E. Stanley Jones wrote, "Your capacity to say no determines your capacity to say yes to greater things." Bivocational ministers consistently point to time issues as the biggest challenges they face. There are tremendous demands on the life of every bivocational minister, but one of the reasons many of us struggle in the area of time is that we find it hard to say no to anyone.
Most people feel called into ministry to serve other people. Any time we say no to someone or to some opportunity it feels like we are failing to serve. I know this is true in my life, and I've had enough bivocational ministers admit to me their own challenges in this area to know it is true in the lives of many of us. We don't want to disappoint people, and most of all we don't want to disappoint God. Refusing an opportunity to serve someone can feel like we are failing God, and none of us wants to do that.
At the same time we need to realize that every resource is limited including the resource of our time. We do not have unlimited amounts of time, and there are legitimate demands on our time that we have to meet. As a bivocational minister you have either a full-time or part-time job that demands a certain number of hours each week. You have family responsibilities that must not be neglected. There are tasks at the church that only you can do. To stay spiritually and emotionally strong you need to set aside time each day for God. Finally, it's important that you invest in your own well-being by taking time for yourself. These are non-negotiable items that will require a certain number of hours of your life each week. After setting aside time to eat and sleep, just how many hours do you have left for other efforts?
Too often we overload our schedules because we don't want to disappoint anyone. Then when an emergency occurs we have no time to respond to it without seriously overloading ourselves and taking time away from other responsibilities. Unfortunately, when this occurs we often take time away from our families or from our own self-care. While this may occasionally be necessary, doing so on a regular basis will cause long-term damage to our families and to our own well-being.
Such overloaded schedules also means that when a great opportunity for ministry comes along we have no time for it. We have so committed our limited time to maintenance items that we have no time for new opportunities that God may send our way.
Having a Daytimer that is overloaded with commitments is not a sign of spirituality or commitment to ministry. It is a sign that you struggle with priorities and the ability to say no. Is there any place written in your Daytimer for a date with your spouse? Is there any time scheduled in your Daytimer for personal growth? Are there blank days in your schedule where things can be moved if you have an emergency that requires you to have to rearrange your schedule?
As a bivocational minister we will always struggle with time issues, but let's not compound them by failing to act wisely in the commitments we make. Set aside time for the things that are most important to you, and set aside time when activities can be rescheduled if need be. It will greatly reduce the stress you feel and make you more productive and effective in your ministry and in your relationships with others.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Date night
I read yesterday that President Obama was being criticized for going out for an evening date with his wife. Some critics said that did not look very presidential with all of the problems facing our nation. Baloney! Obama has made decisions that I disagree with, and I am perfectly willing to criticize when appropriate, but how can anyone complain about someone's decision to take his wife out for an evening together?
For many years my wife and I have enjoyed a date night. We found that unless we scheduled time to be together it seldom happened. As a bivocational pastor something always came up that would prevent us from enjoying some time together. We decided to schedule an evening or day that would be our date time for the week, and since starting this there have been few weeks that we have not enjoyed a date.
Typically, our date will consist of going out to eat, often in a city about an hour from our home, maybe do a little shopping, often stopping in Barnes and Noble, and grabbing a Starbucks for the trip home. Nothing fancy, but the best part of the date is often that two hour round trip drive when we are all alone and can just talk without fear of interruption.
We protect this time. Her work schedule sometimes changes, so as soon as I find out her day off I schedule that day on my calendar. Her schedule is usually posted three weeks out, so I can schedule this time that far in advance. I simply write her name down for that day, and if anyone calls wanting a meeting or wanting me to do something else I tell them I already have an appointment for that day. The caller is usually satisfied, and I've never been asked what the appointment is for.
It is too easy for busy people to forget the most important people in their lives. We in the ministry do not want to take our families for granted or give them whatever left-overs we might have. Most likely, our churches have had many pastors before us, and if the Lord tarries they will have many pastors after we've left. However, I want to be the only husband my wife ever has and the only father my children ever know which means I have to invest in those relationships.
President Obama has given us a good example. The demands on his time are far greater than most of us will ever experience, but he will still take some time to spend with his family. I hope he and his wife had a great time on their date, and even more I hope you will follow their example.
For many years my wife and I have enjoyed a date night. We found that unless we scheduled time to be together it seldom happened. As a bivocational pastor something always came up that would prevent us from enjoying some time together. We decided to schedule an evening or day that would be our date time for the week, and since starting this there have been few weeks that we have not enjoyed a date.
