brown, the former executive director who was denied a 
second term in 1996, was earning just over $87,000 at the time of his 
departure.  Stated clerk the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, who was elected to 
that post in July 1996, is currently making $94,000.  The highest listed 
salary in General Assembly records belongs to John Detterick, president of 
the Board of Pensions, at just over $130,000. 
 
    Debate of the measure in the Council centered around the church's 
compensation guidelines and policies versus the need to consider secular 
pay scales. 
 
    Dora Lodwick of Littleton, Colo., chair of the Advisory Committee on 
Social Witness Policy, noted that current denominational compensation 
guidelines call for the highest paid person in any given church entity to 
make no more than four times the lowest paid person in that entity.  "I'm 
concerned for getting the right skills, but how are we going to address our 
own compensation guidelines on this?" 
 
    Atlanta Brown of Wilmington, Del., said, "We are the church, but we 
also have to deal with the corporate sector when we're hiring."  The Rev. 
Jeff Bridgeman of Solvang, Calif., agreed.  "The mentality in the church is 
to keep salaries down, but we need to step into the 21st century - I 
support this." 
 
    Others wondered about how to interpret the salary hike to the rest of 
the church.  "I can't vote for this," said the Rev. Warren Barnes of 
Sacramento, Calif.  "People in the pew just won't buy it." 
 
    The Rev. Barbara Renton, executive presbyter of Susquehanna Valley 
Presbytery, agreed.  "I deal with compensation issues all the time, as well 
as the collection of per capita and mission funds.  Sixty-eight percent of 
our congregations are 200 members or less and the median salary is $36,000. 
We have not addressed justice in compensation across the church," she 
continued, "and this is the wrong place to start - to pull the top away 
from the bottom." 
 
    Ardan agreed that the salary raise issue is controversial, but insisted 
that "our number one priority is still a sense of call to this position and 
commitment to the church."  She said the salary proposal is being brought 
now to the Council "to separate the money issues from these more important 
considerations." 
 
    The Rev. Roberto Delgado asked whether any potential candidates had 
withdrawn because of the previous salary being offered.  Ardan replied, 
"No, but we feel like we need the flexibility when we get down to 
negotiating with particular candidates." 
 
    Peter Pizor, a college professor from Cody, Wyo., argued that a higher 
salary is a good long-term investment.  "If we get the right person," he 
said, "even at the higher salary we will save in the long run." 
 
    Carole Rummell of Mineral Ridge, Ohio, agreed, adding, "More and more 
entities are being forced to market value - I believe we need to if we're 
going to get the very, very best person." 
 
    The Rev. Aurelio Garcˇa of Hato Rey, Puerto Rico, was unconvinced. 
Noting that the average salary in all of Puerto Rico is $25,000, Garcˇa 
said, "This [executive director] position is important but not 
all-important - we're not electing the pope.  I want someone who loves this 
church so much that they are willing to work for just $90,000." 

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