More Freedom of Choice. Ministry, by necessity, limits some choices for the ministry family. Home ownership is one area where you can have more control. You may make certain decisions about your home’s appearance and maintenance, without waiting for a committee decision or for a volunteer handy man to have enough spare time.You can change things to reflect the way you want to live. For the house I own, I picked lime green for my front door, and it suits me just fine.

Less Thoughtless Requests. Ministry requires a high level of willing sacrifice and loving accommodation. But, some church members ask too much. Unthinkingly, they treat the manse like a public service center, especially when it is close to the church building. Having your own home a short distance away from the church cuts down on the requests for unlocking services, restroom facilities and a place to hang out while waiting for a ride home.

Even though I am an advocate of offering hospitality and showing mercy, I think church members would be alarmed if surprise visitors stopped by their homes to ask for the same things they routinely request from the residents of the manse.

More Privacy. Ministry families need a haven where they can be themselves without fear of offending. Instead, the occupants of some manses have an uneasy feeling of being a guest in someone else’s home. For them, a house or condo could provide a relaxing place that they call “home.”

Lower expectations. Ministers expect to be evaluated on their faithfulness to the truth of the Bible and their loving concern for the flock. However, the ministry family should not have the added stress of being judged on the way they do or do not dust the furniture.

When the house belongs to the church, its members may feel entitled to unannounced inspections of their community property to make sure it is run the way they want it to be run. In addition, if the church is directly paying the pastor’s heating and air conditioning bills, it might pass judgment on the temperature setting in the manse. Personal home ownership helps those in ministry avoid such pressures.

More financial security. Pastors retire. Pastors change churches. If they have equity in a home they own, they are able to buy another house in a new location.  This money is especially good to have when going to a new church that does not own a manse.

More emotional stability. Unfortunately, pastors are sometimes fired. Losing a job and the support of fellow Christians is hard enough without the pressure to move away with no income or home equity. The minister who lives in a manse has no claims on it once he is let go.

A pastor’s wife, who lives in a manse, finds herself in a similar situation if her husband dies suddenly. She does have a caring congregation, but she needs a home, too.

When church circumstances allow a pastor to buy his own home, he should seriously consider it. If nothing else, home ownership might keep the man’s woeful story off the desperate preacher list.

* Manse is a fancy Presbyterian word for parsonage. In spite of the way the word sounds, the actual house is not usually a mansion.