Transitioning from fully-funded to bivocational

When I was serving as a denominational minister one of the things I began finding was that a number of pastors were concerned their church may not be able to continue to afford having a fully-funded pastor. These churches were marginally fully-funded anyway, they were not growing, and even if the congregation had not realized their financial situation the pastor had. Sometimes the pastor simply began looking for another church. The ones who contacted me were willing to stay at the church but had a lot of questions about how they would transition from being fully-funded to bivocational.

One concern was what would they do for a second job. One pastor told me he had gone from high school to college to seminary. His work experience was part-time jobs during the summer months while he completed his education. Almost in panic he told me he didn't know how to do anything other than be a pastor.

I tried to reassure him that was not true. Many of the things we do in ministry are transferable to other careers. As pastors we teach, we counsel, we do social work, we lead, we manage, we work with people to get things done. We have been trained to do critical thinking, at least some of us have! We work with boards and committees and work within a budget. Hopefully, we have people skills that make us accessible to others. You can probably add many other things to this list, but it demonstrates that we have many skills and qualities that will work well in careers besides ministry.

My next question to this one pastor was what did he want to do when he began college. Many pastors begin their academic studies planning to go into a career other than ministry. He was no exception. He had originally planned to be a teacher. I reminded him that every school system I know always has a need for substitute teachers which would give him a great deal of flexibility and allow him to do something he had wanted to do before entering ministry. He could also develop a workshop and teach it. I have several seminars that I've taught across the US and Canada. Community colleges often need adjunct teachers as do small local colleges and universities. Teaching for a university online is sometimes an option. The fact is, he had numerous options available to him if he ever needed to become bivocational.

If you find yourself facing the prospect of transitioning from fully-funded to bivocational, don't get yourself in a panic. Find someone to help you think through what possibilities might work for you. Believe me, you'll find some.

Actually, the work aspect is the least challenging thing you'll have to address if you do go through that transition. Preparing yourself emotionally will be your biggest challenge. We ministers are wired to minister. You might find yourself spending a significant part of your day doing work that doesn't feel anything like ministry. That can be challenging emotionally, but it might also reflect a misunderstanding of ministry.

For the past few years I've operated an auction business. I got my auctioneer's license, and I conduct auctions for people in addition to working in ministry. But, I see that business as an extension of my ministry. I am serving people who need to downsize and perhaps move into a smaller home. I am ministering to people who need to settle an estate. I'm able to relieve them of a great burden in their lives that often comes at a difficult time. I also serve people who make their living buying and selling. You might also be surprised at the number of times I've been able to pray for people who are grieving at the loss they feel as they close out a family member's estate or have to let go of a lifetime of accumulation in order to downsize. I've also had the opportunity to refer people who do not attend church to a good church near them who can walk with them through this difficult time in their lives.

With the right attitude you will probably find that your outside job will offer you many ministry opportunities you might not have if you remained fully-funded.

So, if you find yourself in this situation, don't panic. Trust that the God Who called you into ministry in the first place knows exactly what is going on and is making a way for this to work out well for you and the church.