Compensation and Guidelines

Compensation and Guidelines

Greetings in Christ to you on behalf of the SD Synod Compensation and Guidelines Task Force.

The membership of this committee consists of rostered ministers, lay employees, and lay leaders from across the Synod and serves under the Support to Ministry Committee.

The goal of our collective work is to provide congregations in South Dakota with information to assist with maintaining professional employment standards for both rostered ministers and lay employees, including Synod Authorized Ministers (SAM’s).

Key Recommendations adopted by the 2025 Synod Assembly for the 2026 Guidelines:

• The Salary Table reflects a 5% increase for both Rostered Ministers and Lay Staff from 2025. This is part of a multi-year plan to raise up the salaries of clergy and lay staff.  The South Dakota Synod has moved from 9^th out of 10 synods in 2022 in the Upper Midwest to 4^th in 2026.
  • Newly ordained ministers: $45,437
  • Salaried lay staff: $39,505
  • The suggested hourly rate for lay staff is $15.00. Congregations should be aware of the “prevailing” wages in their community.
• Additional Considerations separated Large Congregations & Senior Pastors with staff supervision.
• Annual Continuing Education was increased from $800 per year to $1,000.
• Portico Benefits created new Health Insurance Policies for 2026. The information was not available prior to the Synod Assembly to make a recommendation.  The Select Copay2000 is most similar to the previous Gold+ and the Select HDHP2000 is similar to the Silver+.

(While it is not explicitly stated in the Guidelines, the understood policy is that congregations provide health insurance for their pastor and family.)

• Part-Time Ministry was a major topic for the 2026 Guidelines. Information and policies were gathered from across the ELCA.
  • 3 Models for Part-time Ministry were identified with the option of creating a “Hybrid” Call
    • Model 1: less days per week
    • Model 2: less Sundays per month
    • Model 3: less months per year
    • Hybrid Model: combination of 1, 2, 3
  • Salary and Benefit Guidelines are included in the pertinent sections along with the new Appendix I.

The work of the committee is ongoing. Members of the committee welcome your suggestions and questions. We are called to serve both city and rural congregations. As a result, the scope of the work is diverse and challenging.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the Synod office at synod@sdsynod.org or (605) 274-4011.

Respectfully submitted by members of the Synod Guidelines & Compensation Task Force.