When we took this job, E was the one who “negotiated” my salary. What he really did was lie to me.
I could go on and on, but two examples.
I used cost of living calculators to see what the equivelent of my current salary would be in the new location. I told E what that was. He came back to me with a number $10,000 below. I pushed back and said, “W and I really need to make this at least a lateral move.” He said he would go back to the elders and see what he could do. He called me the next day to say that the elders had discussed it and their first offer was all they could do.
I found out that was a lie. He never went back to the elders and just thought he could get me cheap. He did.
I told E I believed God was calling me here, so we would come. He promised me they would work to get it where it belonged. “We’ll review your salary in six months and get it where it belongs.” Guess what.
It was a lie. He never communicated that with anyone.
Today I saw the offer letter the elders approved. When compared with the offer letter he sent me, he cut the salary by $1000 just because he could.
The past is the past. The elders will not honor E’s word. In fact, I don’t think they can. The budget is just too tight.
The budget is filled with things that don’t belong. I have been going through and cleaning things up. Just taking out waste, I have cleared up $6-7,000/yr. I have another $14,000 annually that will incrementally clear out of the budget over the next couple years.
Finding better, less expensive ways to do things is one of the things I do well.
One of the cuts I made was to clean up our phone bill–cutting it by over $200 per month.
Monday night at the elders meeting, I proposed that we take that $200 in phone expense and use it to help the staff pay for the cell phones they use for ministry (including sitting at their desks at the office). It would be a zero cost way to cover something that is a legitimate expense of the church as well as communicate to the staff we appreciate them.
The answer was “no.” “No,” because our contracts say that they have built into our salaries all reimbursements for things like cell phones. “If we paid for these kinds of things,” they said, “your salary would be a lot less.”
Really? I came for substantially less than I made before. I was lied to. The elders (not fully their fault) reneged on their promises. This ministry has cost me financially, spiritually, emotionally–it has been hell on my family.
They can tell me that if they paid the costs of ministry–phone, mileage, books, etc.–they would reduce my salary? Seriously?
So, even with a net cost of $0, they would not bless the staff.
I wonder if there are ways two can play at the pettiness game?
We all know I won’t, but sometimes it makes you want to.
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BTW–if W were to get on here and put her thoughts….my post would look tame.
Shepherd,
Let W loose.
Similar situation happened to us 5 years ago. We were promised 4 large bonuses a year, raises etc…..to get Mike to take over the branch where we now are. We sold our home, bought a home for much more money because housing is expensive here and moved. Two weeks later they sold the company. They knew they would never have to pay M what they promised. We are left trying to survive paying for this stupid home. He hasn’t had a raise or single bonus in 5 years. It is the pits. What hurts the most is the betrayal. The owner made out by selling but did not care what happened to our finances. It has been hard. I bet W and I would get along very, very well….I was angry for a long time and now that I’m thinking about it again I’m getting worked up. Betrayal and being lied to are so hard to take. Feel your pain….I really do.
causes me physical pain just to read. I would love to read a nice boring blog about the church growing and appreciating their pastor and loving people and the Almighty instead of the almighty dollar. SciFi channel is on tv right now Coincidence? I think not.
e was the one that gave s so much btrouble right? how is S doing by the way?
Yes, E was the controlling bully.
S is doing well, but not writing much. His family is enjoying ministry without E. His daughter, K, is continuing to make good progress. She is a delightful young lady.
Undoubtably, K has much before her, but she impresses me with her ability to adapt. Her mom and dad are doing a great job learning how to be mom and dad after such a horrible assault. The cool thing, is they are going back to being great parents. Events like this can really shake people up and sometimes, they come out all weird on the other end. They have not.