What the average clergy housing allowance looks like

Previous post discussed the increasing visibility of the Driscoll tax case allowing a pastor to use $400,000 to buy a second house and not pay income tax on the $400,000.  The Tax Court ruled that the clergy housing allowance concept applies to more than one home.

My concern is that extreme case is perceived as a typical example of the financial life of a pastor. 

The average size of a church in the US is about 100 members.  Therefore, the life of a typical pastor in America looks more like this:

today’s FUNNY===========================

SIGNS THAT YOU ATTEND A SMALL CHURCH

  • ~ You cancel church when the pastor goes on vacation because his family is half the congregation.
  • ~ You meet in the Pastor’s two-car garage while the sanctuary is being remodeled.
  • ~ The church bus is a mini-van that carries seven passengers.
  • ~ Pastor comes to Wednesday night services in his uniform directly from his “other” job.
  • ~ Offering is taken up only once a month.
  • ~ Youth group age goes to 30.
  • ~ Senior Adults age start at 40.
  • ~ Children’s Church is cancelled when the family with the most kids goes on vacation.
  • ~ There are more people in the choir than in the congregation.
  • ~ Pastor also serves as an usher, pianist and song leader.

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PASS IT ON!

Yeah, you can send this Funny to anybody you want. And, if you’re REAL nice, you’ll tell them where you got it! www.mikeysFunnies.com

That is from Mikeys Funnies. (I think my quotation in full is allowed considering their comment at the end of each funny.)

While this is a joke and a slight exaggeration, it is closer to being representative of typical clergy in the US than the circumstances of the Driscoll case.  The reality is neither of those two extremes are close to the everyday life of hundreds of  thousands of clergy.

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