Typically, our date will consist of going out to eat, often in a city about an hour from our home, maybe do a little shopping, often stopping in Barnes and Noble, and grabbing a Starbucks for the trip home. Nothing fancy, but the best part of the date is often that two hour round trip drive when we are all alone and can just talk without fear of interruption.
We protect this time. Her work schedule sometimes changes, so as soon as I find out her day off I schedule that day on my calendar. Her schedule is usually posted three weeks out, so I can schedule this time that far in advance. I simply write her name down for that day, and if anyone calls wanting a meeting or wanting me to do something else I tell them I already have an appointment for that day. The caller is usually satisfied, and I've never been asked what the appointment is for.
It is too easy for busy people to forget the most important people in their lives. We in the ministry do not want to take our families for granted or give them whatever left-overs we might have. Most likely, our churches have had many pastors before us, and if the Lord tarries they will have many pastors after we've left. However, I want to be the only husband my wife ever has and the only father my children ever know which means I have to invest in those relationships.
President Obama has given us a good example. The demands on his time are far greater than most of us will ever experience, but he will still take some time to spend with his family. I hope he and his wife had a great time on their date, and even more I hope you will follow their example.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
A growing problem
A judicatory leader recently told me he had contacted a new pastor of one of his churches. The church had called this pastor a few months earlier, but the judicatory leader had not been able to find out any information on the pastor and could never catch him in the church office. After a few minutes of conversation the pastor informed the judicatory leader the church had voted to leave their denomination, but he didn't know who should receive the letters informing the denomination of this decision. The judicatory leader asked why the church had decided to do this, and the pastor replied he was an "independent, fundamentalist Baptist who didn't believe in denominations."
It is incredible to me that a church with a 100+ year history of belonging to their denomination and their association could decide within 2-3 months to leave that relationship because a pastor who had just began work with their church asked them to. I do not understand why the congregational leaders would not at least invite their denominational representative in to discuss their thoughts about doing this. I certainly do not understand the arrogance of a pastor who believes that it is his duty to lead this church in making this decision. He knew he was an "independent, fundamentalist Baptist" when he went there, and he knew this church belonged to a denomination. If he had any sense of pastoral ethics he would never have accepted a call to this church if he could not support the denomination in which the church belonged, and, in my opinion, this pastor's actions in leading the church to become independent illustrates that he is lacking in pastoral ethics. The result is this church of 70 people is now independent, the pastor is likely to leave in 2-3 years, and they will be out there by themselves.
A similar problem is occurring in churches who call pastors from a different denomination and soon find themselves being asked to leave their present denomination to join the one the pastor has belonged to. Two different denominations have recently told me they are having problems losing churches in this manner. Most of the pastors are from a certain denomination that set a very aggressive goal of new church planting. Anytime a church leaves their denomination to join this denomination it is counted as a new church plant. I suppose it's easier to steal churches that to do the hard work of actually starting a new church, and again I personally believe there is an ethical boundary that must be crossed before this can happen.
Does this mean that a church must remain forever in the denomination in which it is a member? No. It is possible that a denomination may significantly abandon its core theological beliefs and adopt practices and doctrine that is contrary to biblical teaching. In such cases churches may choose to leave and become part of another denomination that better reflects their beliefs. However, such decisions should be made very carefully and only after much prayer and conversation with their judicatory leaders. Too often people react to some headlines that tell of isolated incidences that occur within a denomination, but these incidences do not reflect the denomination or the beliefs of the vast majority of that denomination.
What bothers me most is the arrogance of pastoral leaders who will knowingly go into a church that belongs to a denomination they cannot support and who immediately begin to encourage the church to abandon their roots. Smaller, bivocational churches seem to be at most risk for this because they often struggle to find pastoral leadership. Too often, they are willing to accept the first person who shows an interest in their church regardless of this person's qualifications or background. Now that they have this person serving as their pastor, they are willing to do almost anything to keep him or her including leaving a long historic relationship with other like-minded churches. This is a decision that will have long-term impacts on the church, and I caution churches to not make that decision quickly or lightly.
A final word to pastoral leaders: If you are talking to a church about becoming its pastor and you do not like the denomination in which that church is a member, make a decision about whether or not you can work within that denomination. If you believe you cannot, have the ethical integrity to refuse to become pastor of that church. Find a church whose beliefs are in alignment with your own and begin to pastor that church. To do otherwise is wrong.
