Ouachita Baptist University Scholarly Commons @ Ouachita Arkansas Baptist Newsmagazine, 1980-1984 Arkansas Baptist Newsmagazine 8-26-1982 August 26, 1982 Arkansas Baptist State Convention Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarlycommons.obu.edu/arbn_80-84 Part of the Christian Denominations and Sects Commons, and the Mass Communication Commons On the cover First statewide pastors' retreat on calendar for .October Arkansas pastors will be offered a f~h mer Arkansas Pastors. The two, now serving view on their " inner" life and "outer" minis· in Texas churches, are Damon Shook, of try at the state retreat for them in October. Champion Forest Church in Houston, and The first-of·its--kind event will be held at George Harris of Castl e Hill s Church in San Camp Paron. near little Rock. Antonio. Two sessions of two days each will be Both are graduates of O uachita Baptist provided. The first begins Mon'day after- University at Arkadelphia and Southwest­ noon, Oct 4. and ,loses Wednesday noon, ern Baptist Theological Seminary at Fort and the second ruhs Wednesday afternoon Worth. Bot h men have served churches in to Friday noon. other states, also. H. D. McCarty, Fayetteville pastor who is The schedule for the retreat provides for chairman of the Statewide Pastors' Retreat discussion, questions, sharing. recreation Committee, has written to all pastors, en- and fellowship. couraging them to use the opportunity pro- Pastors who have recei)\ed in the mai l a vided by the state convention. registration form should 1g;_t urn it before Messengers at last November's annual Sept. 22 to the office of ti)i:.E,ecutive Sec­ meeting approved the retreats, providing retary, Arkansas Baptist S~3 t e tonvention, 1 funds fOf promotion and speakers' expenses. P.O. Box 552, little Rock; /\rQ.: 72203. The Individual pastors will pay their own ex- cost of S26 will be payable at registration at penses, Dr. McCarty pointed out in his letter. Camp Paron. Additional information is Youth of Control Churcl!. Hot Sprif18S. Speakers for the retreats are the state available fro m the Executive Secretary's of­ and their youth minister, Mike Buller; · convention's di rector for the Ministry of fice by writing or by calling 376-4791, ex­ share the excitement of Magic Springs' Crisis Support. Glen McGriff, and two for- tension 101 . ,.,.ratioqs for ~ncansas Baptist Youth Doy. The Sept 11 event at the Hot Springs theme park is f!JipeCted to draw 7,000 10 8,000 Baptist youth. the largest youth gathering of the year. In this issue 8-9 McGriff Shook Harris Life lw not been easy for missionaries in Baptist system hospital receives accreditation ~'ll""'t ina the past four mooths. but they are not baci<ing out 8aptist Press tells the story CORNING. Ark. - Months of hard work of proving excellent quality heath care. in photos and text in this issue paid off for Coming Community Hospital We've always known we provided it This is when the Joint Commission on Accredita­ our way of letting the comm unity know it" tion of Hospitals gave its seal of approval Carl Ba rker, administrative consul tant in 10 to the 4().bed hospital. the Operations Division of Corporate Ser­ .,Weelt.d.iy Early Education is a way not only The Arkansas affiliate in the Baptist vices for the health care system in Mem­ 10 reach preschookfs. but their families as phis, said it's almost unheard of for a hospt­ Memorial Health Care System, Inc. r~ well, a Sund.iy School Board consultar!t tal as small as Corning even to attempt a ceived a three--year accreditation on its fi rst gys.. and Arkansans learn to implement JCAH accreditation due to the tim e and inspection. WEE prof!Tams here at home. manpower the process requires. The JCA H larry Walker, hospital administrator. demands extensive documentation plus 16 said Corning undertook the voluntary ac­ personal inspection of all facets of opera· Overemphasis on bib}iqlo authority is a creditation process because " it's the mecca tion before accrediting a hospital. "hetey, • Foreign Mission ltoard president R. Keith Parb says. that,is drnWing Southern Cooperative Program Report: July 8aptists awoy from what has histcxically 1981 1982 been their primary concern - missions. 