On Nicole Bergeron’s “Yeah, I’m Vehemently Pro-Pastor” — Faith & Leadership
Most elder boards care about their pastors. That part is not in question. What’s in question is whether care has been built into anything—a written policy, a documented process, a compensation framework that doesn’t get revisited only when someone is about to leave.
Aslan founding CEO Nicole Bergeron published “Yeah, I’m Vehemently Pro-Pastor” in Faith & Leadership earlier this year. It’s worth reading in full.
But the argument that boards need to hear is this: pastoral housing instability is not a market problem churches are helpless against. It’s a governance gap—and it’s one boards have the authority to close.
The cost you’re not seeing
Pastoral staff in high-cost markets are absorbing housing costs on ministry salaries and not saying much about it. The culture discourages it—wanting more is framed as spiritual immaturity, and self-advocacy feels like selfishness to people whose instinct is to care for others first. So they stay quiet. And a board that never asks the direct question never has to reckon with the answer. Until a pastor leaves—and the cost of replacing them almost always exceeds what it would have taken to keep them.
Wanting to care for your staff is a posture. Governance is something you can actually build. Three places to start:
- Ask the direct question: “Do you own or rent, and what would it take for that to change?”
- Audit the housing allowance. It’s the most valuable tax benefit available to your pastoral staff and costs the church nothing.
- Commission a written housing policy. Ad hoc decisions create legal exposure and staff uncertainty. A written policy closes both.
“As long as we stay, that’s proof there’s no problem.”
Bergeron’s piece is not a critique of boards who haven’t acted. It’s a description of a system that makes it easy not to. The exemption from financial disclosure, the culture of pastoral silence, the ad hoc compensation process—none of it requires anyone to be negligent. It just requires no one to look.
Housing belongs on your board’s agenda—not as a pastoral favor, but as a fiduciary responsibility. Read the full piece. Then ask your pastoral team the question most boards never have.
Read the full piece: “Yeah, I’m Vehemently Pro-Pastor” — Faith & Leadership Questions about what your church can do? Reach us at nicole@aslan.org.
