Finally! Help for the Bivocational Pastor

I have a friend who is a church planting missionary in Vermont. He encourages pastors already in the ministry and also mentors young men who are just starting out in ministry. One of the things he tells them is that most likely they will have to work a second job in order to provide for their families. This is often referred to as bivocational ministry. Very few pastors want to be bivocational. It is hard to work two jobs, but this is the reality that many pastors will face in ministry.

Regardless of how pastors and/or church attendees may feel about bivocational ministry, it is a growing practice in North American church life. Patricia Chang is a research professor at Boston College and has studied many denominations and written extensively about clergy issues. Chang has done extensive research on how bivocational ministry is impacting American denominations of all sizes and theological persuasions. In a major study published in the Pulpit and Pew journal of Duke University, Chang concludes that "the majority of congregations in the United States are small, with fewer than 100 regular members, and cannot typically afford their own pastor." This results in a growing need for more bivocational pastors every year.

My friend in Vermont wanted to help pastors who have to work two jobs, so he wrote a book entitled, Developing Leadership Teams in the Bivocational Church. This book helps both the pastor and the lay leaders understand the importance of sharing leadership in the church. He has been using these principles in churches in Vermont for several years. It has worked very well. I think it work will for other churches too. I want to encourage you to consider buying the book, which is available at http://www.facebook.com/l/4e1f554sYsMzpv8u_WO0jwbNoQA;Amazon.com and a variety of other online retailers. You can also request it at most Christian bookstores.

The 70/30 Principle

It is no secret that as many as eighty percent of all the over three hundred thousand churches of all denominations in America are either plateaued or declining. Having spent twenty-five years trying to turn around six of those churches as their pastor, I can attest to the difficulty of the task. A vital key to turning those churches around is to get their eyes focused upon the harvest instead of on themselves. Too often, churches exist for themselves. I have said that we have too much navel gazing going on in church and not enough eyes on the yet unborn within our sphere of influence. I believe it was Kennon L. Callahan in Effective Church Leadership, pp. 208-209,who suggested that if a church has seventy percent of its volunteers focusing on serving within the church and thirty percent serving the outreach into the unreached community, that church is in maintenance mode. On the other hand, if a church uses seventy percent of its volunteers in outreach and only thirty percent within the church family, it is in a missional mode. Do yourself a favor, if you are a leader in your church, and get familiar with how your church family stacks up against this fact. If I am ever allowed to serve as a pastor again, rest assured that I will be proactively seeking to get the 70/30 principle correct! Remember that He who died for the church came to seek and to save the lost! (Luke 19:10)

Who Is Your Client?

It's a valid question. I serve in denominational work and we are often heard to say that we serve the churches. Having spent thirty-one years as a pastor of a local church, I was often expected to answer the question by saying that I serve the members of the XYZ Church. If you are a member of a local church, who is your client?

The church of Jesus Christ is described in many ways. It is said to be an unstoppable force, militant army, movement of God on earth, etc. But who should be the church's client? If the church is the bride of Christ, then it would seem to me that we should have the same goals and purpose as does the bridegroom. He came to seek and to save the lost.(Luke 19:10) Does it not stand to reason that our client should be the "yet unborn" family members in this world.(John 3:3) In other words, our clients are the unreached, unchurched, unredeemed who live in our cities and communities. How would this change the way we do denominational work if we saw the masses of folk living within our territory as our target group. In my case, I cannot get away from the fact that our Lord has placed me in the Baptist Convention of New York where twenty-eight million people live and twenty-seven million have no relationship with Jesus Christ as their Lord. Pushing back the darkness of lostness in this territory is what keeps me up late at night and wakes me up early every morning. How would this kind of thinking impact your church? How would this kind of thinking impact the way you live your life today? Who really is your client?

Just a thought.

Mom Taught me to be a Missionary!

Another lesson from Mom's recent home going.



She taught me how to be a missionary. For many years she served as the Superintendant of Vacation Bible School at the Panama Baptist Church in our community. About Thursday evening before VBS week, she would say to my Dad, brother, and me that it was time to get the pick up truck cleaned up and put the side boards on for VBS. We would clean the truck to within an inch of its life. He had a saying that we should clean so as to be able to eat off of it. Now we hauled cattle on that truck on many occasions. So scub it we did! Then we would haul twenty-five to thirty children to VBS on that truck. Now I know that she would have been locked up if that had been today. But I shared this story recently when I was privileged to speak during revival services at Macedonia Baptist church in Battleground, Cullman County, AL. A gentleman walked up and told me his name was Neal Buckelew and he had ridden that pick up truck and had accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Savior as a result of one of those VBS's. I shared this story at Mom's home going celebration to her honor and to Jesus' glory!



