Wednesday

Bivocational Ministry

In America today, eight churches close each day. Six new churches are started each day. Four of these six church starts are Southern Baptist church plants. Last year, Southern Baptists started 1,781 new churches and the United States lost 730 churches for a net gain of 970 churches (Source).

I found this today from Steve Nerger. The statistics he cites are part of the reason bivocational pastors are now a majority in the Southern Baptist Convention. We have come full circle. My personal view is that the survival of the SBC rests in the hands of hard working bivocational pastors. The flexibility, creativity, and common sense approach of the bivocational lifestyle will drive a thriving church. The trend is both for new churches and long established ones; with the former planning to have bivocational staff from the beginning and the latter transitioning to bivocational staff arrangements.

I was "full-time" for ten years of pastoral ministry before going bivocational. I never anticipated how much I would enjoy the change. The benefits are many, and the topic of a good future blog, and I encourage all ministers to consider the possibilities of bivocational ministry.

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