SGD 500K for a Prince

The New Creation Church (NCC) in Singapore has declared that it paid one of its staff a salary of SGD 500K last year. The staff in question is widely speculated to be the Senior Pastor Joseph Prince. Unsurprisingly, this sparked outrage among the public, from both Christians and non-Christians alike.

The question is: Is SGD 500K an appropriate pay for a pastor?

Some background here: NCC is a mega-church in Singapore with 22,000 members. Its services are held over 4 sessions on Sunday in an auditorium that can seat more than 5,000 each. The church is not affiliated to any established Christian denomination and its success is attributed to its pastor who is eloquent, photogenic and charismatic. The church congregation is made up of a fairly wealthy crowd - over one Sunday earlier this month, it managed to collect a total of SGD19 million as offering for its building fund.

When questioned by Straits Times reporters, the church's honorary secretary Deacon Matthew Kang said:

"Senior Pastor Prince is the key man responsible for bringing in about 95 per cent of our church's income. I must concede that he has enriched the church and not the other way round."

That's strange. I thought the mission of a church is to spread the gospel and save souls. Should the church even be enriched in a monetary way? It is highly debatable whether the performance measurement for a church should even be based on "income" generation. The total income for the church last year was SGD 55.4 million of which 95% came from tithes and offering.

It also raises disturbing questions on the church's philosophy when it says Prince is the man responsible for its success. If it is a one-man show, it could potentially give rise to a personality cult. Is the congregation worshipping Jesus Christ or Senior Pastor Prince?

The Deacon also says that it is the church's policy "to recognise and reward key contributors to the church..."

I wonder what will happen if the "key contributors" are unhappy with their remuneration. Are they likely to resign and move to another more lucrative church? And the congregation - are they likely to follow where Pastor Prince goes? Is their loyalty to their saviour or to Pastor Prince?

I will not state my view based on the scripture. As a layman, I just need to rely on common sense and my instincts. There is something not quite right here.

I do not expect any church or religious leader to live the lives of paupers - certainly not in affluent Singapore. They deserve a comfortable life. But where do we draw the line?

Let's see. Senior Pastor Prince pay-out works out to be more than SGD 40K a month. He can pretty well live a life of luxury - a condo in district 10, a merc or two, or maybe a couple of beemers at his disposal, dining out every night. I am not saying that this is what he possesses or does - but that's what his monthly salary can afford him to do. Should a pastor even be tempted to live such a lifestyle? If you answer, why not, then the next question is: can a man serve two masters - God and money?

Another leading church, Trinity Christian Centre (TCC) which is fairly large and successful (annual income of SGD 17.4 million) reportedly paid its two top pastors SGD 150K which works out to about SGD 12K a month.

Going by the test of reasonableness, I would say TCC probably got it right. This type of income would enable its pastors to live a fairly comfortable life - not extravagant, mind you - but sufficient for an average lifestyle with a medium-sized japanese car and a small suburban condo unit.

To give Pastor Prince his dues, it has been reported that Pastor Prince has requested for a "no-pay scheme" with the Church in 2006 but this was turned down by the Council. In any case, Pastor Prince has donated his entire salary of SGD 500K back to the church. I guess he does not need the money because he has plenty of royalty from his book deals and fees from other speaking engagements.

Now I wonder why the Council did not accede to his request and insisted on paying him the astronomical salary? Could it be for tax purposes that the church wanted to make the pay-out?

Or by spinning the money around like this, does it make Pastor Prince look like the good guy and philanthropist, when in fact, the money was from the church in the first place?

There is something not quite right here.

What I can say is this, if I ever want to attend a church in Singapore. I would not go near NCC. I am just not comfortable with the whole set-up.

Judging by the sheer number of discussions generated in cyberspace, I don't think NCC is doing great service to the larger Christian population who does not preach the prosperity gospel.