It is incredible to me that a church with a 100+ year history of belonging to their denomination and their association could decide within 2-3 months to leave that relationship because a pastor who had just began work with their church asked them to. I do not understand why the congregational leaders would not at least invite their denominational representative in to discuss their thoughts about doing this. I certainly do not understand the arrogance of a pastor who believes that it is his duty to lead this church in making this decision. He knew he was an "independent, fundamentalist Baptist" when he went there, and he knew this church belonged to a denomination. If he had any sense of pastoral ethics he would never have accepted a call to this church if he could not support the denomination in which the church belonged, and, in my opinion, this pastor's actions in leading the church to become independent illustrates that he is lacking in pastoral ethics. The result is this church of 70 people is now independent, the pastor is likely to leave in 2-3 years, and they will be out there by themselves.
A similar problem is occurring in churches who call pastors from a different denomination and soon find themselves being asked to leave their present denomination to join the one the pastor has belonged to. Two different denominations have recently told me they are having problems losing churches in this manner. Most of the pastors are from a certain denomination that set a very aggressive goal of new church planting. Anytime a church leaves their denomination to join this denomination it is counted as a new church plant. I suppose it's easier to steal churches that to do the hard work of actually starting a new church, and again I personally believe there is an ethical boundary that must be crossed before this can happen.
Does this mean that a church must remain forever in the denomination in which it is a member? No. It is possible that a denomination may significantly abandon its core theological beliefs and adopt practices and doctrine that is contrary to biblical teaching. In such cases churches may choose to leave and become part of another denomination that better reflects their beliefs. However, such decisions should be made very carefully and only after much prayer and conversation with their judicatory leaders. Too often people react to some headlines that tell of isolated incidences that occur within a denomination, but these incidences do not reflect the denomination or the beliefs of the vast majority of that denomination.
What bothers me most is the arrogance of pastoral leaders who will knowingly go into a church that belongs to a denomination they cannot support and who immediately begin to encourage the church to abandon their roots. Smaller, bivocational churches seem to be at most risk for this because they often struggle to find pastoral leadership. Too often, they are willing to accept the first person who shows an interest in their church regardless of this person's qualifications or background. Now that they have this person serving as their pastor, they are willing to do almost anything to keep him or her including leaving a long historic relationship with other like-minded churches. This is a decision that will have long-term impacts on the church, and I caution churches to not make that decision quickly or lightly.
A final word to pastoral leaders: If you are talking to a church about becoming its pastor and you do not like the denomination in which that church is a member, make a decision about whether or not you can work within that denomination. If you believe you cannot, have the ethical integrity to refuse to become pastor of that church. Find a church whose beliefs are in alignment with your own and begin to pastor that church. To do otherwise is wrong.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Healthy Small Church
I recently led four workshops on "The Healthy Small Church" in our region. We had about 200 people attend the sessions representing a number of our smaller churches. The workshops went well, but now the real work begins. It is one thing to sit and listen to someone explain how a church can become healthier; it is another thing to apply what you've learned.
Many of the churches attending the workshops are now looking at how they can become healthier. Some ordered enough copies of my book The Healthy Small Church for each of their lay leaders, and they intend to work through each of the chapters and use the diagnostic questions at the end of the book to examine their church. Some churches are going to meet with other churches that attended the workshop so they can learn from each other. A few have indicated they will probably call me to come in and work with their church leaders to help their churches become healthier.
This book and workshop has been a real help to a number of churches that believe they now have the tools to help them begin to look at their churches in a new way. After sitting in the workshop many have realized for the first time they have become primarily inward focused and stuck in a maintenance mode. Some church leaders have said they knew something was wrong, but they couldn't identify what it was until they heard me describe the characteristics of a maintenance church. Several came up to me during the breaks and said I was describing their church.
If your church would like to go through this workshop, please contact me. Better yet, you may find several churches in your association or district that would want to experience this workshop together. I am also willing to serve as a consultant for your church if you would like for me to spend a day or two with your leadership to help them look at your congregation and make some recommendations how it could become healthier.
I believe in the small church and in bivocational leadership. If possible, I would enjoy working with your congregation as it seeks to be faithful to God's purpose for its ministry.
Many of the churches attending the workshops are now looking at how they can become healthier. Some ordered enough copies of my book The Healthy Small Church for each of their lay leaders, and they intend to work through each of the chapters and use the diagnostic questions at the end of the book to examine their church. Some churches are going to meet with other churches that attended the workshop so they can learn from each other. A few have indicated they will probably call me to come in and work with their church leaders to help their churches become healthier.
