NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — The Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee has voted to raise the salaries for some of its upper-level employees as questions continue about the openness of its salary structure.
The vote came during the committee's Sept. 20 meeting, after members discussed a consultant's report showing that the salaries didn't measure up. While the Executive Committee's overall compensation was slightly above the midpoint of salaries at comparable organizations, it showed, the higher-level employees were about 22 percent lower than others in similar positions.
Committee officials did not release the report to the public, and members of the committee were required to sign their copies and turn them in after the discussion.
The motion to change the salary structure passed by a voice vote, with a few audible votes in opposition. Rob Zinn, the chair of the committee, said the vote does not mean salaries will automatically increase.
Committee members did not discuss salaries for specific positions during the meeting.
Roger Moran, an Executive Committee member from Missouri, asked why the Morris Chapman's salary was not included in the study. Chapman is the committee's chief executive officer.
Zinn replied that Chapman's salary was not part of the organization's salary structure. He said a separate study found that Chapman's salary was just below comparable positions in other organizations.
Moran, has raised questions about Executive Committee salaries before. During a June meeting of the body, he said he wanted an “open book policy” regarding salaries.
In the most recent meeting, Moran said the issue boils down to Executive Committee members not knowing Chapman's salary.
“I think we have a hard time selling some of these salaries,” he said.
In June, the Executive Committee approved a policy for examining employees' salaries.
The policy allows Executive Committee members to see an employee's salary once the committee member fills out a form pledging confidentiality of the information. The policy also requires the inquirer to state the reason for their request. The Executive Committee chairman and another officer must sign the form.
Moran and another Executive Committee member, Dean Nichols of Alaska, said the policy doesn't go far enough in disclosing employees' salaries.