Tag Archive - bivocational

Last Word (from me for now) on Bivocational Pastors/Ministry

May 8, 2009 in Ministry-Theology with 1 Comment

The last couple of weeks I had several posts on the issue of bivocational pastors/ministry. Two written by me, and one by Jon Sampson. It was a topic that has been on my mind for a while and you can read them below. And to everyone who commented, I’m still getting around to all of your comments….I really appreciate the stuff you wrote, and it made me think through a lot of things. So I’m planning to get through them all this weekend and hopefully leave some good feedback.

Bivocational Pastors: Are You One?


Bivocational Pastors Continued: Two Statements


Why Bivocational? 6 Reasons Why by Jon Sampson.

I was just going to close by saying this. I think that there are many different models of doing ministry, pastoring a church, etc. I don’t think one is more important than the other…or the right way. Volunteer, part-time, full-time…the Church needs them all. House church, small church, megachurch…the Church needs them all.

I’m learning along the journey that there are just models that I gravitate towards…that I feel most at home in…and that feel theologically accurate with my beliefs. But that doesn’t mean that other ways and models are not correct.

I just happen to be at this specific stage of the journey (thinking about bivocational ministry, new models of church, etc.), and you might be at another stage. But I hope along our journeys we can interact, learn and grow from one another.

Thanks.

Rhett

Why Bivocational? 6 Reasons Why

April 24, 2009 in Ministry-Theology with 21 Comments

This is a guest post by John Sampson.

headshotJohn is a Residence Director who supports discipleship and missional work for  Oasis Church in Pasadena, CA.  He blogs on church mission, leadership, and life at Jon Sampson. Jon also Twitters at @jonsampson.

Rhett’s recent post on bivocational ministry caught my attention. I guess it makes sense. The bivocational thing is the life I’m living as a Resident Director on a college campus and a Life Group’s pastor at a local church.

For me (and I’m sure, a lot of others), bivocational ministry is not a short-term thing for someone who can’t get a full-time ministry job. It’s a choice of ministry style based on what it produces. I believe bivocational ministry can be healthier for both the pastor and the church. Not only that, but it instills some powerful values in the organizations where actions speak louder than words.

But before we dive in to some of the why, let me share a little of the context. The models we have today aren’t disappearing. I don’t think the bivocational thing is the only way. But if we want Christianity to thrive as a culture changes and resist marginalization, we have to be willing to try all sorts of models to connect with all sorts of people.

I believe the bivocational thing is one way this is going to happen. It allows ministries to grow slowly and keeps Christians outside of the church where they can connect with others. I’m still learning how to do this thing, but I believe that despite the challenges, it’s important.

I recently shared six reasons why I believe bivocational ministry makes a difference on my blog. Here they are with quick summaries and an additional thought.

  1. Why Bivocational?  Shared Responsibility: All Christians have a job to do.  We can’t leave the ‘ministry” side of life to the paid “sage on the stage.”

    2. Continue Reading…

Bivocational Pastors Continued: Two Statements

April 22, 2009 in Ministry-Theology with 18 Comments

I don’t even know where to start. There were such great comments on my post from Monday. When I wrote the post I knew that I wasn’t the only one thinking about this topic, but it was amazing to read some great insights that I had not thought about.

A couple of things jumped out at me:

  1. Dan’s thoughts about “dual citizenship” and blurring the lines between staff and everyone else.
  2. Sara’s thoughts were super insightful. I worked/do work for a PCUSA church that hires women, but still at disproportionate numbers to men.  But she is right, lots of women hope for just a part-time role, making them bivocational traditionally, especially in Evangelical circles.
  3. Dave’s comments about not getting respect in a bivocational role I thought were interesting.  And later I read online about how many bivocational pastors are considered second class compared to full-time pastors.
  4. Kenny, you are right, the arrows should point together.
  5. Danny, it is a beautiful thing: movement towards group leadership.
  6. Jon, I love your heart (I work with Jon) for church ministry and ministry at the skate shop, etc.

So you all left me with a lot to think about.  And I will process them more in some upcoming posts.

But let me summarize for you what I’m feeling and thinking in a few statements.  But before I do that, let me say this.  I have grown up in the Church.  My dad went to Dallas Seminary and planted a church in Phoenix, AZ when I was 2 years old.  So I have grown up in the Church.  It is second nature.  I’m the kid folding bulletins, staying late to greet all the members, waiting around for Deacon meetings to end, etc, etc.  I have been volunteering in more official roles since I was 13, and I have been on staff of churches since I was 22.  I just wrapped up eight years as a full-time college pastor.  So I love the Church.  I love ministry.  I have been both part-time and full-time and now I’m currently part-time.

I say all this to say, that I have experience in the Church, and the views I’m wrestling with right now are not a value statement on one position being better than the other.  I’m neither for or against full-time, part-time, bivocational, non-vocational…whatever.  I’m just in the process of asking questions and re-thinking some things.

So the following are some thoughts that I sent out to a friend who is working on a church ministry/leadership project that has been surveying leaders all around the country for the last year.  I talked about this issue with them, and spoke about the same thing, but in two different ways.

This is what I told them.

First Statement:

I have been thinking a lot lately about the idea of “tentmaking” and the need for more bivocational pastors and ministry leaders.

This is something that I have been processing for several reasons.

First, when a pastor receives all of his/her salary from the church, I think there is an unconcious desire to not rock the boat or take risks out of fear that one may lose their job (How many times have you heard of pastors not making certain decisions out of fear of alienating the big money givers?) Continue Reading…

Bivocational Pastors: Are You One?

April 20, 2009 in Ministry-Theology with 41 Comments

470px-japanese_road_sign_two-way_trafficsvgRecently I have been thinking a lot about the topic of bivocational pastors.

When I say bivocational, I mean you are a pastor, but you are not a full-time employed pastor.  Being a pastor is not your full-time vocation.

There are lots of reasons I have been thinking on this subject, but I will be writing more at length about that later.

It seems like the last few years I have been engaged in more and more conversations on this issue, and I know more and more pastors who are entering the ministry as a bivocational pastor.   I see it most with my church planter friends, yet even many of them hope to maintain the bivocational role, rather than doing it “full-time.”

There are lots of reasons why I went back to graduate school to study marriage and family therapy: 1) I needed more therapy training I felt so I could be a better pastor; 2) I knew that within a few years I was hoping to move out of “full-time” vocational ministry work.

I will pick up on this subject in this blog over the next few days, but I hope you could answer this question for me.

[poll id="3"]