The Presiding Bishop of Perez Chapel International, Charles Agyinasare, has said pastors must be paid “handsomely” with money from their church’s coffers so they can live comfortably to lead the church instead of struggle to feed themselves and their families.

Teaching his congregation about the ‘Reward of the Man of God’ on Sunday, 21 March 2021 at the Perez Dome, Bishop Agyinasare said: “It is, therefore, immoral for a minister to be struggling to feed himself”, adding: “For the important role he plays in the Kingdom, he must be rewarded as his work demands”.

He complained that “some have also despised the man of God by not making it possible for him to dress decently to be able to preach”.

“Many rich people in the church”, he observed, “are okay as long as they can give the pastor handouts instead of increasing his salary to be commensurate to the level of the people he is ministering to”.

Bishop Agyinasare said “God’s wrath comes on church members who misuse or despise His true servants” but “those who honour His servants are lifted to their God-ordained level”.

In his sermon, Bishop Agyinasare said to honour the man of God means giving him a double honour as used in 1 Timothy 5:17, which, he said, “simply means the minister must be handsomely appreciated for his work”.

“It also means looking for multiple ways to appreciate him. It also means a double salary amongst other things”, he added.

Further, he said: “It also means to have reverence, regard, and respect and to acknowledge him with good attitudes in words and actions”.

“Your pastor is spiritually employed and deserves wages, SSNIT contributions, provident fund or pension, gifts, honorariums and bonuses, not only verbal expressions of gratitude”, he noted.

He said material things should be given in response to spiritual inputs of the pastor, as Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9:11 that: ‘If we have sown spiritual things for you, is it a great thing if we reap your material things?’

The Apostle Paul, he noted, “was simply saying that material rewards in response to spiritual input is no big deal”.

However, Bishop Agyinasare pointed out, “some congregants say things like: ‘I have catered for the pastor for years’. Well, the pastor has also prayed and sought spiritual cover for you for years. It is a two-way affair. The pastor prays for you, he ministers to you, he teaches and preaches the unadulterated Word of God to you. These are spiritual things he is sowing into your life”.

He argued that the labourer is worthy of his hire as captured in 1 Timothy 5:17-18, which says: ‘Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine. For the scripture saith, thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, the labourer is worthy of his reward’.

“The above scripture simply says the pastor deserves to be paid for his spiritual work. He must be remunerated out of the monies given to the church, not ‘thank you’ and ‘God bless you’”.

1 Corinthians 9:7-8, he noted, says: ‘Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its grapes? Who tends a flock and does not drink of the milk?’

The ministry, he pointed out, “is a call to enlist in the Army of God. Soldiers don’t fight at their own expense: no Ghanaian soldier buys his own gun, half sack, army uniform, or blanket; it is those he fights to defend that pay the bill. They are fully ‘paid’ by the exchequer to defend the nation. If the minister is in the ministry to ‘defend the flock’, it is normal that he is supported by the Church. There is no country in the world where soldiers are supposed to arm themselves and work to feed themselves whilst in the army”.

In fact, Bishop Agyinasare added, “the minister, as a spiritual soldier, must also be paid by those he defends. Professors are paid to read research and teach. Similarly, the minister who also teaches the word of God must be paid by those he teaches and must also be considered worthy of remuneration”.