So, your salary can’t pay the rent. now what?

Across the country we are seeing churches wrestle with the same realization.

They look at the cost of living in their community.
They look at their current budget.
And they come to an honest conclusion:

The salary we can offer right now simply doesn’t cover rent or a mortgage in our city.

Many church leaders find themselves in this exact moment. They know the math. They know what housing costs. They know what the budget can realistically support.

And it can feel like an impossible situation.

But there is actually a great opportunity hidden inside this tension.

Because sometimes the issue isn’t just the salary. Sometimes it’s the structure of the role itself.

For many years, churches defaulted to a simple staffing model. Roles were assumed to be full-time. Job descriptions grew. Expectations expanded. And salaries often lagged behind the reality of what the role required.

So when the financial gap becomes clear, many churches assume their only option is to somehow increase the salary.

But across the country we are seeing churches explore other creative approaches that can actually lead to healthier ministry models.

Here are five conversations we’re having with churches right now as they navigate the salary gap and rethink the future of ministry staffing.

1. Rethinking The Scope Of The Search

One hiring principle I’ve started sharing more often with churches is this:

If a church isn’t able to offer a salary that allows someone relocating to your area to reasonably cover housing, a national search may not be the best path.

That same salary may work well for someone already living in the community. A leader who purchased their home several years ago, who understands the cost of living locally, or who already has roots in the area may find the role much more sustainable than someone trying to relocate in today’s housing market.

When churches launch national searches for roles that realistically only work financially for someone already local, the process can become discouraging for everyone involved.

Candidates feel confused when the compensation doesn’t match the scope of the role.
Churches feel frustrated when strong candidates ultimately decline.

Sometimes the solution isn’t expanding the search.

Sometimes it’s narrowing it.

2. Bi-Vocational Roles (Done Intentionally)

For some churches, the future may include more bi-vocational ministry roles.

But the key difference is intentionality.

Instead of underpaying a full-time expectation, churches are designing roles that are truly part-time with clear expectations, allowing leaders the freedom to pursue other work without burnout.

And something interesting is happening here.

More and more high-capacity leaders actually prefer this kind of structure.

Many younger leaders enjoy having their hands in more than one area of work. Some are entrepreneurs. Some consult. Some teach, write, or lead in other spaces alongside their ministry role.

When expectations are clear, these leaders often show up with incredible focus and energy in the hours they are serving the church.

And here’s another benefit churches are discovering: when a role is designed around 25–30 hours instead of stretching toward 40, it often allows the church to pay a much stronger hourly equivalent.

In other words, the leader is still being compensated well for the time they are giving while also having the freedom to earn income elsewhere.

In many cases, a highly engaged leader working 25–30 focused hours can bring more creativity, clarity, and momentum than a leader stretched thin across 50 scattered hours.

When done well, this model can create healthier rhythms, stronger leaders, and more sustainable ministry.

3. Rethinking The Candidate Profile

A question we often lead with is whether their ideal candidate profile needs to shift.

Many churches begin a search hoping to hire someone with five to seven years of experience who can step in and run immediately. And that instinct makes sense. When a role is important and complex, leaders want someone who already knows what they’re doing.

But sometimes the tension between salary expectations and experience requirements creates a hiring gap.

Churches are hoping for a seasoned leader, while the salary realistically fits someone earlier in their leadership journey.

That doesn’t mean the role can’t be filled well. It simply means the profile of the candidate might need to change.

That’s exactly why we built our coaching model the way we did. Much like our staffing work, our coaching is intentionally designed to be accessible and affordable for churches.

Your salary may realistically fit a younger leader, but when that leader is paired with one of our consultants who brings 16–28 years of ministry experience, the church gains far more than a single hire. You gain seasoned perspective, strategic guidance for the ministry, and consistent one-on-one development for the leader stepping into the role.

We hold (2) 1 hour calls a month, provide practical assignments, accountability, and tools unique to the goals and context of your church, and keep the executive leader in the loop throughout the process so there are no surprises.

Our goal isn’t to replace the leadership of the executive pastor. It’s to come alongside both the church and the next-generation leader to help bridge the gap.

Our most common coaching engagement is six months, though some churches choose a three-month on-ramp, a twelve-month coaching season, or occasional consulting depending on their needs.

Sometimes the solution to a hiring challenge isn’t finding the perfect candidate.

It’s creating a development pathway that allows the right leader to grow into the role.

4. Are You Sure There Isn’t Someone Within?

One of the questions we often ask churches is simple:

Are you sure the leader you’re looking for isn’t already sitting in your church?

Many churches immediately launch external searches when a role opens up because that’s what everyone does. Right? But in many cases, the strongest next-generation leaders are already volunteering, interning, or serving within the ministry.

They know the culture.
They know the families.
They already have relational trust.

Of course, the challenge many executive leaders feel is margin. Coaching and developing a younger leader takes time, and most leadership teams already feel stretched thin.

That’s exactly why we built the coaching model we mentioned earlier.

For many churches, having an outside partner walk alongside both the executive leader and the next-generation leader creates the space needed to raise leaders from within without adding more weight to an already full plate.

And when churches begin developing leaders internally, something powerful happens. The ministry becomes more stable, the culture becomes stronger, and the leadership pipeline begins to grow from within the church itself.

Sometimes the leader you’re searching for isn’t out there somewhere. They’re already in the room.

5. Investing Where The Mission Is

Another conversation some leadership teams are beginning to have is this:

If the next generation is central to the future of the church, does our budget reflect that?

Sometimes the challenge isn’t simply affordability.

It’s alignment.

Budgets reveal priorities.

And many churches are beginning to ask whether their investment in next-generation leadership reflects the importance they say it holds.

What we’ve learned from working with churches across the country is that there isn’t one perfect answer to the salary tension.

Every church has a different context.
A different budget.
A different leadership culture.

What matters most is having the right conversations and designing roles that actually fit the reality of your church.

If you are wrestling with this tension, you aren’t alone. And our team at Next Wave is here to link arms with you and can specifically help you navigate this conversation in our 2 day consulting package.

During those two days, one of our consultants works directly with your leadership team to evaluate your next-gen structure, org chart, salary expectations, and leadership pipeline. Together we walk through the exact kinds of conversations outlined in this article and help your team design a staffing model that aligns with both your vision and your financial reality.

For many churches, those two days create the clarity they’ve been trying to find for months.

If you’d like help thinking through the structure of your next-gen ministry, send Rachael an email to start the conversation and request a proposal for a two-day onsite consulting intensive.

Because the goal isn’t just filling positions.

The goal is building a ministry structure that can sustain your unique mission for years to come.