“When they ask what I charge, I assure them that is a matter between them and the Lord. Most churches take care of travel expenses and an honorarium. However, on behalf of the thousands of guest preachers all over this land, I’ll tell you my opinion: “Pay them about twice what you have been paying them.” Dr. Joe McKeever
How much does a sermon cost? Well, it depends on who is preaching and how much you are prepared to throw in to keep the partnership. The good pastors are highly sought after, just like showbiz stars and footballers. You will need to book them a year or two ahead of time if you are privileged enough to have access to their office. You are lucky to have one on your event billboard as a visiting preacher; they are crowd pullers and conference shakers. To have them again same time next year, treat them well.
Homiletical scholarship
Homiletics (the art and science of preaching) is a special skill. It is not for everybody. It is for the anointed few who are able to explain sublime biblical truth with experiential knowledge and deeper revelation. Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams calls it ‘Prenostrous.’ We all have some general revelation about the things we hear preachers preach about. What we need is special revelation to complete the religious experience.
What does it take to put a sermon together? Steve J. Cole tells it better: “Three small boys were bragging about their dads. The first boy said, “My dad writes a few short lines on paper, calls it a poem, sends it away, and gets $25 for it.” “Well, my dad,” said the second boy, “makes dots on paper, calls it a song, sends it away, gets $100 for it.” “That’s nothing,” declared the third boy. “My dad writes a sermon on sheets of paper, gets up in the pulpit and gives it, and it takes four men to bring in the money.”
We don’t know whose is easier: The poet, the musician or the preacher? You would foam at the mouth and palpitate with shock, anger and disgust when you hear some messages from the pulpit. You would not call them sermons or bible messages, because they are bankrupt in homiletical scholarship and deficient in intellectual power. These messages are not grounded in any form of research or scientific investigation.
A good sermon, the kind we associate with Pastor Mensa Otabil, Archbishop Duncan-Williams, Bishop Agyinasare and Dr Ralph Dartey, are intellectual pieces condensed in biblical truth and intelligently delivered with rhetorical brilliance and oratorical fireworks. The congregation comes expecting to learn new things or the same old things retold another way. It cannot be the same old Mary and Joseph story; we expect an intelligent treatment of the manger birth in our modern context.
Footballer’s weekly wages
The modern pastor is studious and bookish. They have facts about globalisation and harmful IMF policies. They would tell you the GDP of your country before the economists started researching. They are systematic, methodical and analytical in their presentation. A lot of learning goes into a good sermon. It is not for lazy minds.
I learn more from Pastor Mensa Otabil’s sermons than I get from journal articles and novels. He would have read the novel before preparing his message, so I am spared the task of buying and reading the book. I learnt the meaning of ‘Third World’ from him. ‘Tissues of the Issues’ has borrowed generously from his expositions. I have borrowed a lot more from Dr Ralph Dartey of the TLC Ottawa, Canada.
What price do you put on a quality and well delivered sermon? It sits well with us when a footballer takes $300,000 every week for kicking a ball in front of a cheering crowd of freethinkers. It doesn’t matter whether he scores a goal or not. Musicians charge in the millions to flaunt their naked bodies, conference speakers get paid good money to speak at events. Why not men of God? And how much is too much to pay for the gospel?
GH¢100,000 for one sermon
Over the weekend, leader of Perez Chapel, Bishop Charles Agyinasare, dispelled as a palpable untruth news doing the rounds that he charges GH¢100,000 to preach the gospel as guest pastor. The Perez Bishop also defended two other senior men of God, Archbishop Duncan-Williams and Pastor Mensa Otabil, who have also been mentioned as charging huge fees to preach the word of God.
When I invite high-calibre professionals and subject experts in Ghana to speak as panellists at my organisation’s annual dialogues, I pay them for sharing their expert knowledge. My secretary usually records such payments as transport and honorarium. We feel they earned it. The day we decided to invite a man of God to say the opening prayer for a big conference, we could not agree how much we would pay for a simple prayer to our God. We selected one of us to pray so we could save the money.
Every worker is worthy of his wages (Luke 10:7). How much would you pay Bishop Charles Agyinasare if you invited him to your church as guest preacher? First, you need to provide decent accommodation for him. A five-star hotel will not be a bad idea. Even Shatta Wale gets one. Second, feed him well: English breakfast, steak for lunch and good salad plus French onion soup for dinner. He spends a week in your church, teaching in the mornings, counselling in the afternoons, and performing miracles at the evening service. How much is the man of God worth?
Lamborghini for Pope Francis
Charles Spurgeon gave us an idea in his autobiography when he wrote about a congregation that wanted to pay their pastor a very small wage: “The only individual I know, who could exist on such a stipend, is angle Gabriel. He would need neither cash nor clothes; and he could come down from heaven every Sunday morning, and go back at night so I advise you to invite him.’”
