Bivocational Life: Connecting the Secular and Sacred in Pastoral Ministry
Another Article about Bivocational Ministry?!
Articles about bivocational ministry are not uncommon. A quick Google search can yield articles that express both positive and negative feelings about it.
When praying through my call to bi-vocational ministry, I spent many hours reading these articles. However, to me, bi-vocational ministry had more of a negative connotation than a positive one.
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Here’s why. Most clergy would agree that bivocational ministry’s implied idea of “part-time” ministry or “shared-time” ministry is an inadequate view of the calling. Ministry is an all-consuming calling where time is not measured by a 40-hour work week but measured in being available to those you minister in all stages of life. Not only is ministry about being present with people, but there is also the administration of the church, the need for spiritual development, weekly sermons, and all other duties that need to be completed. When you add church planting, the demands seem to multiply daily.
We haven’t even covered the two most important things that clergy must tend to: their spiritual development and their families. This is why the idea of bivocational ministry seems to be seen as more burdensome than it is rewarding. How does someone take the already high demands of personal and clerical life and add in the need to work for income?
This is also where most articles on bivocational ministry fall short. There is plenty of why or why not, but not enough how.
My Goal in This Series: Connecting the Secular and the Sacred
My goal through a series of articles is to begin helping bivocational clergy connect the “secular” world to the “sacred” world, where we no longer see each as individual things but begin to see how all aspects of bi-vocational life can work together for the good of the Gospel.
My Bivocational Journey
I grew up Southern Baptist and devoted my life to the calling of vocational full-time ministry at a very early age. Everything I did from that point forward was geared towards a career that allowed me to earn my income from being on church staff.
I spent four years working on a degree in youth ministry and then, towards the end of my undergraduate studies, accepted a full-time position in a local parish.
After serving in that position for seven years, my wife and I began to sense the call to church planting. One thing was clear, however: it would not be a “traditional” journey.
I accepted the call to bivocational ministry in the summer of 2007 during my church planter assessment with the Kardia Church Planting Initiative in the Diocese for the Carolinas.
In August 2007, I began working in real estate while going through the planning stages of a young Anglican Church plant. Real estate was fun, but it was very taxing on my schedule and time.
I then started working for a local bank, now known as Pinnacle Financial and celebrated three years with them in May.
Two Simultaneous Careers
I no longer see my life as bi-vocational clergy as pastoring a church while trying to make ends meet. Instead, I see it as living two simultaneous careers. I had to quickly learn that the two have to work in step with each other for me to fully answer God’s call to lead my family and the church he has entrusted to me.
Having two careers as one has afforded me great opportunities to share who I am and what I do. My identity is very much made up of being an ordained minister who is also a banker.
I spend Monday through Friday working with people on their financial journeys, but I have quickly learned that I am also sharing in their life journeys. There have been times when the conversation and other opportunities have provided a place for me to talk about who I am, where I get my identity, and why I do what I do. I have shared my faith, calling, and journey with the people I encounter, whether wearing my clerical collar or my bow tie.
The Need for Bi-vocational Ministry Today
A time has come in the church when we must capture a solid DNA of being bi-vocational. We must begin seeing both “secular” and “sacred” areas as an opportunity to further the Kingdom. We need more business leaders who are working to connect Monday through Friday to our Sundays. We also need more clergy who are working to connect Sundays to our Monday through Friday.
Being bivocational, we have earned a unique place in society to do both. Yes, this endeavor is exhausting at times, but for me it has included some of the most rewarding times of ministry.
I remember vividly two separate instances where the secular and sacred aspects of my life collided. The first instance occurred during the first baptism service for Trinity, where I had the honor of baptizing a co-worker. The second instance was where I was able to bring comfort to a widow in the passing of her husband, when I attended the viewing. This sweet family always saw me as their banker and that evening they saw me as a clergyman, in my collar, there to offer hope of the resurrection.
There is no doubt that we as clergy already have a big calling in itself, but we must not discount those clergy who are accepting the calling to place their feet in both the sacred and the secular realms, as it were, trying their best to spread the Kingdom for God’s glory.
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