Making Money From Ministry
I grew up a pastor’s kid, so I know that we all believe in our heads that pastors should get paid when they commit their full life to serve in a church. However, when a church is small, that typically means the salary for the pastor is also small. We get into the mindset that the pastor shouldn’t be making more money than any one person in the congregation – how is that fair? Shouldn’t we be able to make money from our ministry?
Most people don’t understand the hours that a pastor puts in. It’s not a simple 9-5 job, 40 hours per week, paid vacations, full benefits package kind of deal. They are on call ALL the time!
I didn’t pursue a full-time ministry on purpose, and yet, it seems to have found me. It first began when my husband and I saw a need in our community to help youth. This, however, wasn’t our full-time job. My husband has a marketing and advertising company and I take care of our disabled adult son. We saw this opportunity as a ministry, but in our minds, it falls in the category of being a Sunday school teacher, an usher, or a nursery volunteer.
It just seemed like the kind of ministry in which you volunteer some extra time. We never got paid a cent for our hours and hours of work. On top of that, we spent much of our money to create the ministry – buy a building, utilities, renovation, food for the youth, and the list goes on. Many others contributed financially, but it was far more than a full-time job for both of us.
Fast forward four years. We no longer have the youth center. Now, I have started writing women’s Bible studies. I dedicate many hours to writing, blogging, editing, creating, etc. It takes money to bring a book to market. At first, my only wish was that the sales of my books would at least cover the bills. So far, it’s not even doing that.
I feel bad that my efforts to help others are draining our personal finances. Should I even continue? Should I just be doing this writing for myself? I mean, I absolutely LOVE the time that God and I spend together putting these studies together. He inspires me! I write!
My first book launch was somewhat disappointing. My second book is (hopefully) months away from being released. I already told my husband not to spend nearly as much money as we did last time. I love helping others and have given away many copies of my book. I thought that was enough, besides I was doing this all for God.
The Bible says in Luke 10:7 that the worker deserves their wages. Just because my writing is a ministry, does not mean that I don’t deserve a wage for my time and effort.
I recently discovered a book about this very issue. It is written by a team of 4, one of which is Lisa-Jo Baker. She is also an author of women’s Bible studies and other books. The book is “The Inspired Business Guide“. It helped me to see that it’s okay to want to be compensated for what we do. This book gives so many helpful ways to monetize your work in ministry. Every page is filled with practical ideas and things you can do NOW to achieve that goal.
That’s why I decided to become an affiliate and share the opportunity to realize your value and worth as an author, coach, speaker, blogger, or whatever form of ministry you are pursuing. We deserve the opportunity to share our ministry with others without breaking our own bank account.
I urge you to purchase the book “The Inspired Business Guide” through my affiliate link. I will receive a part of your purchase from recommending the book to you, and once you read the book and see how much it has helped you, I encourage you to become an affiliate as well. We can both earn back the money we invest into the book, and hopefully MORE!
Wishing you lots of success as you begin to monetize your ministry!