I have been a bivocational pastor for 40 years – by choice. That’s important, bivocational pastoral ministry by choice, not chance, not happenstance, not accident… but by choice. For those 40 years, I have either been a full-time pastor and part-time educator and technician, or full-time educator and technician and part-time pastor. I could say wonderful, theo-philosophical things about my desire to live in two houses – an empirical house, pragmatic and somewhat worldly and objective, versus an existential house, that is philosophical and theological and somewhat subjective. Those things would be true.
Quoting the Barna Group: “Most pastors first felt a calling to ministry in their teen or early adult years, but that doesn’t mean they took a fast track to the clergy. More than half (55%) had another career before going into ministry. Roughly one-quarter (26%) remains bivocational, currently holding some other kind of (paid or unpaid) role in addition to pastoring, usually for non-financial motivations like personal fulfillment or having other outlets for their gifts.” (barna.com, Barna Group, 2019) and: “38% of U.S. Pastors Have Thought About Quitting Full-Time Ministry in the Past Year.” (barna.com, Barna Group, 2021)
Paul made tents… the preeminent disciple, evangelist, and pastor to the world-wide fledgling movement that became Christianity was an incredibly religious man who was a tent-maker… likely working in leather and course fabrics while he plied his vocation as traveling preacher throughout the world. Scripture shares both of Paul’s vocations; his vocation as tent-maker and his vocation as apostle to the movement related to ‘the way.’ And many theologians point to Paul’s example of bi-vocational pastoral ministry, both as apostolic advocacy (indicators of pragmatic stewardship) coupled with the whole ‘build a bigger tent’ metaphor for basic Christian inclusion – two hugely distinct interpretations. He was an itinerant traveling evangelist and working pastor, as demonstrated by his teaming with Priscilla and Aquila in both their secular work and religious endeavors (Acts 18:1-4).
But how does that map to or speak to pastoral ministry today, and in many ways speak to Christianity in modern America, particularly in a post-pandemic society and culture? And know that embedded in these musings are my rationale for being a bi-vocational pastor for four decades. I’ll share three (of many) ways that tent-making and bi-vocational pastoral ministry are salient today.
1. Church membership is declining. All indices show that church attendance, membership, and affiliation are declining. Churches are closing and we may be becoming a society that leans into organized religion much less than previous years. Well over half of churches in America today have less than 100 members. Church finances play a pragmatic part of the availability of pastors and the increase of bi-vocational pastoral ministry.
2. We are becoming a more secular culture and society. Worldly influences and pressures seem to exert much greater influence than the church today. We lose that understanding and grasp of that reality at our peril. If we are to be successful at witnessing, evangelism, and sharing the Gospel, we need to know what it is that we are sharing and we need to know what that means in terms of day-to-day activities and practical understanding of our lives. We must prioritize, and unless we know the culture and society, we cannot compare, contrast, prioritize, and understand what we are sharing in terms of Gospel precepts, morality, and example.
3. We are being bombarded with technical tools for communication and – while our communication world seems to shrink – the worldly demands seem to increase. Communication modality and process have changed dramatically over the past 25 years. The option for individualized and often anonymous communications have increased over social media and individual direct messaging. We have fewer group meeting gathering opportunities within the religious sphere.
Add to that the recent changes in our culture and society, following the onset of COVID-19, and you have a huge shift in communication modes and processes. One of the cliches that has developed in post pandemic days is “the new normal…” Well, the new normal isn’t normal. We are riding the crest of changes that speak to church closings, cultural shifts, and communication changes.
Those of us who have engaged (many of us for years) in bivocational pastoral ministry, know the notion of twin vocational realms…experiential and empirical… subjective and objective… hard as rock, and still pliable and flexible – and we are caught squarely in the middle of a shift that speaks to changes in culture and society, even more than they have in years gone by.
I am a firm believer in Christian preaching and teaching to pragmatic and practical understanding of God’s will for our lives. If we divorce our faith journey from real world situations, confrontations, and encounters, then we can behave inappropriately in real world encounters and may have no faith accountability.
There is much more to be said about the realities of bivocational pastoral ministry. It is an increasing important facet of Christian behavior and understanding in our society and culture. And it hearkens back 2,000 years. Paul made tents.
Rev. George Rizor is pastor of Holy Trinity UCC in Willingboro NJ. He is a bivocational church pastor, college professor of cognitive psychology, computer scientist, and research logistician. He served in the United States Navy as a US Navy photographer. He is the author of a book of inspirational short stories and the content editor of a textbook on forensic psychology. He authored and presented the first resolution on denomination wide anti-discrimination leadership policies adopted by the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
He originated and hosted the radio show, “DOVEWORKS,” for three years in southwestern Pennsylvania, is currently authoring a book on scriptural Gospel primacy and Christian apologetics, and is very involved in social action and distributive justice ministries.
