The men who are made to preach in the OALC are some of the most abused individuals I know of. They have no formal training yet are supposed to teach and lead their congregations. They are called at any hour of the day and night to give counsel or help to the people under their care. They can't be paid by the church because that would make them "hirelings." Yet many of them have large families to provide and care for. They don't ask for the position, they are given it by the church leaders.To refuse the call would mean being disobedient to God and so they try, and try and try some more to do the impossible with nothing. It is their families that pay the highest price.

I once heard of a preacher's son who answered the phone as the family was preparing to go on an outing. The caller asked for his Dad. The boy told them to call one of the other preachers and hung up. Can't say that I blame him!

I heard of another preacher who was out of work and wanted to move to a place where he had been offered a job. He was told he could not move. The preachers who were in power even had the gall to ask his wife, the mother of many young children, if she could find a job!

Like I said, they have no training. In the old testament God put the Levite tribe in charge of the temple. They were the only tribe that did not receive land as an inheritance. The other tribes were instructed to give one tenth of their income, crops, etc to the Lord and the levites were to take their living from that.

In the new testament 1Timothy 5:18 says that those who direct the the affairs of the church, especially those who work in teaching and preaching should receive double honor because the scripture says "do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain" and "the worker deserves his wages".

Paul made a point of the telling the Church in Thessolonica that although he had worked night and day when he was among them so that he would not be a burden to them it was not because he did not have a right to such help.There is clearly a biblical basis for paying preachers!

It is slavery to demand a man's service, dictate where he lives, put no limits on the hours he can be called on for advice and counsel, and pay him nothing! There is no biblical basis for it.

And slavery was outlawed in 1864.