4 Myths About Pastors

Last updated on: October 6, 2022 at 10:26 am by C. Don Jones

4 Myths About Pastors 2022-10-06T10:26:14-06:00 C. Don Jones

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Christians, non-Christians, and just about everyone including seminarians believe a few myths about clergy. Today, I will add my feeble voice to setting the record straight. I do not have much hope that it will. Some people will not believe what I say out of prejudice. Others will wonder why any one thinks the way(s) refuted here. I thought about these issues while reading a post about clergy “quiet quitting” church. So here are what I believe are major myths about clergy that everyone seems to believe.

Pastors Do Not Pay Taxes

The claim that clergy members do not pay taxes is patently false. We pay taxes every average citizen pays. I assume the claim is made about the Federal Income Tax and Social Security and Medicare taxes. We not only pay those taxes. We pay a higher percentage than most people do. Let me explain. IRS Tax Courts since the early 1990’s require members of the clergy to pay the Federal income tax as any employee would. In other words, we are not considered self-employed for the purposes of these taxes. We do not get to claim the deductions many self-employed people do. But when it comes to Social Security and Medicare taxes, the IRS considers us as self-employed. Churches do not pay the employer’s half of these taxes. Clergy members pay the full percentage as if we are self-employed people including filing the 1040 SE form.

Clergy pay quarterly taxes due to this same situation. Churches are not required to withhold taxes on the clergy member. A few congregations do. But they are not permitted to voluntarily “match” the self employment tax without the clergy claiming it as extra income. Clergy may “opt out” of the self-employment tax provided they can claim to accept funds for religious services from the government violates their conscience.

Churches are tax exempt including unemployment taxes for clergy.

Pastors Are Free Counselors

Pastors should not present themselves as counselors, social workers, or any other mental health professional without a license. Most pastors are not mental health workers. Some are. But there, unfortunately, are some who present themselves that way. Many people not knowing any better, are victimized by such people. In an era where adequate mental health care is scarce, many church people like the price tag of receiving “counseling” from the pastor.

Pastoral care is not counseling. It is conversation which can be helpful but should not be confused with professional mental health service. I try to be clear about that. But, once in a while, someone claims “it is cheaper than talking to a shrink.” I drily add, “And is worth the price you paid for it.”

Servant Leader Myths

People tend to believe annoying myths about pastors being employees of the church. Denominations have different levels of this type of thinking. Some denominations pretty much destroy all pastoral authority making the pastor or minister as the person who is answerable to the congregation for everything. The pastor is the spiritual leader of the congregation. Churches often forget this by thinking the pastor should be ready to jump any time a church member wants. This myth is very destructive emotionally and mentally for the pastor. But it is also spiritually destructive for the church to have such dependence.

It does not help when pastors show deference to certain individuals in congregations. James 3:1-12 has a lot to say about cow-towing to the money people. Pastors who do this behave as employees. They create expectations of all clergy that are detrimental.

CEO Myths

Churches organize based on the structures of corporate institutions of their times. I won’t belabor this point because I talk about it elsewhere. But the present day corporate structure are bodies led by Chief Executive Officers. Essentially, the CEO is a dictator over the company. Many people including some clergy take this leadership model into the church. I once served a congregation where the previous pastor claimed to be the “final authority” of the church.

Pastors working from this model know it is also a model of fear. The clergy person fears losing their place. Fear of losing the audience prompt cover-ups and other evils. The audience (as opposed to congregation) either already knows or learns quickly enough that the leadership model only allows for care of certain people. The CEO pastor keeps certain people happy. Those people in turn keep everyone else in line. Such organizations are the opposite of the values of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Terrible Myth-Beliefs

People believe such myths because their understanding of church is flawed. Over the centuries the model of church leadership changed with the times to keep it “relevant” to the workings of the world. Having a Christianity without Jesus has always been the pitfall. These myths are about mistaken ideas of privilege, expectations, success, and goals. All of these ideas need purging from our mindsets.

Previous Post

October 3, 2022

The Gospel of Rights-Scolding

Next Post

October 11, 2022 Forgive Us Our Debts

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Addiction Advent Afghanistan Anxiety Ascension Sunday Baptism Barack Obama Biblical Interpretation Bigotry Book Banning BSA Buddhism Choice Christmas Church Discipline Community Conscience Conspiracy theories COVID-19 Culture Wars death cults deconstruction Devotional Divine Judgment Donald Trump Earth Day Election Day empathy Environmentalism Evangelism Exploitation of the Poor Faith False Claims fascism Fear Forgiveness Genocide government Grace Gun Violence Halloween Hate Health Hillbilly Elegy Hindu Holy Communion Holy Week Homelessness Hope Identity Integrity Islam Joe Biden John Hagee Kamala Harris Labor Lent Liberation Theology Lies Love Love as action Neurological disorders Non-Christian Religions Online Worship Original Goodness Pandemic Peace Pentecost Philosophy Preaching Progressive Christianity Racism Redemptive Violence Myth Resentment Saint's Days Satire Sobriety social media Spiritual Self Care Spirituality Technology The Kingdom of God The United Methodist Church Theology Transfigurations Sunday Transgender persons Truth Uncategorized Violence Wesleyan Working Class

Select a Month September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 March 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 September 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 January 2025 October 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 October 2018 September 2018 July 2018 February 2018 January 2018 August 2017 May 2017 November 2016 July 2016 June 2016 November 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 January 2015 November 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 June 2013 March 2013 February 2013 December 2012 August 2012 July 2012 May 2012 February 2012 December 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who is considered the ideal wife and mother in Proverbs?

Select your answer to see how you score.

The Proverbs 31 woman Martha Eve Mary Magdalene