For federal tax purposes, a church is any recognized place of worship—including synagogues, mosques and temples—regardless of its adherents’ faith or religious belief. The IRS automatically recognizes churches as 501(c) (3) charitable organizations if they meet the IRS requirements.

Parsonage is a somewhat old-fashioned term for the housing a church provides to its clergy. Parsonage literally means “house for a parson,” and a parson is the member of the clergy, mainly in the British Anglican church, although Lutherans often use this terminology too.

A minister’s housing allowance (sometimes called a parsonage allowance or a rental allowance) is excludable from gross income for income tax purposes but not for self-employment tax purposes.

According to IRS guidelines, a pastor is considered self-employed if a church does not have control over the pastor’s employment status or activities. When a pastor is given a housing allowance or provided a parsonage, the IRS does not require this compensation to be reported as taxable income.

Ministers cannot opt out of Social Security because they think it’s a bad investment. A minister must certify opposition on the basis of religious principles to acceptance of public insurance. That includes payments for death, disability, retirement or medical care.

Church Employees and FICA (Social Security and Medicare) Churches are required to pay Social Security and Medicare taxes for non-clergy employees in addition to withholding federal income from their wages, according to the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA).

Most pastors are paid an annual salary by their church. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2016 the average salary was $45,740 annually, or $21.99 hourly. This is the median. Also, some churches may be too poor to pay an annual salary to the pastor.

A pastor has a unique dual tax status. While they can be considered an employee of a church, for federal income tax purposes a pastor is considered self-employed by the IRS. Some pastors are considered independent contractors if they aren’t affiliated with one specific church, like traveling evangelists.

According to the Evangelical Council for Financial Responsibility, one of the most frequently asked questions is whether churches can pay workers, such as secretaries and custodians, as independent contractors rather than employees. The answer is generally no if the church controls the services performed by the worker.

A pastor (abbreviated as “Pr” or “Ptr” {singular}, or “Ps” {plural}), is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism and Anglicanism, pastors are always ordained, as with Catholicism and Orthodoxy.

According to the dictionary, a pastor is defined as a minister or a priest in charge of a church. He may also be a person giving spiritual care to a group of believers. On the other hand, “reverend” refers to a title or an initial for anyone who is a member of the clergy.

The term “pastor” means “shepherd” and is used several times in the New Testament to refer to church workers. Many Protestants use the term as a prenominal title (e.g., Pastor Smith) or as a job title (like Senior Pastor or Worship Pastor).

In some Methodist churches, especially in the United States, ordained and licensed ministers are usually addressed as Reverend, unless they hold a doctorate in which case they are often addressed in formal situations as The Reverend Doctor. In informal situations Reverend is used.

Reverend, the ordinary English prefix of written address to the names of ministers of most Christian denominations. In the 15th century it was used as a general term of respectful address, but it has been habitually used as a title prefixed to the names of ordained clergymen since the 17th century.

Throughout the Catholic Church, East as well as West, a priest may not marry. In the Eastern Catholic Churches, a married priest is one who married before being ordained. The Catholic Church considers the law of clerical celibacy to be not a doctrine, but a discipline.

So you can use the title “reverend” if you please, but if you’re a Christian you can’t say you were ordained if it was online (or in the mail) — that’s just a flat lie.

Deacons in the Uniting Church are called to minister to those on the fringes of the church and be involved in ministry in the community. Deacons offer leadership in a ministry of service to the world. In the Uniting Church both ministers of the word and deacons are styled The Reverend.

In some denominations they are called Ministers of Word and Sacrament, and in others they are called Teaching Elders. Ministers called to a particular congregation are called pastors, and serve a function analogous to clergy in other denominations. The presbyteries are responsible for the ordination of the ministers.

Women’s ordination is now non-controversial in the United Church of Christ. The Evangelical Covenant Order of Presbyterians (ECO) ordains women as both Teaching Elders (pastors) and Ruling Elders. The Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC) allows individual congregations to determine whether or not they ordain women.

Presbyterian theology typically emphasizes the sovereignty of God, the authority of the Scriptures, and the necessity of grace through faith in Christ. Presbyterian church government was ensured in Scotland by the Acts of Union in 1707, which created the Kingdom of Great Britain.

Purpose. The simple yet dignified gown is meant to convey the authority and solemn duty of the ordained minister or accredited lay preacher.

A collar is a sign of a person’s religious calling, and helps others in the community to identify them, regardless of their faith. Worn by priests around the world, the clerical collar is a narrow, stiff, and upright white collar that fastens at the back.

The ceremonial scarf worn by Anglican priests, deacons, and lay readers is formally called a tippet, although it is often known colloquially as a “preaching scarf”. It is worn with choir dress and hangs straight down at the front.

In Protestant churches, the stole is most often seen as the symbol of ordination and the office of the ministry of Word and Sacrament. Generally, Protestant clergy wear the stole in the same manner as Catholic priests—around the back of the neck with the ends hanging down the front (though not crossed).