How did November sneak up on us? Yes, the year is drawing to a close and it’s a busy time in the parishes and the diocesan office. Lots of things to consider as we approach “year-end”.
With the 2022 budget planning season well under way, the annual mailing was just sent out to parish treasurers, clergy and finance committees to help assist with that process. There are a number of documents that make up the mailing which can be found on the
diocesan website. You’ll want to hover over the “
For Congregations” tab and will find the current information in the Parish Treasurer’s Resources section as follows:
- 2022 Budgetary Items - this includes information relative to group medical/dental rates, group life insurance, property insurance, etc.
- 2022 Central Payroll Information
- 2022 Clergy and Lay Parish Employee Compensation Guidelines
A major budget consideration is the compensation for lay and ordained employees. Each year, the diocesan Human Resources Committee meets and considers many factors having to do with lay and clergy compensation. The role of the Committee is to assist the Bishop and Diocesan Council in matters pertaining to the compensation and benefits for clergy and lay employees of the Church. This includes establishing guidelines to promote uniform, fair, and equitable compensation and benefits for church employees within the Diocese and performing other projects relating to compensation, benefits and personnel matters.
Each parish falls within a salary range that is determined by Average Sunday Attendance and operating revenues. For many years, we have tracked where individuals are being compensated within the particular salary range and we also measure compensation based on gender. The HR Committee then makes a recommendation to Diocesan Council with any proposed salary range adjustments and COLA adjustments for the coming year.
There are other documents available in the Human Resources Documents section of the diocesan website. One example is a Congregational Development Human Resources Manual that your parish can use as a starting point to develop employment policies and procedures for your parish. This is the basic manual used for diocesan staff and can be adapted for parish use.
It is a pleasure to provide assistance in support of your mission and ministry. If you have questions that I can help with, please feel free to contact me, Susan Olbon, at 413-417-2429 or via email at
solbon@diocesewma.org
