I realized today I had not posted anything since Easter. The truth is I have been quite busy with a number of things including some personal family issues that will linger on for a few more months. I am learning that getting older doesn't mean you get to slow down or that life becomes easier, but, of course, no one really said that it would.
This past week I have been thinking about two bivocational churches. One has been bivocational for several years and the other one is in the process of transitioning to being bivocational after having been fully-funded for a number of years. The bivocational church has seen some significant growth in the past few years. In fact, its attendance has nearly doubled to around 100 people on an average Sunday morning. They have baptized a number of new believers in recent months, many of them adults. Parking is now at a premium, and I have to believe that their Sunday school space is getting rather tight.
The church that is transitioning to being bivocational has seen a steady decline over the past several years. Their average Sunday attendance is probably around 50 people now. The church realizes it can no longer afford a fully-funded pastor and is looking for a bivocational pastor. Unfortunately, many in the church seem to believe that their new pastor will be bivocational salary-wise, but they still have the same expectations for this individual as they have for the previous pastors. I have been working with their leadership over the past few months to help them understand that members of the congregation will have to take on some of the ministries their previous pastors have done. I think the leadership gets it, but I'm not sure about rest of the congregation. I do know that if they expect their new bivocational pastor to do everything their previous fully-funded pastors did, their church will continue to decline and will probably have to search for another pastor in the near future.
Much of the growth in the first church can be traced to the hard work of a number of people in the congregation, not just the pastor. Both new and older members of the church are involved in a wide range of ministries in the church and out to the community. People are not afraid to invite their friends and family members to visit the church, and many of the visitors return. It will be interesting to see how the church will change if it continues to grow, but this is a better problem to have than wondering of anything will stop the church's decline.
Everyone has to be involved in ministry in a bivocational church if it will have a positive impact on its community. The first church understands that; I'm not sure the second church does yet. Does yours?
1 comment:
Thanks for this post. As you know, this was exactly why I wrote Developing Leaderhsip Teams in the Bivocational Church. It takes a team approach to help a bivocational church effective. But if a team is willing, bivocational ministry can be extremely meaningful.
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