Podcast Episode #096
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Bivocational pastors and church staff are my heroes. While there may be part-time pay involved, the job of ministry is always full-time. And those who work full-time in their secular jobs and still minister to and lead a local community of faith.
Some highlights from today’s episode include:
- Bivocational pastors and staff have evangelism opportunities full-time staff do not.
- Being a bivocational pastor or staff member breaks you out of your holy huddle.
- The digital workplace allows people to work on their own schedule and is an extremely viable option for being bivocational.
- Churches often know they need more staff leadership but can’t afford it. Bivocational leaders are a great option.
- Bivocational ministry will only increase in the years ahead.
The eight reasons bivocational ministry can be beneficial are:
- A secular or marketplace job will put you in the middle of culture on a regular basis.
- Full-time pastors and church staff often get missionally stale in their “holy huddles.”
- Smaller churches are increasingly unable to afford full-time pastors or staff.
- The digital world is offering more opportunities for flexible secular jobs than ever.
- More churches are moving toward multiple teaching/preaching pastors.
- More churches would like to expand staff, but don’t have the resources to do so.
- A bivocational pastor or church staff can have greater freedom than a person in a full-time role.
- A bivocational pastor or staff person has transferrable skills.
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Thom,
Thanks for the encouragement. As you said, and is certainly true, “While there may be part-time pay involved, the job of ministry is always full-time.”
After almost six years as a bi-vocational pastor I would agree with some of your points, however, while I understand what you mean by #8, the reality is there is less freedom simply because I am working essentially 2 full-time jobs. Time management is essential and often frustrating because I don’t have much down time.
Have a good weekend!
That’s a good point. Thanks, Nate.
Sorry Thom, I meant #7. I think you probably caught that.
Excellent points all. I see in small churches a connection between points 3 and 6. Specifically, I see cases of a small church (<100) paying a full-time salary for the pastor but having minimal resources for other staff ministers. Two other ministers churches normally want/need are a Minister of Music and a Minister of Youth. The scenario I mentioned creates a situation where the church cannot interest good candidates for these non-pastor positions because the pay is so small.
I can't help but wonder if the ministry of the church wouldn't be better off if they went to a Bi-Vocational Pastor and thus increase the budget for the other ministers the church needs.
I'm a data/statistics guy but I know it's very difficult to put firm numbers on salary ratios. However, I have looked for and not found guidelines regarding percentage of salary(ies) to overall church budget. I'd be interested in data regarding broad budget percentages for staff, discipleship(Sunday School, etc.), Missions, and Facility Management of healthy churches
I pastor such a church. I am paid a full time salary yet still have to work a part time job. Your suggestion would not necessarily work. I am a firm believer that many of these positions work well in a small church with volunteers I know it does in ours. Our church sees the availability if the pastor as more important than paid staff. They also believe it is more biblical to take care of the pastor since he is the called shepherd. That is why they pay as they do.
Thank you, David.
Certainly there is no one solution for every church. I’m glad that your situation works for you and the church. Something you said though makes me wonder if the church is wanting a chaplain to be there for THEM to meet THEIR needs versus a pastor leading them to reach out to the lost and unchurched. It’s great if both are being accomplished. I hope that is the case.
Thanks for the concern. Both are my ministry. I learned from a large church with small staff the value of volunteers. You just have to not over load them. Divide the ministry into smaller portions and get more of the congregation involved instead of them becoming dependent on hired staff. I have no problem with hired staff. I have patored churches with hired staff and now one that works well with all volunteers. You are right it does depend on the church.
I served bi-vocationally for thirteen years in my first two churches (they called me to “full-time” positions but it was not feasible financially), and I would easily consider going back. Yes, it is hard, but I believe the benefits to both the pastor and the congregation often outweigh the struggles.
The one area I feel is a detriment has nothing to do with the local church or the task itself. I believe that state and national denominational structures take virtually no consideration for the bi-vocational minister, nor for wives who work to help support their ministry husbands and families for that matter.
Serving bi-vocationally can be a very spiritually lonely calling. I am thankful for Jim Ballard, who was my DOM when I was serving in the Color Country Southern Baptist Association in Utah. Jim supported, encouraged, bragged on, promoted, and simply loved on his pastors, and he went out of his way to honor those of us who were bi-vocational. We need more like Jim, and we need our national convention leaders to understand that to a large extent it is small churches with bi-vocational pastors that empower and enable it, not the mega churches.
I am thankful that I am now beginning to here of these types of efforts on the national level. I will say Utah, where I have returned, does a great job, but having served six years in the Bible Belt, there is much still to do.
Thom, I want to close with a specific word of thanks to you. I know you have done much to speak to this. My prayer is that more will listen.
Thank you!
Hi Scott,
I appreciate so much your work as a bi-vocational pastor! In my county alone there are over 100 small churches led by bi-vocational pastors. I’m wondering if some of the loneliness has something to do with the fact that we maintain the solo pastor model? In other words, what would it look like if bi-vocational pastors raised up and trained other men on their congregations to be pastors and help share the preaching load as well as other pastoral responsibilities?
I understand that your article is aimed at leaders so I’m a bit surprised that you didn’t include the idea that more of the congregational members get to minister if your pastor is bi-vocational. This is one of the responsibilities of church leaders and the opportunity to serve opens up automatically when your pastor can’t “do it all”.
This is one of the mindsets that have crept into our congregations that makes me wonder where the roots are. Paid full time ministers have been around almost from the very beginning, but I can’t imagine that the attitude that the full time minister can “do it all” accompanied that from the beginning. If am increase in bi-vocational ministry helps us get rid of that attitude, then I’m all for it.