This book and workshop has been a real help to a number of churches that believe they now have the tools to help them begin to look at their churches in a new way. After sitting in the workshop many have realized for the first time they have become primarily inward focused and stuck in a maintenance mode. Some church leaders have said they knew something was wrong, but they couldn't identify what it was until they heard me describe the characteristics of a maintenance church. Several came up to me during the breaks and said I was describing their church.
If your church would like to go through this workshop, please contact me. Better yet, you may find several churches in your association or district that would want to experience this workshop together. I am also willing to serve as a consultant for your church if you would like for me to spend a day or two with your leadership to help them look at your congregation and make some recommendations how it could become healthier.
I believe in the small church and in bivocational leadership. If possible, I would enjoy working with your congregation as it seeks to be faithful to God's purpose for its ministry.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Revival
This past weekend I had the privilege of preaching a revival meeting for a friend of mine who serves as a bivocational pastor in Kentucky. The services Friday night, Saturday night, Sunday morning, and Sunday night were all well attended by members and visitors. Their hospitality was great. They made me feel they had known me all their lives even though it was the first time I had ever been at their church.
I was very impressed by a number of things about this congregation. Although it is a small, rural church it is very involved in their community. Lay leaders in the church lead worship services at a nearby campground in the summer. The church supports an effort to reach out to the growing Hispanic population in the county. It is involved in numerous denominational and associational activities, and approximately 50% of its income goes to denominational and local mission efforts! Their worship was uplifting with a good mix of contemporary and traditional music. It was also very obvious to me that the people were evangelistic minded and want to reach their community with the gospel.
At a time when so many churches, both bivocational and fully-funded, are satisfied with the status quo, it was exciting to see this bivocational church attempting to do new ministries in its community. Just because a church is bivocational does not mean that it can not have effective ministries that touch more people than just those who gather within the four walls of the church building each week. This is a church that understands it can't do everything, but it can do more than many people believe a small church can do. It is willing to stretch itself for the cause of Christ, and people's live are being changed because of it.
Your church can't do everything, and it shouldn't try. But, it can do far more than many people, including some within your congregation, believes it can. I am convinced that God can use churches that are willing to stretch themselves and move outside their comfort zones. I encourage you to look around your community and see where your congregation could make a difference. Just identify one or two things that could have an impact on your community and begin to challenge persons within your church to identify creative ways your church could meet those needs. Begin to put that creativity into operation and see what God does with it! I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
I was very impressed by a number of things about this congregation. Although it is a small, rural church it is very involved in their community. Lay leaders in the church lead worship services at a nearby campground in the summer. The church supports an effort to reach out to the growing Hispanic population in the county. It is involved in numerous denominational and associational activities, and approximately 50% of its income goes to denominational and local mission efforts! Their worship was uplifting with a good mix of contemporary and traditional music. It was also very obvious to me that the people were evangelistic minded and want to reach their community with the gospel.
At a time when so many churches, both bivocational and fully-funded, are satisfied with the status quo, it was exciting to see this bivocational church attempting to do new ministries in its community. Just because a church is bivocational does not mean that it can not have effective ministries that touch more people than just those who gather within the four walls of the church building each week. This is a church that understands it can't do everything, but it can do more than many people believe a small church can do. It is willing to stretch itself for the cause of Christ, and people's live are being changed because of it.
Your church can't do everything, and it shouldn't try. But, it can do far more than many people, including some within your congregation, believes it can. I am convinced that God can use churches that are willing to stretch themselves and move outside their comfort zones. I encourage you to look around your community and see where your congregation could make a difference. Just identify one or two things that could have an impact on your community and begin to challenge persons within your church to identify creative ways your church could meet those needs. Begin to put that creativity into operation and see what God does with it! I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Easter in a small church
It's been nearly a week since Easter Sunday, and I've thought back several times at the services I attended. On Palm Sunday one association had their final Lenten service. Only one of the dozen or so churches in this association are led by fully-funded pastors; the rest are smaller bivocational churches. They had been meeting in different churches each Sunday evening during the Lenten season, and this was their final service. An association choir had been working on a Cantata for this evening. The service was going great until about half-way through the Cantata when the electricity went out. The entire sanctuary went dark, and the music stopped playing. The choir never stopped singing and completed their presentation although the lights never did come back on. It was comical watching the choir twist and turn trying to pick up whatever light they could find so they could read their music, but they finished the Cantata. Enough candles were brought into the sanctuary that we were able to share in Communion as well. I went home blessed by being there.
