Several years ago as I was serving as a Region Resource Minister with our judicatory a pastor asked to meet with me. He felt that due to the financial situation in his church he might soon be asked to go bivocational or find another church to serve. We met for lunch to discuss his situation. His concern was that he had gone directly into ministry after college and seminary. Other than summer employment he had never done anything other than pastoral ministry. He had no idea what he might do outside of ministry if he was forced to become bivocational.
I learned that he went to college originally to become a teacher. It wasn't until he was in college that he felt called to the ministry. I suggested that since he had an interest in education he might pursue that as his second job. Most school systems need substitute teachers which would give him flexibility for his ministry. We discussed some of the other training and skills used in ministry that might be needed in a second career. By the time lunch was finished he had a good list of potential jobs he could pursue if he needed to become bivocational. It turned out his church's finances remained solid, and he continues to serve that same church as a fully-funded pastor.
We are already seeing pastors who are leaving their churches due to the financial struggles their churches are having due to the pandemic. The finances are just not there to support the pastor and his or her family. In some cases, the church finances are so bad the pastors are leaving without having another place to serve. I believe we will see even more pastors pursue bivocational ministry, either in the church they currently serve or in another church.
Like the previous pastor, some may wonder what they would do. I would suggest that you sit down with a denominational leader, a coach or someone you trust to explore your options. Look at your skill sets and see where in the work force you might best fit. What were your majors in college? That might point you to a second career. Have you seen jobs that would have interested you if you had not been doing ministry? Maybe this is a good time to check out those jobs. Despite the unemployment numbers the media feeds us every week, there are numerous jobs in nearly every community that are going unfilled. This is a great time to be a bivocational minister!
Beyond the job search there is another component to consider when transitioning from being a fully-funded to be bivocational. That is your own sense of self-esteem. Too many pastors still consider bivocational ministry as something less than what they do. Some will feel they will have failed their calling if they become a bivocational minister. Actually, being bivocational enables you to fulfill your calling, especially in these financially difficult times for many churches. It allows you to supplement your income so you can provide for your family while remaining in ministry.
A third element to consider is how the church will respond to having a bivocational pastor after being served by one that was fully-funded. Sometimes, a church wants to go bivocational but still expect the same level of ministry as they knew when they had a fully-funded pastor. That is an unreasonable expectation. Before making the decision to have a bivocational minister the church needs to have a serious talk with their denominational representative or a consultant who understands bivocational ministry so they can develop more realistic expectations of what the pastor will be able to provide.
It's not always easy for the church or the pastor to suddenly have its pastoral leadership have a second job. This represents a paradigm shift that will take time to work through. Many churches and their pastors need to consider how they will handle this change if it does occur as I believe it will happen in many churches in the next 18 months.
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