A few years ago, my wife and I made the tough decision to leave an unhealthy church situation. I was unhealthy. Church hurt is very real (much more coming on that in a later post). But, needless to say, my family and I left our church battered and bruised. I decided then and there that I was done with ministry. If God wanted me to serve Him again, He would have to move a mountain… or two.
Like the old saying goes, “church would be great if it weren’t for all the people.” For the record, I am the people.
After my family and I left that church, I took a sabbatical and worked at a Christian bookstore for a few months. Even in all of my hurt, God gave me an amazing gift… He surrounded me with some of the most amazing men and women of God, all of which were co-vocational ministers (aka bi-vocational ministers). During this time, He opened my eyes to the plight of co-vocational ministers, paid or unpaid. This became my passion and purpose. Finally, He used these amazing men and women to do something miraculous, He healed my heart and restored my call to Worship Ministry. My sabbatical only lasted about a year, but that was enough. I knew I had to support these men and women in whatever way I could.
A little backstory, I am a 5th generation Music Minister/Worship Pastor/Song Leader. Whatever you want to call it, the men in my family have been leading it for more than 100 years. There are many, many things I don’t know, but I know Church Music. I grew up on the old hymns, singing Southern Gospel with my Dad, uncles, and sisters with my Mom on the piano. I have three post-secondary degrees in Church Music. I can’t do much in the “real world,” but I know Church Music. I have been incredibly blessed to have been as exposed and trained as I have been. It’s not a gift that I take lightly, as I know many others have accepted a call to Worship Ministry without the training and resources that I have been blessed with. So when it came time to work on my doctoral dissertation, I knew what I needed to do. God had given me a passion for the plight of the co-vocational Worship Pastor.
Many of the men I grew to know during that brief period of secular work had surrendered a call to the ministry without the benefit of a theological education, or even church resources to receive any education or training in their area of ministry. The few co-vocational ministers that have the benefit of a seminary degree often graduated from seminary with the understanding that they would always be employed full-time, leaving them unable to properly provide for their family with a marketable skill when God calls them to a co-vocational role. Even our post-secondary institutions have failed to provide much training in the way of an affordable certificate program for anyone except a Senior Pastor. You would be hard-pressed to find any educational resources for the co-vocational minister called in any other area of ministry other than to shepherd a church.
I serve in a SBC church. Theologically, I align with the Baptist Faith and Message. I love our emphasis on cooperation in missional strategies. I appreciate our heart for Disaster Relief, Right to Life causes and the inerrancy of Scripture. Where I feel the Convention has failed is the support of co-vocational ministers. Sure, there are a lot of resources (still not nearly enough) available to support the co-vocational Senior Pastor, but virtually none if you are a co-vocational Worship Pastor, Youth Pastor, Children’s Pastor, etc. Bickers states, “Despite being told by various denominational leaders that their numbers of bi-vocational ministers were growing and are expected to keep growing, I could find no denomination with a staff person specifically designated to work with bi-vocational ministers and their churches.” (p. 20) I can confirm through my own interviews conducted with convention officials, no denominational role exists solely for the support and encouragement of the co-vocational pastor.
If you are looking for support for the Senior Pastor or “ministers” in general, your best bet would be to look to the individual state conventions. Many states have allocated resources and personnel to support the co-vocational minister, although none are allocated to the specific needs of the Worship Pastor, such as musical knowledge, theory, song selection, worship team training, etc. Our best bet is to come alongside our brothers and sisters through personal mentoring, prayer, and resource sharing.
And what about the future of the Church and its leadership? As churches are, for the most part, declining in numbers and in financial giving, the number of co-vocational ministry positions will probably only continue to rise. Have we, as the Church, made a space for the gifts and calling of the co-vocational pastors in every ministry area? Have we built the support systems necessary to walk alongside those called to “tent make” in their own specific ministry areas? How can we, as the full-time Worship Pastors, stand in the gap for our brothers and sisters serving in a co-vocational capacity?
Unfortunately, I have more questions than answers.
Currently, I lead a group of local area Worship Leaders we call a Worship Leader Collective. We have created an open dialogue of sharing and prayer. Currently, we have 6 full-time Worship Pastors in our county and over 50 co-vocational or volunteer Worship personnel. The 6 of us meet weekly for prayer and study. We devote much of that time to the support and encouragement of our brothers and sisters serving co-vocationally. I know any of the 5 men I meet with would move Heaven and earth to answer the call to serve one of our co-vocational leaders. They have created an atmosphere of cooperation and support that I am blessed to be a part of. After all, the Kingdom of God doesn’t just mean my church, or yours.
The bottom line is that we can do better. I can do better. Churches are lighthouses. Lighthouses don’t compete. They help each other shine. As a full-time Worship Pastor with resources and education to spare, it is my job to support those co-vocational ministers in my area. I can help them with ideas, supplies, resources and prayer. I can share my blessings to further the Kingdom of God in my area. I bet many who read this can too.
Sources & Further Reading
Bickers, Dennis W. The Art and Practice of Bivocational Ministry: A Pastor’s Guide. Kansas City, Missouri: Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, 2013.
Blakeney, Donald Oren, “The Rise of the Part-Time Worship Leader in the Mid-Size Southern Baptist Church” (2019). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 2083.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/2083
Ditmer, Bob. “7 Years of Decline in SBC Have Members Feeling ‘blue’.” Church
Leaders (August 28, 2018). https://churchleaders.com/news/332036-southernbaptists-are-feeling-the-blues.html.
Gray, Rudy. “From the Editor: A Closer Look at the SBC’s Decline.” The Baptist
Courier (February 7, 2018). https://baptistcourier.com/2018/02/a-closer-look-atthe-sbcs-decline/.
LaRochelle, Robert. Part-Time Pastor, Full-Time Church. Cleveland, Ohio: Pilgrim
Press, 2010.
Merritt, James. “Jesus: The First Bivocational Pastor.” Touching Lives (blog), August 8https://touchinglives.org/2017/08/08/jesus-first-bivocational-pastor/.
Parsley, Ross. Messy Church: A Multigenerational Mission for God’s Family. Colorado
Springs, CO: David C. Cook, 2012.
Picardo, Rosario, and Michael Slaughter. Ministry Makeover: Recovering a Theology for Bi-Vocational Service in the Church. Eugene, Oregon: Wipf and Stock
Publishers, 2015.
Sharp, Tim. Mentoring in the Ensemble Arts: Helping Others Find Their Voice. Chicago, Illinois: GIA Publications, Inc., 2011.
Thompson, M. Greg. “Confessions of a Bi-Vocational Baptist Preacher.” Baptist History and Heritage 40, no. 2 (Spring 2005). http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/ps/i.do?p=AONE&u=vic_libe
rty&id=GALE%7CA134257565&v=2.1&it=r&sid=summon.
Earnest Worship 
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