Bivocational Profile: The Road Warrior

May 17, 2015June 12, 2015Leave a comment

Meet Pastor Randy. Pastor Randy is the associate pastor at Your Community Church. He assists the senior pastor in project coordinating, oversees house church and new member ministries…and is regarded as one of the nicest people in town.

Yet, despite his warm nature, Pastor Randy is a mystery man, with bivocational obligations keeping his church attendance in check.

Truth is: Randy is a road warrior…an aerial champion who travels heavily to meet the requirements of his personnel recruiter position. Unfortunately, due to his loaded schedule, his influence is somewhat hindered by limited availability.

No doubt, Randy is committed and takes his ministerial responsibility seriously. For instance, Randy will use his “down time” at an airport or hotel to catch up on weekly correspondences with church members and staff.

However, Randy finds it hard to keep pace relationally and organizationally, as he’s often the last staff member to receive important updates (If only they use ‘Slack’). Furthermore, since Randy often misses out on opportunities to offer timely insight, the majority of church attendees aren’t aware of his spiritual giftings.

Randy has a devoted wife and a couple rambunctious kids who hold down the fort while he’s away. When he’s not on the road, Randy loves soaking up quality time with family and friends, whether it’s at the movie theater or serving the homeless at his local community center.

Challenges:

Limited availability.
Tendency to over-rely on technology versus in-person interaction.
Little time for family and peers due to heavy workload outside of church.
Has little time to directly develop and mentor.
Struggles to communicate from the road.
Often feels invisible.

Opportunities:

Is able to inspire others by a relentless and disciplined work ethic.
Has stable job to provide for family.
Is gifted in building meaningful connections with people wherever he’s at.
Has the tools to inspire people, even at a distance.
Character constantly refined by “real world” experiences and challenges.

The challenge is real…and so are the opportunities. Do you fit into this profile? What are some other challenges or opportunities you have encountered? Share in the comments below.

Photo credits: travisallendot.com & pixgood.com.

Bivocational Profile: The Very Involved Volunteer

May 5, 2015June 12, 20152 Comments

Meet Jack. Jack is a volunteer at Your Community Church…and is involved. Very involved. So involved, he’s often misunderstood to be a full-time staff member. Not like Jack seeks to milk the myth; he’s just really passionate about serving people. Jack is a newly wed and works 30-40 hours a week as an Apple specialist at Best Buy. He has no kids, but dreams of having them, which is partly why he commits 25-30 hours a week as a volunteer in the youth and tech ministry programs. In the rare case, he’s caught up on both work and church, Jack can be found hanging out with senior high youth at the rec center or movie theater.

Challenges:

Time management is weak.
Tendency to over-exert is high.
Little time for family and peers due to heavy workload in church and out.
Unbalanced priorities with respect to community overall.

Opportunities:

Is able to use IT skills in both spheres.
Uses church community as a bridge to bless colleagues at work.
Is constant in loving people, allowing non-churched and churched peers to trust his counsel and encouragement.

The challenge is real…and so are the opportunities. Do you fit into this profile? What are some other challenges or opportunities you have encountered? Share in the comments below.

Photo credits: volunteerswmi.org & volunteerweekly.org

You May Be Bivocational If…

May 2, 2015May 7, 2015Leave a comment

And now…to brighten your weekend…here are a couple clichés you may be able to relate to.

You may be bivocational if…

You drive to work only to realize you’ve been going the wrong way for miles on route to church.
You accidentally say “outreach” in place of the words: “outbreak”, “outback” or “outsource”.
Your day-timer is loaded with the words, “coffee”, “train” & “lunch”.
You’re a role model tithe-giver.
You have more degrees than an acute angle.
Your résumé and/or LinkedIn profiles list ProPresenter and Keynote under “skills”.
You accidentally ‘amen’ during a staff meeting.
Your boss defaults to you to pray before special luncheons.
You literally consider a career in tent-making.
You reach out to John Maxwell to speak at your church and work.
You have just as many “groups” listed under contacts as individual contacts in your phone directory.
You have a Bible study with work colleagues but attend marketplace ministry seminars hosted by your church.
Your mail is saturated with sermon series packages and international outreach invitations.
Half your Instagram and/or Twitter followers are organizations, not actual people.

———————————————————————————————————————————————–

See some not listed?

Check out our bonus reel above…then add to the list by commenting below.

‘Til then, we’ll see you next time on “You May Be Bivocational If…”

Good night.

Music credits: “Boogie Power” by Mark Scholl, Robert J Walsh; “Whistle to Work” by Jimmy Kaleth, Ross Andrew Mclean

Why Part-Time & Bivocational Aren’t the Same Thing

April 17, 2015April 17, 2015Leave a comment

Have you ever wondered why some people associate bivocational with “part-time” or why others relate time to effort?

