Gyang Bere, Jos
A trustee of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA), Mr Moses Yusufu Dembo, has decried what he observed as the disparity in salaries recieved by pastors of the church in rural communities across Nigeria.
Dembo noted that some city pastors earn over N300,000 while others serving in villages earn less than N5,000, with some going home with nothing at the end of the month.
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Dembo disclosed this on Saturday during his official Installation as new trustee of the church, held at the ECWA Headquarters compound in Jos, the Plateau State capital, where be observed that pastors are being owed up to 15 months unpaid salaries.
“The board of trustees is not a policy-making body. Their role is advisory and custodian to ECWA property. I have a great burden to share; my greatest concern is the plight of ECWA pastors in rural areas,” Dembo said.
“There are many pastors that are in arrears of salaries for over 15 months, there are many pastors whose take home salary is not up to N5,000, and there are some who don’t get salary at all.
“There are many pastors whose salaries are determined by the board of elders, and there are equally pastors whose salaries is over N300,000 per month.”
The trusted expressed dismay that many pastors in rural areas are languishing over basic concerns like feeding, with some having to depend on the laity and elders of the church to survive.
ECWA President Rev. Stephen Panya Baba urged the church to pray over the issue, noting that the church has already set up a committee on centralisation of pastoral salaries, with the report awaiting implementation.
Rev. Baba explained that centralising pastors salaries will involve a huge amount of money that would require rural churches to turn in 75 percent of what they generate to church headquarters.
He further mentioned that the church was working on rehabilitating and building a monument at the gravesites of early foriegn missionaries who founed the church.