Leland's Seven Stewardship Principles — Church Stewardship Program

A partnership with Leland Rubin, creator of the Seven Stewardship Principles, and Allan Bell - CPA, CMA, MBA, Nsites founder and creator

Provision · Principle 6 of 7

S6 — Provide for Your Pastors' Wellbeing

Establish that caring well for the pastor's household is a governance responsibility, document a fair and benchmarked compensation framework, review benefits, retirement and risk protection, and adopt a written rest-and-renewal policy that protects longevity in ministry.

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Seven Principles curriculum version 1.0 — author-review draft pending Leland Rubin's approval prior to publication. · Leland's Seven Stewardship Principles methodology, content, exercises and deliverables are created by Leland Rubin and remain in author-review draft pending his approval.

Official outcome

Pastoral Wellbeing and Compensation Plan

  • Documented compensation philosophy stating how the church sets and reviews pastoral pay
  • Benchmarked salary range drawn from comparable-role, comparable-size and comparable-region data sources
  • Current total compensation summary covering salary, housing allowance treatment, and any non-cash benefits, reviewed only at the aggregate policy level
  • Benefits inventory covering health coverage, retirement contribution structure, and any additional allowances, benchmarked against typical practice
  • Risk-protection review checklist covering life insurance, disability insurance, health insurance and liability coverage adequacy for the pastoral family
  • Rest-and-renewal policy covering weekly sabbath expectation, vacation allotment, sabbatical eligibility and emergency pastoral-care provisions
  • Named list of wellbeing and compensation risks with likelihood, impact and an accountable owner for each
  • Gaps register listing every open compensation, benefits, risk-protection or rest-policy gap discovered during the module
  • 90-day action plan assigning each recommended action an owner, due date, resources required, success measure, status and review date

Suggested duration: 4 weeks · about 7 hours of leadership time · Owner: Board Chair · Coach: Leland Rubin · Approval: Awaiting leadership approval

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Principle health

At risk

Baseline 45 · no follow-up yet

Principle purpose

Suggested leadership time: About 7 hours of leadership time

S6 Provide for Your Pastors' Wellbeing exists because a church that teaches stewardship to its members while quietly under-caring for the household of its own pastor is teaching a contradiction it cannot see. Leland's Seven Stewardship Principles hold that faithful management of resources begins at home, and for a congregation the pastor's household is the first household leadership has both the authority and the obligation to steward well. This module builds a fair, documented compensation framework; benefits, retirement and risk protection appropriate to a pastoral family; and a rhythm of rest and renewal that protects long-term ministry health, all while keeping the pastor's personal financial details private and putting decision-making authority in the hands of a governance body working from policy, market ranges and benchmarks rather than from anything disclosed in confidence.

By the end of this module, leadership will have produced a Pastoral Wellbeing and Compensation Plan that documents a defensible compensation philosophy and salary range, a benefits and retirement structure benchmarked against comparable roles, a risk-protection review covering life, disability, health and liability exposure for the pastoral family, and a rest-and-renewal policy covering sabbath rhythms, vacation, sabbaticals and continuing care. The plan is reviewed and approved by the appropriate governance body — a personnel or compensation committee, elder board, or equivalent — never by the pastor alone, and it is revisited on a fixed annual cycle so that care for the pastor's household becomes a standing governance discipline rather than a once-a-decade correction.

Official outcome — Pastoral Wellbeing and Compensation Plan

Leadership will have documented a compensation philosophy and salary range benchmarked against comparable roles, reviewed and adjusted benefits and retirement provisions, completed a risk-protection review for the pastoral family, adopted a rest-and-renewal policy, and approved a Pastoral Wellbeing and Compensation Plan with a 90-day action plan assigning named owners and dates.

Deliverable component checklist

  1. 1. Documented compensation philosophy stating how the church sets and reviews pastoral pay
  2. 2. Benchmarked salary range drawn from comparable-role, comparable-size and comparable-region data sources
  3. 3. Current total compensation summary covering salary, housing allowance treatment, and any non-cash benefits, reviewed only at the aggregate policy level
  4. 4. Benefits inventory covering health coverage, retirement contribution structure, and any additional allowances, benchmarked against typical practice
  5. 5. Risk-protection review checklist covering life insurance, disability insurance, health insurance and liability coverage adequacy for the pastoral family
  6. 6. Rest-and-renewal policy covering weekly sabbath expectation, vacation allotment, sabbatical eligibility and emergency pastoral-care provisions
  7. 7. Named list of wellbeing and compensation risks with likelihood, impact and an accountable owner for each
  8. 8. Gaps register listing every open compensation, benefits, risk-protection or rest-policy gap discovered during the module
  9. 9. 90-day action plan assigning each recommended action an owner, due date, resources required, success measure, status and review date

Learning objectives and completion requirements

Learning objectives

  • • Establish pastoral wellbeing as a governance responsibility
  • • Document a fair, benchmarked compensation framework
  • • Review benefits, retirement and risk protection adequacy
  • • Adopt a written rest-and-renewal policy

Completion requirements

  • • All four lessons marked complete
  • • All four exercises submitted
  • • Required evidence uploaded
  • • Named principal deliverable generated and approved
  • • 90-day action plan created with owners and dates
  • • Coach review recorded

Lessons

Four complete lessons. Each produces one named artifact for the official outcome.

  1. Lesson 1 — The Biblical and Practical Case for Caring for Those Who Serve

    Establish, in plain and documented language, why caring well for the pastor's household is a governance responsibility rather than an optional kindness. · 70 minutes · produces Current-State Honesty Assessment

    CompleteOpen full lesson

  2. Lesson 2 — Building a Fair, Documented Compensation Framework

    Build a written compensation philosophy and a benchmarked salary range that the governance body can defend, apply and review on a fixed annual cycle. · 90 minutes · produces Compensation Philosophy Statement and Benchmarked Salary Range Worksheet

    CompleteOpen full lesson

  3. Lesson 3 — Benefits, Retirement and Risk Protection for Pastoral Families

    Review and document benefits, retirement contribution structure and family risk-protection adequacy, referring the pastoral family to qualified professionals where gaps are found. · 90 minutes · produces Benefits, Retirement and Risk-Protection Review Checklist

    Not completeOpen full lesson

  4. Lesson 4 — Rest, Renewal and Longevity in Ministry

    Build and adopt a written rest-and-renewal policy covering weekly sabbath, vacation, sabbatical eligibility and pastoral coverage during absences. · 80 minutes · produces Rest and Renewal Policy Draft with Pastoral Coverage Plan

    Not completeOpen full lesson
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