HI Frank ... will do what I can to reply to multiple questions here ... as long as the attention span of the oldest area minister can last ....
there are few standards for the engagement of interim pastors. that is not what you or they want to hear, but each arrangement is often built around the particular needs of the candidate. Mostly, heretofore, churches have dealt more with retired or semi-retired pastors who already had medical coverage and SS taken care of, so it was a matter of providing only cash remuneration and travel expenses. More and more, however, we are engaging others such as Bob Andrews who are in between permanent positions so that I see more creative approaches.
My approach in this situation where the candidate has their own needs for keepin-on ...... health insurance being a crucial one .... car, apartment rent, food ..... I would suggest the church decide what the position was worth. The best guideline we have used for this was to take the previous pastor's cash salary and prorate it on how many days or "half-days" commitment it is expecting from the interim pastor. I find the lay leaders need help at this point in arriving at a realistic # of half-days. They often need reminded that there is considerable prep time for preaching and teaching, funerals, etc. that is much less visible and often neglected in such a determination of hours or 'half-days'. Once this figure is arrived at of what the position demands in time commitments and what $ value the church is willing to put on that, then I would encourage the candidate to take that $ figure and divide it however they wish or to whatever advantage they can get considering their own needs and tax situations, etc.
In Bob Andrew's situation --- if the compensation is marginal --- they may wish to be clear that he would be and should be free to take on a part-time job outside the church and they would understand he may not be available to them during those times. He first talked like he would commute back to Titusville each week and keep a base of operations there, but lately he has indicated he may make a more permanent relocation to the interim field of service.
I'm not sure how helpful this all is .... each arrangement is kind of custom fit for the local parish needs and the needs of the candidate for the interim position. The role of the area minister seems to me to be one of providing counsel and watchcare to facilitate that both the church and the candidate are treated with fairness, remembering that pastors are often of such temperaments that they are very hesitant to suggest a figure or seem to be asking for something for themselves.
I suppose the piece I neglected to address is that interims are usually treated as 'contractors' and as such the items like retirement, ss offset, and med insurance are not usually the responsibility of the church. However, for an interim doing their job ..... there may be extraordinary pastoral professional expenses such as hosting (meals purchased) and print and training resources which are likely more important during this interim period than during a period when there is a sitting permanent pastor. The car expenses should be covered just as the church would for a permanent pastor. .... some special considerations may be given here if the candidate is commuting daily or weekly from a distance, just as a contractor would adjust his/her contract estimate for travel time and expenses. Just a thought.