NASHVILLE (BP) — The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) Executive Committee’s (EC) approval Feb. 18 of a 2.9% increase in the salary structure for the EC staff does not guarantee a pay increase for EC staff.

EC Chairman Philip Robertson presented the recommendation from the officers, “That the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention authorize an adjustment of 2.9% increase, consistent with historical practices of the Executive Committee using Consumer Price Index information, in the staff salary structure of the SBC Executive Committee, effective Oct. 1, 2025.”

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor, “The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measure of the average change over time in the prices paid by urban consumers for a market basket of consumer goods and services.” The 2.9% increase was based on the CPI for the 12 months ending December 2024.

Robertson told EC members, “…this is not necessarily a salary increase. This is just a recommendation that the salary structure scale increase with the 2.9 CPI.”

“This action, which is not effective until the 25-26 budget year, does not trigger any salary increases for staff, and no staff salaries were adjusted as a result of this action,” EC Chief Financial Officer Mike Bianchi told Baptist Press. “The salary structure is used as a tool when evaluating an employee’s compensation.

“In addition, the salary structure is periodically reviewed by an independent outside compensation consultant to ensure consistency with industry compensation standards.”

(EDITOR’S NOTE — Brandon Porter serves as Vice President for Communications at the SBC Executive Committee.)