If you’re a church secretary, you probably have a good idea of what your potential salary will be. The average church secretary salary is $35,000 per year. But there are areas where church secretaries make much more than that.
The salary for a church secretary can vary depending on the location of the church, size of the congregation and the type of work that needs to be done.
The average annual salary for a church secretary is around $42,000 per year. This does not include benefits such as health insurance and other perks that your employer may offer you.
Salaries for church secretaries vary based on several factors including location, experience and education level. If you are looking to enter this field, it is important to consider what your options are before committing to one particular position.
Salary for church secretary
Churches would not run nearly as efficiently without church secretaries. They answer phones, schedule meetings for pastors, maintain files and keep records of congregation members and their offerings. These professionals also order office supplies, schedule repairs and general maintenance, and record the minutes in church meetings. Even given their multitude of responsibilities, the average annual parish secretary salary amounts to $26,890, according to PayScale.
Salary and Qualifications
The average hourly pay for church secretaries is $12.91, according to PayScale‘s data on the average salary of church administrative assistants. Most church secretaries have at least high school diplomas or GEDs. Some may even learn secretarial skills through vocational programs in high school. Additional requirements for the job include computer and interpersonal skills and a strong faith in a specific denomination: Presbyterian, Catholic, Lutheran, Episcopalian and Methodist.
Regional Salaries
Church secretary salaries can vary by region in the United States. Church secretary jobs in the California, for example, paid hourly wages of $15.99 as of August 2020, according to Indeed. This ranked significantly higher than Indeed’s estimate for church secretaries’ average hourly wages (of $13.03).
Salaries are contingent on church budgets. Churches rely heavily on offerings to pay the clergy and staff members. Therefore, churches with large congregations are likely to pay more than those with smaller ones. Church secretaries can also earn more in certain geographical areas because of living costs. For example, the high salaries in the northeast and west regions were New York and California, respectively, which typically have higher living costs than many other states.
Benefit of Experience
A number of other variables can factor into a church secretary’s pay, as well. Most notably, those with more experience typically earn more, especially if they’ve been working for the same church for years. They often earn annual merit increases as other business professionals.
After working as church secretaries, these professionals often go on to work as administrative assistants, office administrators and church administrators, according to PayScale.
Career Outlook
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that jobs for secretaries and administrative assistants should decline by 7% from 2018-2028. Even so, religious, grant-making, civic, professional and similar organizations rank among the largest employers of secretaries and administrative assistants, boasting about 6% of all secretaries and administrative assistants in the United States.
