Saturday, May 5, 2007

Funeral services and work

I recently received an e-mail from a reader of my newsletter who asked about funerals. As a bivocational minister he has to take a vacation day from his job if he needs to conduct a funeral on a weekday. Although he has not encountered a problem with this, he wondered about doing funerals for friends and family of church members. He is concerned if he makes himself available for too many funerals it could lead to problems with his employer, and yet he wants to be able to minister to his church and community. He was asking about my policy when I served as a pastor.

My response was that in my 20 year pastorate it was never a problem. I seldom had more than 3-4 funerals a year, and most years there were not that many. However, that doesn't mean that it might not be a problem for another bivocational minister. I suggested that now would be a good time to discuss this with his church leadership for their input and try to set a policy that could be explained to the congregation before a problem presents itself.

What has been your experience? How have you balanced the need to conduct funerals with your other employment? Has your church discussed this so everyone is clear? This will be a great topic for feedback from those of you who have been through this!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

As a bivocationa pastor for 13 years, I appreaciate the apprehension that some bivocational ministers might feel regarding Funerals. My first year as a bivocational pastor my congregation was quite elderly and I did about 15 funerals. Fortunately I had a good relationship with my supervisor (and still do) and he was willing to let me make up time. My appoach has been 'I'm a pastor first and sofware developer second' and I've said this as part of the interview process (though not quite so bluntly). My agreement with my boss is if there's a pastoral emergency I go, oeriod, and I'll make up the time ASAP.
When I expect a call and bring my clerical garb (makes access to hospital and police stations easier) and quickly change into my clerical shirt and collar in the washroom my co-workers quip off about "Pastor Man" faster than a speeding ambulance...etc
My advice to other bivocational ministers is be up front with your employer and more importantly your immediate supervisor and try to establish a good rapport. My boss essentially thinks I'm crazy but he doesn't want to mess with God.
And funerals aren't the only "emergency". Over the years I've spent a number of days in juvy court, family court, etc. supporting some of the church kids.
In 13 years the number of hospital emergencies, funerals and court dates has been relatively minimal and has never impacted my work performance.

Phil

Dennis Bickers said...

Great comments, Phil. Being upfront with our supervisors can be a key element in how willing they will be to work with us in times of pastoral emergencies.

Ridgerunner said...

Hi! This is a first for me! I have been a bi-vocational pastor since 1977. First as a student and self employed then as a teacher for 26 years. As a teacher I got only 3 days a year for personal use and I still do not know how I managed. The most important thing I did was communicate not only with my employer but with the funeral directors in my area and the church families. I could take my days 1/2 at a time and when possible the family and funeral director would schedule the service so that I only took an afternoon off. It is becoming more common to have the service following the visitation and a short graveside service the next morning which can work well for some bi-vocational pastors. In the 25+ years I taught school I never lost pay for a funeral. God privides along with wonderful people both whom I worked with and for. As far as community or distant relation type funerals I discussed this in advance with the congregation and funeral directors so it was not expected unless reasonably possible. Also I suggest that everyone have another person available to cover in case you cannot do a funeral. I plan to have trained lay ministers in my current congregation who can fill in when needed. In my last church I had a fully funded pastor who would when at all possible fill in for me.

Dennis Bickers said...

Thanks ridgerunner for your comments. I thnk they really drive home the point that communicating with others, employers, etc., early is important. Most people will try to work with the bivocational minister's schedule. I had a supervisor that allowed me to leave work a half hour early two days a week for an entire semester so I could attend a class on Old Testament. My job at the time was working on the assembly line in our factory. My professor for that class permitted me to come in a half hour late for each class so I would not have to drop it. I repeatedly told both people how much I appreciated them working with me.