One of the questions that came up regarded the age range of their next pastor. It will take some time for many in this congregation to trust a minister again, so one person suggested they probably needed a younger person who could stay with them for a number of years. Someone else was afraid if they found a young pastor he or she would not stay there long because that person would be seeking a larger church. They had no concept of a person who might feel called to serve a smaller church as a bivocational pastor. Their experience had always been that pastors use smaller churches as stepping stones to larger churches.
I explained to them that is not always the case and used myself as an example. During my 20 years as the bivocational pastor of Hebron Baptist Church I was approached by a number of fully-funded churches who wanted me to serve as their pastor. Some of these were very tempting offers at the time, but I always declined because I felt called to do what I was doing. I felt called to the church I served, and I felt called to be bivocational. That may sound strange to some people, but I never felt I could go to another church until I felt called to leave the one I was serving. That never happened until I was asked to come on staff in our judicatory and assume the ministry I now have.
I believe there are people who are in bivocational ministry due to circumstances, and they would leave bivocational ministry for fully-funded ministry as soon as their circumstances changed. I also believe that there are those of us who feel called specifically to bivocational ministry, and it would be a mistake for us to enter fully-funded ministry. Those who serve as bivocational ministers due to circumstances in their lives are often not very happy in their ministries, but for those of us who feel called to this ministry we find tremendous joy and freedom in serving as bivocational ministers.
One of the challenges we face in denominational work is helping people identify that call on their lives. When I began my ministry I would have loved to have had someone come alongside me to help me process the call on my life. There weren't such things as ministry coaches back then, and many denominational leaders weren't sold on the idea of bivocational ministry in the early 1980s. Today, of course, bivocational ministry is more accepted by many leaders, and there are numerous ministry coaches who can help one sort through their calling. For a good coaching resource that you can use to self-coach or to determine if a coach could help you is my book The Art and Practice of Bivocational Ministry: A Pastor's Guide.
This can be especially important for a younger person who may feel called to bivocational ministry and wants to pursue a seminary education. This person may want to explore some of the dual degree programs some seminaries now offer to prepare for bivocational ministry. Another option might be to pursue a degree for your other profession and take online courses through a school such as Campbellsville University that has a program especially developed for bivocational ministers. There are now numerous options available for a person who feels called to bivocational ministry.
I have no doubt that God called me to bivocational ministry and that he is calling persons now to such ministry. There is a growing need for bivocational ministers in our churches today, and I am convinced that this need has not caught God by surprise! It is a worthy calling on a person's life, and if I can help you discern if this might be what God is calling you to do please contact me and let me help you explore that possibility.
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