FaithHighway is giving away 10 free tickets to ECHO!
It’s super easy. Go here, and leave a comment. Best 10 comments win 1 ticket each.
But the contest ends tomorrow, so go do it now.
I went to ECHO last year (this is their 2nd year), and you can read my post about it. As I said in my review, it was a great conference from top to bottom.
I’ve been reading the blogs of Joe Thorn and Steve McCoy for several years now…but in the midst of so many blogs, I just never kept up with all that they have going on. So just this week John Dyer pointed me toward their collaborative site subtext. And yeah, I know, they launched it almost a year ago. So I’m late to the conversation. But nonetheless, perfect timing considering that my last five posts have been on the topic of the suburbs. This is what they write about subtext:
sub•text is a discussion on the preaching and practice of the gospel in the suburban context. Here on the blog we’re sharing out throughts and experiences of living life and ministering in the ‘burbs. We do some interviews as well.
That being said, I love Joe Thorn’s latest thoughts in his post Love and Hate in Suburbia:
I have said all this before, but it bears repeating: I both love and hate the suburbs – and I think this is healthy and necessary. Finding stuff to love and embrace in one’s culture can be difficult, at least for some. Some are so focused on the present evil and corruption that any good has been pushed beyond their peripheral vision. On the other hand some are so in love with (idolize) their culture they ignore all that is wrong with it.
Right now it’s cool to love the city and loathe the suburbs, but I do not believe this reflects the heart of God. I believe God has a love/hate relationship with this culture. My culture. And I’m working hard to maintain that balance in my own heart.
I needed to read this post, and I’m thankful that Joe posted it, as this is something that I have really been wrestling with. I love his line, “Right now it’s cool to love the city and loathe the suburbs, but I do not believe this reflects the heart of God.” So, so true. Lots of people bashing on the suburbs these days…and always talking about needing to live in the city, in the hip, cool, urban lofts and other areas. Thanks for the reminder Joe.
Stay tuned, cause my next post will look at a hermeneutic for the suburbs. A hermeneutic I learned in the city of Mexico.
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
As I mentioned previously, I was compelled to write a few posts on some areas that I have been rethinking in regards to my perspective as a church employee…and I’m hoping that it wasn’t just me who needed to do some rethinking. So I have chosen four areas of concern that I have seen quite continually from church employees.
I began talking about the need to rethink our Meetings, our Volunteer Expectations, and our Boundary Modeling.
Now, let me say something in regards to how PEOPLE AREN’T ALWAYS THINKING ABOUT CHURCH…OR YOUR MINISTRY.
This may come as a surprise too many of you, but I’m hoping not. You see, the problem begins this way. Often, especially if we are full-time, all of our time is spent in church doing ministry. We eat, sleep, breathe the ministry. This isn’t unusual to this profession alone. But here is the difference.
What this does is set us up with the mentality that everything revolves around church. And more specifially, everything revolves around our church, and my/your ministry. Continue Reading…
So I have been writing a few posts (will be 4 in all) on some areas that I think church employees need to rethink, or at best, at least address.
Now I’m not writing these posts cause I have done all these things right, rather I am writing them because I have failed in all of them and have had to rethink them myself. Hopefully I get smarter the longer I do ministry.
If you haven’t noticed, most of them revolve around two key areas: 1) volunteers/those who serve who aren’t “employed”; 2) time management/time priorities.
My first post was on Meetings and my second post was on Volunteer Expectations.
This brings me to my third.
MODELING BOUNDARY SETTING
When I speak of boundaries I could talk about all kinds of them, but I’m focusing on the boundaries you model in regards to your time priorities.
I hear more and more church leaders (and I’m one of them) who have often complained about the time priorities that those in the congregation have. In fact, more than likely you will hear at some point a pastor exhort the members of the church to be better parents and spend time with their kids, or be a better spouse and spend time with one another. We are really good at telling others how to manage their time, and what areas to prioritize it…especially from the pulpit. But we are not so good at doing it ourselves.
I have made the comment that two of the worst professions I have ever seen in regards to time priorities are pastors and therapists. Which is ironic since they are always telling others how to do it. I’m both of those professions…so I don’t know what says about me (I’m in trouble). We tend to have a “do as I say, not as I do” mentality when we pastor. Continue Reading…
This is a guest post by John Sampson.
John 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.
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:
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…
Recently 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"]
It was approximately three years ago that I had a phone conversation with Michael Trent. He is the “Founder and Idea Engineer” of Third Place Consulting and my church at the time had asked me if I could work with Michael on the concept for our new church coffee shop/cafe. I was super intrigued to be working with Michael as I was just then beginning to study more about the idea of third place. I had a great time hanging with him those few days, and I introduced him to his now favorite local restaurant in Los Angeles, Beverly Glen Deli. (Tip: In my 7 years at Bel Air we would go there for breakfast a lot and to the next door Starbucks–cause it was close to church–and I never saw more stars then there each week. Great breakfast and fun, low key, off the map people watching).
Anyways, Mike and I have stayed in touch over these last few years and have been having ever increasingly phone conversations about ways that we can work together more on some projects.
Mike is a great guy (total connector) and you can follow him on Twitter and read his blog.
In His Own Words
What are you really passionate about?
Rhett, I’ve come to realize in the last few years, clearly what I am called to do: Connect People, Develop Leaders, and Fund Causes. As I look back over my life, both personally and professionally, I see how my heart, mind, and actions drive me toward one of those three no matter what. I want to see people connect to one another because ‘iron still sharpens iron’; relationships are still an essential part of human existence and God’s plan for us. On my tombstone – I want pepperoni and for it to read “Michael unlocked the potential of every person and organization he came into contact with”. That often comes at a price when you are used to push someone to another level in order to unlock their potential, but the ROI is so worth it. And as an entrepreneur I’ve become solid and comfortable with the fact that God wants to use me to generate resources that will be leveraged to fund ministries and causes that please Him.
So how do you make decisions when there are so many choices out there?This is the question I have been wondering a lot about. When you are presented with various opportunities, how do you determine if your choice is the right one?
I’ve been thinking about this primarily in a vocational context because I am someone who has a lot of varied interests, like many of you that I know. I love ministry, theology, leadership issues, social media, new technologies, therapy, writing, etc.
So for me, for example, I’ve been viewing my choices as if through a funnel….follow me for a minute.
So if my goal is to be a therapist, but I keep attending conferences on ministry, it seems that I’m missing the mark…or vice-versa.
So recently, I have been deciding to say no to opportunities that don’t align with three major passions:
Those are three areas that I’m passionate about, and have to ask the question if my decision leads me to those.
I'm a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (MDIV, MSMFT, LMFT), and co-facilitate marriage intensives. I also love to write, speak, and run.
Author of The Anxious Christian: Can God Use Your Anxiety for Good? published by Moody Publishers.
To schedule a counseling appointment contact Auxano Counseling at 972-312-8893.