Verily verily I say unto you; these days, even Angel Gabriel will be glad to get paid. Times are hard. Church is expensive business and the sermon has a price. The Pope may decide to give away his recent Lamborghini gift to charity. But that is because he does not have a wife to adorn the front seat with her designer dress. Our bishops have a good taste for smart cars and airplanes. GH¢100,000 is not even a good start. For the poor, prayer is enough. For the bishops, money is a blessing. For God, grace is divine.
Source: today
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Predicting economic parameters of a country is an act of astronomy which is evil and devilish. God's interest does not lie in the prediction of economic indicators. It is the work of the freemasonry who uses the host of heaven to predict what will happen in the future. That is what they use to predict the next move on the stock market. True men of God do not predict economic indicators, light and darkness have nothing in common. Those who do these predictions are mostly monthly prognosticators. Read Isaiah 47:13. You won't write this, if indeed you are a child of God.
Preaching has changed over the years. It is no more like what the missionaries did hundreds of years ago.Now a lot go into preaching the gospel. The earlier missionaries who were sent to Africa were purposefully, sent here to prepare the grounds for colonization and exploitation of African resources.They didn't need to be paid. Provisions were made for them in their home countries.
You got it all wrong, "Church is expensive business and the sermon has a price" Church is not a business and sermons are free. It is only the devil who does things for sale. Even Apostle Paul worked hard and did not depend on the church to make a living. If the sermon is for sale, the question i want to ask you is this "Who gave you the inspiration?" You see, this is where you are caught, preaching is different from lecturing. Preaching is based on the inspiration of the Holy Spirit; it is given by the Spirit for free and preached for free. Lecturing is based on research into worldly things and human thinking, and it comes with a cost. What you are explaining here is lecturing not preaching. True servants of God do not preach for a fee. Not all you see behind the podium are servants of God, some are wolves in sheep clothing. I don't know who you are; but i can see you lack spiritual wisdom and so is your write-up. That is why you left out your name. You need repentance and if you are a pastor doing the work of God as a business, i can assure you that you will meet the Lord of host and the truth shall expose you.
Don't really get the point the writer is trying to make but if he is trying to justify the astronomical fees demanded to preach then I am afraid he has missed the point completely. Any other Gospel apart from the Gospel of Jesus Christ is fake and not of the truth. Jesus went about preaching and healing and doing all manner of good without collecting a dime from anyone. The weak argument is that if Jesus lived in our times He would perhaps also demand a 'fee'. That argument is not only lame but outright outlandish! How would anybody know that Jesus would collect fee if He did not do so then? And do you think there were no fake preachers those days who extorted money from people? Jesus is the same yesterday,today and forever! The Pope lives what he preaches: love simplicity and godliness without being judgemental of others! That is what inspires me and that is what should inspire true christians: that despite all the luxury and opportunities his position can afford he choses what truly matters and that is to love and show compassion to the vulnerable. Remember the beatitudes: blessed are the poor..., blessed are the peacemakers, blessed are those persecuted for the sake of the true Gospel,etc. No where was it said blessed are those who command high pulpit fee, not even those who can gather a thousand congregants! The preachers these days focus more on material prosperity than righteousness and godliness. No wonder we have so many churches and so much corruption. Seek ye first, the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all other things shall be added on.So they should stop leading people astray with their materialism and seek the face of God and his real message to His people. Enough of the materialism and extortion!
These are the people who go to church to impress other churchgoers. They like pastors who adorn themselves with garment, ornament and bleach their face. Strategic speakers are different from Gospel Preachers. Now in Ghana, every strategic speaker has become a pastor. Otable for example is a strategic speaker but bcos he want to be rich by force, he has added the Bible to it. The Bible said 'leave them to grow, the harvesting time will tell. Jah lone na christian
Please don't classify the payment as transport and honorarium. It should be Professional fees. You are paying them for the work they did for your church.Classify all actual fuel you bought to transport them from church to the hotels and while they are in your care as fuel and lubricants.I think this classification is clearer than what you have been doing.
Is hard to say but those who are spiritual will know that am not lying. This is not a prophesy but a dream I had. Rev. Mensah otabil operate with a spirit of crocodile. It won't be long. This man will loose everything he is having.
ALACHI 4, LUKE:17:30, REVELATION 10:1-11
MR. WRITER PONDER OVER THIS: THE MORE SPIRITUAL A MAN IS THE LESS IS HIS MATERIAL POSSESSION.WHAT DOES IT PROFIT A MAN IF HE SHOULD GAIN THE WHOLE WORLD AND YET LOOSE HIS LIFE? HAVE A SECOND THOUGHT MR. WRITER AND COME AGAIN.
Oh, Mr writer, your mind is conquered. Sorry for you. Cant you see these pastors are conmen? I thought you should have known better, judging from your beautiful piece.Anyway, Please sit down to reflect and meditate again. We are not discussing secular issue here, we are discussing so called men of God and how secularly rich they are. They are killing innocent people who unfortunately are lost. They create their own interpretation of the Bible to suit themselves. There is Bible truth somewhere for free. With little effort, you can be free! A FREE BIBLE LECTURE IS NOT FAR FROM YOU.