A Reply of Ignorance or Deception?
Did you know that the South Pacific Division President’s total salary package is now $240,000?
The President of Greater Sydney Conference (GSC) has endeavoured to respond to the points raised in a February 2020 letter to Fulcrum 7 regarding the South Pacific Division (SPD) President’s salary package of $240,000. This explosive revelation has motivated a response that is included at the conclusion of this letter (an email that he widely distributed to church leaders and pastors).
The letter published on Fulcrum 7 expressed the concerns of members and ministers of the SPD about ever-increasing salary packages for Australian church leaders.
The GSC President (Terry Johnson) emphatically stated the SPD President is only permitted to be paid 125% of a senior pastor’s wage, according to a General Conference policy. However, what the GSC President’s response failed to address is the central point of the Fulcrum 7 article – the total package is what is being discussed, including the ‘loading’, salary and bonuses etc.
A salary package constitutes all the benefits and ‘loadings’ that are included in the package. The GSC President has either been misinformed in his response, or worse, he is not telling the total truth in his response. We all sincerely hope it is not the latter. Members and ministers have noted with interest that church leaders from the SPD and AUC have not responded to this issue – a silence that many see as confirming and verifying the information presented in the original article published on Fulcrum 7.
The response by the GSC fails to address much of the content included in the original article, including:
The total salary package includes not just the 125% loading of a senior pastor’s wage, but ‘loading’, bonuses, a higher than standard superannuation contribution, per diems etc. This total package accounts to $240,000 for the SPD President.
A renewed housing allowance that permits church leaders working at the SPD but living on the Central Coast or Cooranbong to receive the elevated Sydney housing allowance, much higher than the Central Coast allowance.
Per diems and travel allowances often exceed incurred expenses on church work trips and are included in the total package (amounting to between $10,000-20,000).
Frequent flyer points accumulated on church trips that are then used for personal holidays.
The refusal to openly discuss this matter has led to suspicion, distrust and an underlying lack of confidence on this important matter. Reports have come back that church leaders are choosing to ignore this issue, hoping it will dissipate and be forgotten. If people are going to continue to pay tithe to the church body, they want to have confidence in how the tithe is being used. While this matter is not properly responded to and rectified, members are becoming increasingly inclined to redirect tithe toward independent ministries and other causes that are currently in need of financial contributions.
The time has come for church members and ministers to rise up and ask questions of church leadership. This letter calls on the SPD President, SPD General Secretary, SPD Chief Financial Officer, AUC President, AUC General Secretary, AUC Chief Financial Officer and Conference Presidents, Conference General Secretaries and Conference Chief Financial Officers to be transparent and disclose what their new salary packages now total – including all ‘loadings’ and bonuses. It is now time to disclose these amounts to members in The Record, including the publishing of the new Division Wage Scale. Members pay tithe which in-turn pays church leaders’ salary packages, and it is time for members to be properly communicated to, and for openness and integrity to triumph over concealment.
Now, more than ever, we all need to pray. And then act!
Here is the aforementioned letter from Terry Johnson, President of the Greater Sydney Conference:
Speaking the TRUTH in LOVE,
AussieMouse