Half of Evangelical Preachers Have "Day Jobs"

In one way it was almost stunning to learn how many churches have preachers who have other jobs and are paid little or do it voluntarily. Then I started remembering how many such churches and individuals I've known in my own narrow life and realized it's quite a few. 

The entire Mormon church is run largely by volunteer clergy. The breakaway versions run on volunteers also. I suppose the paid preacher concept came out of Catholicism where, as we all know, clergy are not well paid but take a "vow of poverty." A few are quite wealthy. 

The model of a traditional Christian church is unsustainable. The expensive building is underused. A full time paid preacher needs to bring in new paying members as others die or leave. I've read it takes a membership of at least 100 active and paying members to afford a full-time preacher. Churches often have only 50 members.  

The economics of a church make it inevitable that small ones will be run by low budget volunteers. What remains a mystery is why there are any denominations that still require an expensive advanced university degree for someone to become a fully license clergy. We're talking Catholics here. The number of priests is falling, their average age is rising. The same is true of Missouri Synod Lutherans and others I'm sure. To survive, a denomination needs lots of clergy and volunteers knocking on doors finding members or stealing them from other churches.

There is a built in resistance to lowering the credentials. Those clergy already credentialed don't benefit from the competition. The seminaries need students and if seminaries are not required they are gone. 

In business, competition with a decent product and lower cost crowds out the older brands. That is the inevitable future of Christianity.