THANK YOU to STEAMBOAT ROCK BAPTIST CHURCH / MEMO to the NEXT PARSONAGE DWELLERS

I was recently asked at a Stewardship Team Meeting, “What if the next pastor doesn’t want to live in the parsonage?”  Surprisingly, the thought had not really entered my head.  (I was once nicknamed “Mr. Hypothetical” by my military classmates for questions that had entered my head and left my mouth unnecessarily.)  My first thought was what a waste of a nice, new kitchen!  But my response was, “Do you want to eliminate a good candidate from consideration because they don’t want to live in the parsonage?”  A couple of people I have posed that question to have said, “Yes.”

 Reasons why a pastor may not want to live in a parsonage:

1)      The relationship between a church or church leaders, their pastor, and their parsonage can get a little weird.  Stories I have heard or known about from other churches:

…trustees euthanized a pastor couple’s cat while the long-tenured pastor was away receiving medical treatment because the cat was stinking up the basement. 

…pastor woke up in the morning and wandered into the parsonage kitchen to see well-meaning ladies from the church working unannounced and uninvited after letting themselves in.

…church scheduled regular meetings in the parsonage basement and used it as an extension of the church and informed the pastor’s family this will continue.

2)      The pastor’s family might want the independence of owning their own home and the opportunity to build home equity.

Reasons why the next pastor should want to live in this parsonage:

1)      This church takes care of the parsonage and the family in the parsonage:

2003 – Parsonage was all cleaned before we arrived, and the church actually moved our stuff in while we were still in Sioux Falls.  This is one of the only times in over 20 years that church people were in the parsonage without us being there, and they were blessing us.

2004 – The upstairs bathroom was completely remodeled and reoriented with a new tub surround kit and side-by-side sinks installed.  Another upstairs ¾ bath was added.  I believe the total for this project was $16,000.  These bathrooms saw a lot of use over the years!  Thank you!

2007 – New front door, new soffit, and fascia, new gutter, and downspouts spending over $15,000.

2008 – New double pane windows throughout the parsonage spending over $16,000.

2010 – New roof on parsonage and garage spending over $13,000.

2011 – Tuckpointing of parsonage and spending over $11,000.

2013 – New pad and carpet installed in living room, on stairs, and upstairs hallway and hardwood floors were refinished sometime around there.

2017 – Beautiful new deck built spending over $7,000

2018 – Converted furnace to Natural Gas, removed LP tank, and installed new water heater and clothes dryer.

2022 – New sidewalk poured.

2023 – New kitchen with wall opened between dining room and kitchen, new cabinets, countertop, sink, fixtures, and all new stainless-steel appliances over $70,000 spent.

This list does not include two new washing machines, a new dryer, a new oven, a new fridge, two different new dishwashers, a new sink, new furnace, new air conditioner, two different sets of window blinds, new Pella sliding glass door on deck and many other electrical and other changes, two new lawnmowers and annual servicing of mowers.

2)      If we had purchased the house to build equity, we would have had to pay about $184,000 for all these repairs, replacements, and services along with $110,000 in utilities the church covered over the last 20 years.  This doesn’t include insurance or taxes.  It would be hard to imagine building $294,00 in equity in this market, and then we would have to pay the costs of selling our house. 

3)      Besides the financial benefits, the proximity of the parsonage has allowed the opportunity to run home for lunch with my wife or the family, to grab a cup of coffee, or to put out a fire with the kids (most metaphorical, although one was literal!!)  This house has been a wonderful home to our family and about every type of pet kids could want to own. 

So, if you have a pastor candidate who does not want to live in the parsonage, maybe you can show him this article.  As for this pastor and his “house,” we have been blessed by this parsonage.  Thanks for all you have done to make it our home!

Pastor Harrison