669.511 .50 Budget for July 759,888.73 653.687.53 Gifts for July 737,259.05 (15,823.97) Over (under) (22,629.68) S4.686.580.50 Budget year-to-date S5.319,221 .23 4,765,1 45.88 Gifts year·to-date 5.189,106.73 78,565.38 Over (under) (130,114.50) A total of 1,167, or 92.62 percent of Arkansas Baptist churches, have given 97.55 percent of the budget goal through July. This faithful givi ng represents an 8.90 percent (S423,960.85) inc rease of gifts over last year. ARKANSAS BAPTIST NEWSMAGAZINE The editor's page Pastor's salary prime budget item J. Everett Sneed Soon, every congregation will be formulating its1983 eternal sou l. In many instances, it might b ~~ven difficult budget. Perhaps the area your pastor will be most reluc­ to pay a servant of God for the actual ho~rs of his work. tant to discuss is his own salary. Many pastors even leave He is present to preach and to teach ~ 't~ give comfort in the budget committee meeting when the subject comes times of sorrow, to assist in times. o.f ~ · to counse l, to up. It is vital, however, that every church do its utmost to visit. and. most of all. to witnes~ . to th,if~st. adequately su pport its pastor and his family. This requires .In determining the 1983 pastor'~j ~lary, the church a prayerful examination of the pastor's financial needs. shou ld begin at a minimum witt~-th 3vef-age salary of the Unfortunately, a few sti ll seem to hold to the attitude congregation. Information on the effective buying power of of the church 1Tlember who is said to have prayed. "Oh. the average famil y can be obtained through the state Cham­ Lord. please llllep our pastor poor and humble." "On sec­ ber of Commerce, Wallace Building, Little Rock 72201 . ond tho ug~t/ ~; off ere d . " Lord you just keep him humble; The congregation should recognize ·tt)at the pastor we will keeli' h1ln poor." has e)C penses that members of the average Arkansas con-­ Most of' our chu"rches are far more considerate for gregation do not have. The pastor will have much greater the proper support of the pastor than they were in the past. mileage than most members. The pastors are expected to But there is still some carryover from the past and too wear suits more often than the rest of the congrega tion. often church members are unaware of the expens es that These items should be ca red for in the pastor's sa lary or in confront the pastor which most others do not have. some o ther portion of the church budget. There are many factors that contribute to a lack of Churches need to rem ember that inflation is continu­ proper support for the pastor and 1-lis family. First, most · ing. An economist recently said that America has experi· men, in responding to God's ca ll" to the ministry, relinquish enced a rise in the cost of goods in 41 of the past 50 years. any desire that they might have had for great wealth. Cer­ The cost has climbed by 'over nine percent in the past 12 tainly, this is as it should be. However, the pa stor and his months. which means the pastor ha s nine percent less family should have an adequate salary to live comfortably. buying power than he had a year ago. His salary should be In former times, many of our pioneer preachers es· increased over nine percent merely to give him the in­ tablished and served churches for on ly token sa lari es . come that he had las t year. This is not a true raise but a Times were hard. little money was exchanged by anyone. cost of living adjustment. The church members often compensated for this inability to pay by providing produce, meat, hay, etc. Si nce almost If a church is paying an adequate sa lary, an increase all of ou r churches were small and part-time, the preacher will say, " We appreciate all you do for us. We love you." was able to work at a second job, usua lly farming, which All that has been said about the pastor's salary holds provided much of his living. tru e for staff workers and associational directors of mis· Today, however, the situation has changed dramatical· sions. Perhaps, associational DOM's, as a group, are the ly. We live in a money economy. No longer is it possible to most underpaid full time religious workers in ou r state. support the pastor and his family with gifts of food. He must This is particularly true when we consider the load they have the same medium of exchange to purchase the same ca rry and the importance of their ta sk. necessities enjoyed by everyone else in the community. When budget making time arrives, let us remember The question arises, " How much should a church pay the advice of Paul as he said. " Even so hath the Lord or­ its pastor?" Obviously, it is imposs ible to compensate a dained that they which preach the gospel should live of man for his spi ritual services.