Tuesday, 31 March 2009

  • Joseph Prince paid $500,000 this year?

    This report by Yahoo News (attached below) claims that New Creation Church's senior pastor, Joseph Prince was paid $500,000 - $550,000 for the last one year.

    Any comments? Should a church pay a pastor this extravagantly?


    ============================================

    SINGAPORE (AFP) - - A Singapore-based church paid one of its leaders more than 500,000 dollars (329,000 US) in its last financial year, a report said Monday.

    The New Creation Church, which raised 19 million Singapore dollars in just one day in February for the construction of its new premises, paid one employee between 500,001 and 550,000 dollars in the financial year ended March 31, 2008, the Straits Times said.

    It said the church did not confirm if the money was paid to its leader, Senior Pastor Joseph Prince.

    But New Creation's honorary secretary, Deacon Matthew Kang, was quoted by the newspaper as saying it was the church's policy to "recognise and reward key contributors... and Senior Pastor Prince is the main pillar of our church's growth and revenue."

    Kang also described Prince as "the key man responsible for bringing in about 95 percent of our church's income," and added "he has enriched the church and not the other way around."

    Two other employees of the church were paid between 150,001 and 200,000 dollars, but no names were given, the report said.

    One of Singapore's fastest growing churches, New Creation had an income of 55.4 million dollars and net assets of 143.36 million dollars in its last financial year, according to its website.

    Singapore is a predominantly ethnic Chinese society with deep Buddhist and Taoist traditions, but Christians here are known as devout and relatively affluent.


Comments (11)

  • Absolutely no way any senior pastor should be paid that much by a church they are leading ... at the same time, I would imagine how he might manage such a income could either simply confirm that thought ... or sway me to another position.  Thanks for sharing this Joel!

  • Absolutely okay. I despise articles which make money the key issue and stir up jealousy. Yes money can be a snare and pastors are called to be shepherds but it is more of a concern if it becomes a stumbling block. Even Paul the apostle though he sought to be an example and acted otherwise achnowledged the right of teachers to monetary support. The issue is not his money but like all gifts is he a good steward?

  • how come the article is not published in its entirety?

    Apparently article also listed that pastor Prince contributed 500k to the building of the church, and that he had asked to be removed from payroll twice.

    Not that I'm in any affliation with pastor Prince nor the church, but I think in cases like these, the least Christians can do is not to judge :)

  • Remuneration is a relative thing.The bible does not say anything about pastor salaries.The real question we should ask is whether he uses his monetary resouces,remuneration and church funds, to glorify god.However, checks should be made to ensure that there is no fraudulently stolen money from the churches' coffers

  • @Lingual - I'm just posting the article as yahoo news reports it. It is in its entirety.

    The problem is not in judging itself, but on what criteria it is judged by. We are COMMANDED in scriptures to judge. To discern, in the Greek.. means to judge. But when we judge, it must be done righteously. E.g. must not be hypocritical, must be in accord with what scripture teaches, etc.

    http://cicministry.org/commentary/issue94.htm

  • Thanks for your response Joel!

    Agreed. But with regards to the pastor's pay, honestly I dun think we are in a capacity fit to comment :p
    well, well... some may beg to differ and that's fine by me too..

  • @Lingual - :P I agree. That's why it's open for discussion here instead of me just saying it is outright wrong or right as I have done with some of my other posts on other topics.

    The question is... should a pastor be paid so extravagantly. Thanks for your answer.

  • There was a reason why God forbade Israelite kings to amass gold and silver among other things.... Deut 16.16: "Only he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he may multiply horses; because Yahweh has said to you, You shall henceforth return no more that way. Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart not turn away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold." The reason is because riches are deceitful. It's probably a "prosperity doctrine" "name it and claim it" "faith movement" type church, just a guess. As goes the pastor, so goes the church. Now everyone in the church probably believes they should be millionaires, just a guess. these types of teachings I mentioned basically teach that every Christian is entitled to however much money they have faith for and claim. Even if it isn't one of those types of churches, that seems to be the message portrayed when a pastor's salary is way above the average salary. I think it's a sad example.

  • Actually, that's Deuteronomy 17.16 not 16.16...my bad

  • Hi templestream,

    It's a word-of-faith (prosperity) church.

  • --- comment deleted due to personal attacks on those who disagree. E.g. name calling: "Bird Brain", etc.---

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