Magyar Egyház, 1981 (60. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1981-09-01 / 9-10. szám
MAGYAR €G/l7AZ 14. oldal the church owns the policy. There are no tax consequences for the pastor in this kind of arrangements so long as the pastor has no control over the policy. b) A discretionary fund may be useful for your pastor. Be certain, however, that it is kept that way and that you or other members don’t pry into its use. c) Malpractice insurance has become much more popular. Some larger denominations provide the coverage on a blanket basis for all clergy. d) Vision care, dental insurance, legal assistance, financial counseling, automobile insurance, all at the expense of the employer, are offered to many employees. It’s worth considering, perhaps, for your pastor. The housing arrangement you have with your pastor is probably the greatest tax benefit available to your pastor’s family. Section 107 of the Internal Revenue Code provides that the fair rental value of a churchowned house may be excluded from taxable income. It also provides that a housing allowance paid to the pastor in lieu of the church-owned home is not subject to income tax to the extent used to provide a home. Almost all pastors receive one of these benefits—parsonage or housing allowance. Periodically your congregation ought to review your present situation and determine if the long-standing current arrangement is really the best. You should know that your official board must officially note in its minutes a specific allowance designating this amount before such allowance is applicable as a tax advantage. And it must be designated in advance of the time when it is paid or housing expenditures made. Be sure your congregation considers the maximum housing allowance available. 8. Whatever cash salary you pay should be sufficient, adequate and a fair indication of your consideration of the worth of your pastor to your congregation. You may want to consider the age and experience of your pastor as well as the size of your congregation when you set salary. However, it would be better to consider your pastor’s ability to relate to other people and to evaluate how your pastor handles all the problem situations facing him or her every day. Even the wages paid to other professional people offer a bench mark for what you might pay your pastor. Or the median salary received by all wage earners in your community is a good comparison. What your congregation pays your pastor is your business, of course, but when you’ve considered the possibilities, examined the issues, understood the tax consequences, and know what is pay and what is simply a cost to the congregation, you’ll be able to put a financial plan into shape. It’s not something you can do overnight. Take your time. But begin your planning now for 1982. It’s not too soon! GIVING You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give. For what are your possessions but things you keep and guard for fear you may need them tomorrow? And tomorrow, what shall tomorrow bring to the overprudent dog burying bones in the trackless sand as he follows the pilgrims to the holy city? And what is fear need but need itself? Is not dread of thirst when your well is full, the thirst that is unquenchable? There are those who give little of the much they have—and they giveit for recognition and their hidden desire makes their gifts unwholesome. And there are those who have little and give it all. These are the believers in life and the bounty of life, and their coffer is never empty. These are those who give with joy, and that joy is their reward. And there are those who give with pain, and that pain is their baptism. And there are those who give and know not pain in giving, nor do they seek joy, nor give with mindfulness of virtue; They give as in yonder valley the myrtle breathes its fragrance into space. Through the hands of such as these God speaks, and from behind their eyes He smiles upon the earth. It is well to give when asked, but it is better to give unasked, through understanding; And to the open-handed the search for one who shall receive is joy greater than giving. And is there aught you would withhold? All you have shall some day be given; Therefore give now, that the season of giving may be yours and not your inheritors’. Consecration A man I know has made an altar Of his factory bench. And one has turned the counter in his store Into a place of sacrifice and holy ministry. Another still has changed his office desk Into a pulpit desk, from which to speak and write, Transforming commonplace affairs Into the business of the King. A Martha in our midst has made Her kitchen table a communion table. A postman makes his daily round A walk in the temple of God. . . . To all of these each daily happening Has come to be a whisper from the lips of God, Each separate task a listening post, And every common circumstance A wayside shrine.
