This outta be good. 
Indeed. I bet I know where she's going to go too.
OMG, the pressure! LOL (love the avatar, btw, SJ).
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Okay, my random thoughts on the subject...
1. Preachers are not all the same. Some are better at preaching than others. Some are better at explaining than others. Some are better at clarifying, better at connecting with the congregation, better at articulating their thoughts, better at pronouncing their words, better at keeping the congregation engaged, better at preparing, better at delivering, the list goes on and on... but no, we are not all the same.
2. What makes a preacher a "big name" is when people recognize his/her name. LOL. That was an easy one. No seriously, some preachers are locally big, meaning that everyone in their metro area or state knows who they are. Some are big only in their organizations. Some are just plain big. The thing is, people become "big" by preaching well and connecting with the right people, going through the right doors when they open up, etc. (I intentionally left out the spiritual aspects like praying, fasting, being called, etc... we all know that).
3. There's nothing wrong with wanting to invite a "big" preacher to your church. In fact, it could be a very beneficial means of evangelism and church growth. Big preachers attract people that "no name" preachers don't. Like it? Maybe not, but it's the truth anyhow. If having Bishop Somebody at your church turns the whole town out, that gives you the opportunity to minister to folks you may not have had the opportunity to minister to otherwise. It can also increase your intake significantly. It can also put your church's name on the "map." Still don't like it? Okay, but it's still the truth.
4. Bishop Noel Jones is one "big" preacher who does not have an honorarium. I just thought I'd throw that out there.
5. I believe that this conversation could easily be equated to the discussion of whether musicians should get paid, whether other ministry servants should get paid, etc. It really is the same thing, when you get down to the nuts and bolts of it. You charge what your time/ministry is worth, and like U13 said, when the demand goes up, so does your fee. Some preachers pay a lot of money and make a lot of sacrifices to get their multiple degrees, which makes them better preachers. Some put a lot of time/money into other resources (books, conferences, research), which makes them better. Some spend a lot of time praying and preparing. It's like the musician who has to buy the keyboard, buy the study DVDs, attend the workshops, buy the mp3s, practice, practice, and practice some more... it costs money. I believe preachers who
do "live of the gospel" should be adequately compensated for their travel time, time away from their families, dry cleaning, preparation, etc. Preaching ain't easy. HOWEVER, I can't get with the ones that will only come if you pay them $5,000 or $15,000 or even $1000. I just think their expenses should be paid (hotel, flight/gas, AND meals), and anything else should be a free will offering based on what the church can afford.
HOWEVER, it's not that simple... why? Because church people will try to get over on you. I've seen it way too many times. You tell a person, "oh, Bishop Smith doesn't charge an honorarium, but he'll gladly receive whatever offering you give." And they'll use the preacher to raise a $5000 offering (and know good and doggone well that their church has never had an offering over $500), and then they'll give him $100. Now he just drove 4 hours to get to your church, will drive 4 hours back, sweated his clothes out, had to eat out, brought a profit to your church, and you give him $100? He proved his worth when he raised a $5000 offering, but you gave him a check worth $100?
THIS is why the preachers started doing these mandatory honoraria. For the record, I don't believe in mandatory honoraria for preachers. But I sure can understand why they do it.
What is common today is that many preachers will raise their own speakers' offering, which is theirs to keep. Or, they may do a 50/50 split with the host church. That comes with problems too, because some churches will try to be slick about the amount raised so they don't have to pay out as much. I remember at a former church we had a guest speaker, and when our finance people went into the office to count, the guest church sent two of their people back there with our people. One of the ushers came and got me to go get things settled (because we had rules about not allowing anyone in the office during counting). Their guy told me that their policy was that they always accompany counters, and that he thought their administrator would've cleared that with me in advance. Their administrator later told me that her pastor had been shafted too many times when the host church gives less than the 50% they agreed to give. Doggone shame.
I could tell story after story of preachers who really shock me with their honoraria and negotiating practices and riders (yes, preachers have riders). I know of one big-name preacher who told a pastor she required $5000. He said, "that's way over our budget; can we do $4000?" She said no. I know of another who has a member who works for Marriott and gets a discount. The church always puts guests at the Marriott. This big-namer insisted on staying at another hotel instead, even though it ended up costing them $150/night more. Then there was the big-name Bishop who insisted on travel accommodations for his wife and adjutant (and his wife didn't even come to 2 of the 3 services). I could go on and on... these folks are a trip.
BOTTOM LINE: I don't think anyone should ever reject an invitation to preach because the host church does not have enough money to afford them. That is just wrong.