She may have never preached in one of America's great pulpits, but whether she was shelling peas under one of the big oak trees in the yard or pushing our blue jeans through the old ringer type washing machine, she always preached and lived Jesus!

Bullets Unfired!

Lesson #4 from downsizing.

While emptying out our Pittsburgh house I found some interesting items that carried me back over the past forty years of marriage and ministry. None were so sobering as the envelope containing six 22 caliber bullets unfired. As a young pastor, I grew quite frustrated with the fact that many people would call me to salve their consciences, when in reality they had already made the decision that they were going to do something that they knew to violate God's Word. For instance, couples would call me after they had already scheduled their appointment with the divorce lawyer. They were less than enthusiastic about pursuing the solution to their marital problems, but wanted to be able to say that they had tried talking with the pastor.

Having voiced my frustration on this matter, I was soon faced with and opportunity that was quite unexpected. A man who attended our church called to say he'd like for me to take a ride with him. I reluctantly agreed as it was not a convenient time for me. We rode for about twenty minutes hardly saying a word between us, but I could see that he was agitated about something. Then he began to share that his daughter had been sexually violated by someone connected to one of our church softball teams. We talked through it and had many more hours of talking even after this ride. However, at one point in this ride, he placed in my hand six 22 caliber bullets and said he did not think he would need them now. Dealing with people at the level of their need can be messy, but on occasion you may save a life as well as see folk come to know the Savior.

Unemployed Score Board Operator!

Lesson #3 from downsizing.

During the Moving Sale at our Pittsburgh house we met a number of very interesting people. An older couple stopped by accompanied by their son and his wife. We had several minutes of interesting conversation. Then I discovered that the younger gentleman had moved to Pittsburgh from Ohio a few months earlier and had now lost his job. It was at this time that I discovered the amazing fact that he had come to the 'Burgh as the scoreboard operator for the Pirates and the Steelers. Now he was laid off from that job. If you follow sports at all, you can see why the Pirates may not need a scoreboard operator, since they hardly ever score. But the Steelers? Are they getting ready for a dismal season? I'm certainly not making light of this man's plight and I do pray he will find work soon. But I could not help but see the humor in this encounter.

There is a lesson here for us all. Only two things can happen when we compare our score in life to others. 1. We discover we are ahead of others and get prideful. 2. We discover we are behind where others are and we get depressed. Both are detrimental to our development. Perhaps we should fire the scoreboard operator as well!

Inside Out!

Lesson #2 from downsizing.

After hauling numerous trash bags to the street for pick up from our house in Pittsburgh and having sold all that we could at the gigantic moving sale, we had some large items that we knew we would most likely have to pay someone to move for us. Therefore we called a person who gave us a price and a time when we were to do this thing. Then we sold even more stuff. Therefore I called the man to re-negotiate the price. He got irate with me and refused to come at all. Not knowing what we would do, I walked into another part of the house where Dolly showed me an email from someone who saw our ad on Craig's List and said they were starting a non-profit to give appliances, etc. to needy families. This seemed like a perfect fit so we made contact. However, we soon discovered that they had only an SUV and a great idea but no way to make it happen. As this was sinking in immediately after worship on a Sunday, I looked out the window to see a well-dressed lady looking through our trash by the street. It turns out that she was just returning from church also. I walked out to meet her and she indicated that she had a tenant who did not even have a laundry basket. I gave her two and we continued to talk. She went home and got her truck and hauled off two large loads for her tenant and the local Goodwill Thrift Store. Mission accomplished in a way we had no idea about when the day began. How God does provide!

We invited Judy to join us for lunch between loads and as we sat on the floor (our furniture had already been picked up for the move to Syracuse), she noticed the shirt Dolly was wearing was from Iron City Church. This is the church that our son started in the North Hills of the 'Burgh about three years ago. She said that some of her tenants had attended and that she had, in fact, attended at least once. We later found out that she was a nurse and worked in recovery at a local hospital. That is when I began to put together where I had heard that voice. She was the nurse when I had a colonoscopy a few years ago. After working together for the afternoon, I commented that she now knows me inside and out! God provides and it's fun!