How Much To Pay the Pastor Who Marries Us?
“How Much Do I Pay the Pastor Who Marries Us?” My daughter called to ask me that very question a few weeks ago. She and her fiancée are getting married next spring. I’m not doing the wedding – I get to be Dad, not pastor. But, since I am a parish pastor with twenty-plus years of experience, she thought I would have an opinion. “Dad, what is the average of what you get paid for a wedding?” That’s a good question. In fact, it has a couple of questions neatly tucked inside of it: what do I get paid, what is a fair payment for a pastor for joining a couple in marriage, and why do I say that? Before I answer these questions, let me offer this disclaimer: I am paid, full-time, by my church and I consider weddings, like funerals or Baptisms, to be part of my vocational responsibility. In short, it’s my job. I do not make a living doing ad hoc services like weddings and funerals. I earn a fair annual salary. Anything I receive for such worship services is, truly, a gift of ...