I know for me, it’s easy to perceive the answers through a marketplace lens; however, when we talk about bivocational ministers, we ultimately discover a new lens altogether.

First off, when I say “part-time” in a ministerial context, I’m referring to pastors who balance multiple “full-time” loads inside and outside the church. The specifics may differ, but in general, a part-time pastor is a bivocational pastor who has accepted two or more vocations.

With that said, I strongly believe pastors should never be labeled “part-time” since it’s not possible to limit pastoral responsibilities to 20 hours a week…not to mention the term is widely misunderstood.

‘Cause truth is: Regardless if a pastor is bivocational or not, every pastor is (or should be) on call 24/7.

True, it may be hard for some to be “on call” depending on their job’s requirements; however, just because a pastor may juggle multiple jobs doesn’t mean he lacks the time or energy to put in a full-time effort at church. Rather, it simply means he has to be resourceful in how he stewards his time, whether investing in rest and family at designated intervals or temporarily sacrificing personal conveniences to develop people and new skill sets.

At the end of the day, whether a minister is bivocational by choice or necessity (i.e. financial limitations and/or a specific seasonal call of God), the point is “part-time” pastors still carry full-time responsibilities.

And in a time when living costs are increasing and church membership is decreasing, the reality is bivocational ministers are becoming more essential in leading the church while modeling its purpose outside of it.

No wonder many bivocational pastors consider their greatest call to be on call regardless of where they’re at.

Stay tuned next time when we’ll dive into a brand new series on bivocational profiles.

Cover photo from www.bivocationalpastor.com and www.sojo.net

Coping With the “Part-Time Perception” (Part 3)

December 16, 2014May 30, 20201 Comment

Last time, we talked about the second way a pastor can shatter the ‘part-time’ stereotype without compromise.

Today, we’re going to discuss the next segment in our stirring series, specifically how bivocational ministers can model efficient time management skills to church members and staff, using their part-time status as an efficient template.

Let’s be honest: It’s pretty easy to compartmentalize, whether it’s with our time, beliefs, values and/or emotions.

However, I believe most people (myself included) tend to over-compartamentalize, no doubt, a byproduct of increased distraction and distress in the time we live in.

How does this relate to the bivocational minister?

Well, let’s just say I’ve been around long enough to know what a “church game-face” looks like. And by ‘church game-face’, I mean one who sets up a wall between what happens inside and outside the church.

Granted, there’s a time to be silent and keep our wrestlings between ourselves and God. But I think it’s easy to underestimate the value in being vulnerable with the real world challenges we deal with on a daily basis.

And I think for the bivocational minister, the constant switching of gears between day job and life calling can take its toll if the opportunity to model efficient time management to fellow leaders is missed.

Thus, I submit as ministers and pastors in the body of Christ, we pursue intentionality in sharing our lives outside of church. Whether it’s a one-on-one coffee date, a post-staff meeting conversation or (dare I say) making time to actually call someone up…I contend being transparent about the ups and downs of our lives can go a long way in encouraging people where they’re at.

Why, you might ask?

Because the majority of life is experienced outside the church. And if the function of the church is to equip the saints through radical engagement with Christ, why would it make sense to “silo” the evidence of it outside the church? For we’re called to be consistently faithful, persistently perseverant and patience in well-doing (Romans 2:7), not just in the easy places, but in every setting!

Thus, if you’re a pastor or minister who spends more time in-church than out, I highly encourage you to reevaluate your priorities…and perhaps your missional pillars while you’re at it. For whatever we contend with inside church walls is only to grow the body of Christ as effective disciple-makers…in spreading the hope of glory outside them.

And true me…I know it’s easy to think ‘part-time’ is worse than ‘full-time’. I know because I’ve been one for the past five years. It can be especially challenging when you work with people who treat or view you differently simply because you don’t have the same amount of time to invest onsite.

Nevertheless, if you’re a volunteer leader, it’s imperative to not only think differently, but to value what God has called us to outside the church in an evident way.

And perhaps you’re like me and feel your day job is nothing to be proud of. Or maybe you’re burdened by your occupation’s transient tendencies. My encouragement to you is simple: don’t quit. Don’t ever let discouragement hinder you from being a light amidst the daily grind. Because not only does the real world need to experience the hope of Gospel love in the marketplace, but your fellow staff members at church need to hear about it! They need to be let in on the unique narrative being authored within you.

‘Cause truth is: when we remove the veil that separates the work of God in our lives outside the church, we allow ourselves to better edify the rest of the body inside the church.

Next time, we’ll discuss communicational strategies that can help a bivocational minister stay better connected to his/her local congregation.

Cover photo from YouthMinistry360