There are at least two classifications for bivocational pastorate. Those whose main income comes from a secular job and the church salary is a supplement. And there are those like me whose primary income is from the church and a secular part time job is a supplement. In this case there is no more freedom as a bivo than a fully funded pastor. I either lose their church they lose their primary source of income.
I suppose it would matter if the “supplemental” income could be turned into a full-time job if needed. It also matters what the income is. For instance, someone whose part-time (supplemental) job were website development would probably still have the financial freedom since it is, potentially anyway, scale-able and well paying.
I agree Steven. Good point. Thanks.
This podcast deeply resonates with my own experience in bi-vocational ministry. I work in the tech industry, which allows flexible hours and I serve on a pastoral team where the other pastor is also bi-vocational.
I am often asked “do you plan on going full-time?” And, for the first few years of my ministry that was my goal. However, as I have stayed in it I have come to see bi-vocational ministry as a type of calling, specifically because of the reasons you mentioned in the podcast. I may consider full-time ministry in the future if the church could afford it and needed more pastoral support, but it is no longer a “goal” for my ministry future.
I don’t experience it in my church but in the wider church/denominational culture there seems to be a certain bias against being bi-vocational. Most people are pretty surprised that I am happy being bi-vocational. Thank you for getting the word out.
Thank you for your ministry, Steven.
My personal experience comes from over seven years as a bivocational pastor of an independent,Pentecostal church. My time there was no doubt seven of the most fulfilling and happy years of my life.
Moving to a denominational church and being told by the state leader that “we don’t need any more part time pastors”was a shock to me.
That was over twenty five years ago and I still miss the ministry of that first church.
I was wondering about training interested church members in becoming lay chaplains. I feel many church members could take over some of the visitation duties and free up time for the paid staff. I place emphasis on completion of an intense training program. The one with which I am familiar, lasts several months and upon certification these chaplains are recognized by our local hospitals and hospices.
>church members could take over some of the visitation duties
Unfortunately, I don’t remember the name of the book I was reading. (It was from either Internet Archive, or Google books. I download and skip-read around fifty books per week from those two sites.)
The author lays out a scriptural basis for the Deacons and Elders being the people who should visit the sick, the elderly, infirm, or unable to attend church on Sunday. He goes on to say that if the individual is not doing that before being appointed Elder, or Deacon, the individual is not fit for the position. Furthermore, your weekly Bible Study should be preparing men to do that visitation.
I keep thinking that _church of Christ(Mutual Edification)_ has a good point. Fire the preacher, and have the individual members of the congregation to the teaching, outreach, visitation, and other things that are normally left up to the paid preacher.
Dr.Rainer,
Thank you for your post affirming the role of bivocational pastor. Historically there has been a viewpoint in the established church culture that bivocational ministers are people who could not “make the cut” in fulltime positions. Thankfully that prejudice has diminished.
Recently I have recieved contacts from fulltime chuarch staff asking about strategies to transition to bivocational ministry, and it has been a rewarding to help. It would be wise for younger church staff to develop a relstionship with a seasoned bivo minister. There may be a time you will need their counsel.
Thankful for your ministry, Danny.
As the wife of a bivocational pastor for many years, I appreciate the support. These are all of the great things about being bivocational.
I would echo Scott in that denominational leaders (SBC) sing the praises of bivocational pastorates, but don’t minister to strengthen these pastors in a practical way.
I see these pastors and wives year after year running into burnout faster and faster. When we focus on the positives, but don’t address the real concerns for the well being of the families, churches and pastors, we see pastors who are isolated for many reasons.
I have met few bivocational pastors who would say it has benefited their families and marriages to be asked to do 2 or more full time jobs. They often feel inadequate in both occupations/venues and struggle to eek out family time, devotional time and time for feeding the flock that God has called them to. These deficits make it so hard to meet the qualifications of a spiritual leader.
Seeing that so many are ready to serve despite the real and consistent difficulties and sacrifices reminds me that we have a great God who is sufficient. He has grown us through these years, but that growth has a high cost as all ministry and true following of Christ does. A realistic picture of bivocational ministry includes recognition of the sacrifices and encouragement for churches and individuals to work to fill in the gaps.
After years in a career in teaching and school administration in public education, God called me into the pastoral ministry, and for the last five years I’ve led a small church in Virginia. I’m bivocational, serving the church and teaching in a small, Christian school (not affiliated with my church).
I see my ministry in the school as the ‘other half’ of my ministry. My church is mostly older people, and we have few youth and children (but not for lack of trying!) at the church. God has opened this door for me to teach and work with these kids during each day, and it’s incredible. He has given me a group of young people to work with throughout the week — a group that my church is missing.
The two groups — my older folks in the church, and my younger kids at school — when put together, combine to be like leading a larger church. My income from the two are roughly equal to each other, and, combined, are about what I would make if I led a larger congregation.
In my situation, God has clearly put my two ministries together in a great way, and I love them both.
Couldnt agree more with the podcast. It is so encouraging to hear that there is some recognition for the legitimacy of bivocational ministry over in North America. Unfortunately it is not the case in Australia. We are closing churches at an unprecedented rate in rural Australia, while almost all denominations refusing to look at anything but fully funded pastors. I got told by our governing body that bivocational ministry is not sustainable and that there is no longevity in bivocational ministry!
This is while we are busy closing churches all over. Earlier this week I had to attend another meeting to close another church, and my heart is breaking. The church in rural Australia is nearing extinction. And I am grieving over it.
Some background about myself – Bivo Baptist minister of a small Outback church, with another full time managerial position, and a young family.