Easter morning my wife and I visited one of the churches in my Area that is also a small, rural congregation led by a bivocational pastor. He was a deacon in that church for many years, and a respected farmer in the community. When the church was looking for a new pastor a few years ago he asked my opinion about him stepping into that role. He did and has had a very good ministry there. Their choir performed a mini-Cantata and he preached a very clear message about the resurrection. My wife and talked all the way home how glad we were that we attended services in that church this year.
I have attended an Easter program in a mega-church that brought in donkeys, camels, and a cast of hundreds of people. It was an incredible experience, but I found these two simple services were just as meaningful. If you think about it, not much needs to be added to the resurrection story. It is a story of a God who loves us more than we often love ourselves. His Son was willing to die so that we might live, and He offers that life to each of us. It is a message that needs to be presented clearly and simply so that all who hear it can understand and respond.
Easter won't appear on our calendars now until next year, but that doesn't mean people won't need to hear that story until then. Every day you will encounter individuals who need the hope that the story of the resurrection brings. I encourage you to tell the story simply and clearly to all who need to hear it. May you pray each day for God to bring such people into your life.
Easter morning my wife and I visited one of the churches in my Area that is also a small, rural congregation led by a bivocational pastor. He was a deacon in that church for many years, and a respected farmer in the community. When the church was looking for a new pastor a few years ago he asked my opinion about him stepping into that role. He did and has had a very good ministry there. Their choir performed a mini-Cantata and he preached a very clear message about the resurrection. My wife and talked all the way home how glad we were that we attended services in that church this year.
I have attended an Easter program in a mega-church that brought in donkeys, camels, and a cast of hundreds of people. It was an incredible experience, but I found these two simple services were just as meaningful. If you think about it, not much needs to be added to the resurrection story. It is a story of a God who loves us more than we often love ourselves. His Son was willing to die so that we might live, and He offers that life to each of us. It is a message that needs to be presented clearly and simply so that all who hear it can understand and respond.
Easter won't appear on our calendars now until next year, but that doesn't mean people won't need to hear that story until then. Every day you will encounter individuals who need the hope that the story of the resurrection brings. I encourage you to tell the story simply and clearly to all who need to hear it. May you pray each day for God to bring such people into your life.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Final paper completed
It's hard to believe I have not posted anything for nearly a month, but I have been swamped with papers for the two DMin classes I took earlier this year. The good news is that I finished the last paper for my last class yesterday! All I have left to do now is my thesis. While that is challenging enough, it doesn't have the deadlines all those papers had. I can relax a little and do some other things I enjoy doing.
So far this year I have led the "Healthy Small Church" workshop at three sites in Indiana for our region. Attendance has been much better than I anticipated, and the responses have been very positive. I'm scheduled to lead it one more time in the region, and then, hopefully, take it back on the road to other denominational and independent churches.
I am also scheduled to lead my "Transforming the Small Church" workshop later this summer for a gathering of the General Baptists in Evansville. I spoke at a couple of other events for them in 2000 and 2001, and I look forward to being with them again.
Bivocational ministry continues to be more accepted by many churches and denominational organizations, and I continue to believe we will see the number of bivocational churches grow in the future. Economics will drive a lot of that, but many smaller churches are also realizing that having a bivocational minister for a long-term is better than trying to find a student pastor who will only be with them for a year or two. The challenge will be in identifying sufficient numbers of persons whom God has called to this ministry and providing them with the training they will need to be effective. It is my prayer that the resources I have developed will help do that.
So far this year I have led the "Healthy Small Church" workshop at three sites in Indiana for our region. Attendance has been much better than I anticipated, and the responses have been very positive. I'm scheduled to lead it one more time in the region, and then, hopefully, take it back on the road to other denominational and independent churches.
I am also scheduled to lead my "Transforming the Small Church" workshop later this summer for a gathering of the General Baptists in Evansville. I spoke at a couple of other events for them in 2000 and 2001, and I look forward to being with them again.
Bivocational ministry continues to be more accepted by many churches and denominational organizations, and I continue to believe we will see the number of bivocational churches grow in the future. Economics will drive a lot of that, but many smaller churches are also realizing that having a bivocational minister for a long-term is better than trying to find a student pastor who will only be with them for a year or two. The challenge will be in identifying sufficient numbers of persons whom God has called to this ministry and providing them with the training they will need to be effective. It is my prayer that the resources I have developed will help do that.
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