# Are there any religions/denominations/churches that do pastoral care on a fee for service basis? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 28, 2009, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-religions-denominations-churches-that-do-pastoral-care-on-a-fee-for-service-basis/515463 "2009-10-28T16:19:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-religions-denominations-churches-that-do-pastoral-care-on-a-fee-for-service-basis/515463/1 "2009-10-28T16:19:10Z")
A remark in the second post of the [Why should priests be afforded greater privilege than lawyers?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=537191) prompts this question: > [@Why should priests be afforded greater privilege than lawyers?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-should-priests-be-afforded-greater-privilege-than-lawyers/514978/2): > > A client pays for the time spent communicating with his/her attorney or physician. > Fee for service. > > A person communicating with a priest does not receive a bill at the end of the month. This is one large important difference… Clerics of any religion do in fact not usually work on a fee for service basis, rather they are supported by more general income sources like tithes/income from church-owned property or investment/donations/state subsidies etc. But are there exceptions? There _are_ a significant number of fiercely and proudly pro-capitalist clergy, particularly in the US. Is there any church where, when a parishioner says “Pastor, I am deeply troubled. Could we have a talk?” the answer will be on the lines of “Of course, come along to my study. That will be $100/hour, billed in 15-minutes increments.”? ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-religions-denominations-churches-that-do-pastoral-care-on-a-fee-for-service-basis/515463/2 "2009-10-28T18:32:08Z")
It’s not always easy to separate the allegations from the facts concerning Scientology, but from what I’ve gathered online, most if not all of the services they offer are fee-based. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-religions-denominations-churches-that-do-pastoral-care-on-a-fee-for-service-basis/515463/3 "2009-10-28T19:28:16Z")
I think paying the clergy person directly would have negative tax consequences for him or her. I’ve never heard of paying for counselling from a clergyperson, but I could see it for other services like a wedding where the couple does not attend the church. Even then, though, the payment would typically go to the church (with the clergy perhaps receiving a tip or gratuity). ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-religions-denominations-churches-that-do-pastoral-care-on-a-fee-for-service-basis/515463/4 "2009-10-28T20:00:39Z")
I’ve never heard of clergy charging a fee for pastoral care. I have experienced a minister refusing an honorarium for performing a wedding for non-members. Charging to minister to church members would probably go over as well as a turd in the punchbowl – I can’t imagine anyone getting away with it in the churches I’m familiar with. As for non-members, the clergy at our church are so busy with their assigned duties I don’t see where they’d have the time to take on clients. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-religions-denominations-churches-that-do-pastoral-care-on-a-fee-for-service-basis/515463/5 "2009-10-28T21:39:46Z")
Fees for weddings and speaking engagements (for example, hiring another church’s pastor to do your church’s retreat) are pretty common. A Presbyterian church I attended had a therapist on staff who billed by the hour (though the therapist used a sliding fee scale so that you paid only what you could afford; the church’s funds covered patients who couldn’t pay). But even there, you could still see the pastor about more general-purpose concerns without any fee. Every pastor I’ve ever known has drawn a line between pastoral counseling and therapy, and felt that both had their place. As for tax implications - this kind of thing would need to classified property and generally reported as self-employment income, but the implications are not necessarily negative unless you count paying taxes as a negative thing in and of itself.