I laughed as a friend of mine introduced me. “This is my pastor,” he said. “He’s part-time-but he has a church of full-time sinners!”
I am not alone. Bi-vocational ministry (in which secular employment and pastoral ministry are balanced) is becoming increasingly common. I have several friends who rely on secular income to support their ministry. One is a real estate agent and denominational director of church planting, another a firefighter and pastor of a growing rural congregation, still another an insurance salesman and preacher.
Personally, I have enjoyed the challenge, but it isn’t easy. The part-time approach to pastoring is filled with both peril and promise.
The perils
The first disadvantage is that people often forget your job description reads, “part-time.” Part-time or full-time, to them you are the pastor. And, since many churchgoers assume that no pastor actually works full-time, it really makes no practical difference to them anyway. In fact, as my wife puts it, “You are part-time only in your salary.”
 When someone has a crisis, I can’t just turn it off and go to my other job. So when one of our youth ended up in jail, I cut seminary classes (admittedly no big deal) to visit her in the lockup. And when someone passed away, I had to leave work to conduct the funeral. Whatever else you may do, you are still the pastor.
Then, there is the time crunch. Like a circus performer spinning plates on sticks, I rush from study to office to seminar to counseling to board meeting to family to lunch. … It’s been years since I have had the luxury of sufficient time to prepare a sermon. And for someone who takes his preaching seriously, that hurts!
Split vision can be a problem for some-they feel called in two directions. What am I-pastor or businessman? Equipper of saints or entrepreneur? Someone asked me once what I did. “It depends on what day it is!” I replied.
The promises
Yet I have chosen to be bi-vocational. The positive aspects of bi-vocational ministry far outweigh the negative.
One of the current criticisms of ministers is that they are just in it for the money. Funny-that criticism rarely gets leveled at the part-time pastor.
In addition, the bi-vocational pastor ministers to many groups that otherwise might be missed. My first part-time position was in a rural area that simply could not afford a full-time minister. Should they for that reason be deprived of quality preaching and leadership? I think not! Now as a church planter in a metro area with limited financial support, my vocational experience makes it possible for me to do what otherwise I could not.
My secular work also keeps me in touch with humanity. There is no substitute for the knowledge of God and of his Word. But I also know there is no substitute for knowing people. I have found no better way to experience humanity than to be in the community rubbing shoulders with men and women who are struggling to survive, to hold marriages together, to raise their kids, and to be ethical in their careers. It was not as a pastor but as a consultant that I heard a man agonize over his son’s drug problem. As Jim shared his pain with me, I thought, I’d never be here apart from our business contact.
Finally, being a part-time pastor encourages others to help in ministry. They don’t have someone they “pay to pray.” Instead, they have to do it themselves!
When I left my last part-time position, the pastor of another congregation was amazed to hear the ways our members pitched in to work: Jeff runs the entire youth program; Sue and George oversee children’s ministry; Delores and Troy handle all our finances; Jonathan takes care of all the music; and Mozzell and Murl are responsible for visitation. They wanted to work, and there was room for them to work. They didn’t have to compete with a “professional.” And as a result, they grew.
Bi-vocational ministry is not for everyone. But neither is it substandard. It is another option to consider as we serve Christ in our society.
-Michael R. Baer
Northeast Community Church
Atlanta, Georgia
Copyright © 1991 by the author or Christianity Today/Leadership Journal. Click here for reprint information on Leadership Journal.
