Yesterday I received a message I never get tired of getting. An individual reported that over the weekend he received his doctoral degree. His thesis examined the rise of bivocational worship leaders in mid-size SBC churches. He mentioned that my last book, The Art and Practice of Bivocational Ministry: A Pastor's Guide, was an important resource for his thesis.
That book came out of my own DMin project in 2010. Last week I received a report saying my thesis paper had now been downloaded nearly 2,800 times. It's exciting to know that my work is still having an impact, and it's even more exciting to see how many graduate students are researching bivocational ministry and its impact on churches. My friend sent me his thesis by email which I was excited to review last night.
His project points out an important fact that is often overlooked by some. Bivocational ministry is not just for smaller churches. Mid-size churches are finding they need to seek bivocational leadership as well, especially for staff positions. They are also finding out that calling bivocational ministers for those positions is working very well for them.
I still see churches seeking dual-role staff such as Associate Pastor/Youth Minister. Isn't that really a form of bivocational ministry? Persons in such roles are expected to spend a portion of their time in each role, and often one of those roles ends up getting short-changed. Perhaps the individual feels called particularly to youth ministry, but the only position he or she can find is one that includes another aspect of ministry. Which one is apt to receive most of that individual's attention? And if forced to spend more time in the other role, how effective is the person likely to be doing something for which he or she does not feel called and perhaps does not have the training to do the job properly? It soon becomes a bad fit for the church and the individual and will likely lead to an early separation.
How much better might it be if the church that needed the two roles filled but could only afford one person called two bivocational ministers? As each one focused on the role in which he or she was passionate about and trained to do it is likely that each role would be done with greater effectiveness.
As I've pointed out before, back in 1994 Lyle Schaller predicted that churches averaging less than 120 people in worship in 2018 would be served by bivocational pastors and bivocational teams. In many denominations churches averaging 120 still expect to be served by a seminary-trained, fully-funded pastor. These churches are finding it more difficult to find such persons to serve them. It appears Schaller's prediction is coming true as my friend's thesis points out.
I would encourage seminaries and denominations to begin a dialogue on how to prepare individuals for this form of ministry which is only going to increase. Denominations cannot continue to ignore the needs of their smaller churches, and they certainly cannot ignore those same needs of their mid-size churches. It's time to get proactive in developing effective training programs for our bivocational leadership.
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