Two Baptist associational missionaries are raising awareness for bivocational pastors and the challenges they face through a Bike Bama 4 Bivocational Pastors fundraiser ride across the state.
Ric Camp and Justin Olvey will begin their ride in Florence on Oct. 22 and end their trip in Mobile on Oct. 31. The two are raising funds for scholarships for bivocational pastors who want to further their education within the Ministry Training Institute at Samford University.
Bivocational pastors work a separate, full-time job while also serving as a minister, which is typically part-time pay but still requires the same responsibility level of those who serve in the roles full time.
A nine-day bike ride
Ric Camp, lead mission strategist for Shelby Baptist Association, said the team will make stops throughout the nine-day ride to connect with bivocational pastors and their churches. Camp will be riding a gravel bike and Olvey will ride a road bike while Camp’s wife follows in her car for safety reasons.
Churches, pastors and individuals are invited to join the riders as they make stops along their route. The riders will stop in the following places: Lauderdale County, Colbert County, Winston County, Fayette County, Tuscaloosa County, Greene County, Marengo County, Clark County, Washington County and Mobile County.
Preparing for the journey
Both riders have been training since last December by riding individually multiple times a week and occasionally biking together. They are also preparing their bodies to endure sitting on bike seats for nine days.
“Our route that we are taking, it will average about 45 miles per day,” Camp said.
The two riders will stop to eat and sleep at associational offices and churches along the way.
Funding for further education
Camp hopes bivocational pastors realize there are resources available to help them. He said the goal of the ride is to raise $25,000 in scholarship funds to create an endowment account.
“They use the proceeds that that count draws each year, and that’s how they’ll pay out for it,” Camp said. “It will be available for any of our bivocational pastors in the state of Alabama that want to apply for it through Samford University and get the funding through them.”
The classes at Samford can be taken in person or online.
Raising awareness and educating the public
Camp wants to bring awareness regarding the struggles bivocational pastors face as they work two jobs throughout the week with little to no time off.
“The struggles that they’re facing is the stress of trying to be 100% for everything,” Camp said. “That is such a difficult process for these guys.”
Justin Olvey, director of missions for West Cullman Baptist Association, said the team is going to fellowship with bivocational pastors along the ride. He hopes he and Camp can learn more about these pastors and educate the public about the challenges they face.
“There’s a tremendous lack of knowledge, I think, when it comes to bivocational pastors,” Olvey said. “They live a life that is very demanding, especially the true bivocational guy who does work 40 or 50 or 60 hours a week at a regular job. They use vacation and paid time off to do ministry.”
Balancing jobs
John Roland, Samford development officer in fundraising, is also a bivocational pastor at Beulah Baptist Church in Sterrett. He said balancing both jobs and the expectations that come with them is the hardest part of being a bivocational pastor. Most of the time, Roland does his church work at night or on the weekends.
“Trying to carve out time for Sabbath is an issue,” Roland said. “[I’m] just kind of on the go constantly.”
Helping pastors feel seen
Camp wants these pastors to know they are not alone. There are people praying for them and ready to support and encourage them.
“The association as a whole is there for them,” Camp said. “We live in community, we work in community, we serve in community and we succeed in community.”
Roland has great respect for the two riders as they put “sweat equity” into raising these scholarship funds and ensuring bivocational pastors feel seen in their callings and education.
“Bivocational work is only growing going into the future,” Roland said. “The stats just show a continual growth of that way of ministry.”
Olvey said the ride speaks to the work of these ministers as they face challenges but “keep pedaling.”
“They find themselves on long, hard journeys, sometimes, in ministry and life,” Olvey said. “There’s lots of ups and downs.”
Camp said many smaller congregations hire bivocational pastors because they don’t have the funds to hire a full-time preacher. These pastors typically give sermons on Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights while also helping their community and church through outreach on top of their regular job.
“Sixty percent of our [Baptist] churches are led by bivocational pastors, and they are struggling to be able to not only make ends meet a lot of time financially but also to be able to adequately serve their churches,” Camp said. “Some of them have never been trained in theological education.”
Managing congregational expectations
Without bivocational pastors, Olvey said many churches in Alabama would not survive. Some of these pastors cannot be at every church function during the week. He wants to educate congregations on the reality of working secular and ministerial jobs, as churches create more realistic expectations for their part-time pastors.
“A lot of bivocational pastors are in places where the expectations are unhealthy,” Olvey said. “It’s simply because there are people in the pews who need to kind of be educated.”
Roland said it’s important for congregations to revisit pastoral expectations and voice these to their bivocational pastors.
Support bivocational pastors
Donations have been made from different Baptist associations and individuals for the scholarship fund. Camp and Olvey are paying for any personal expenses during the ride so that all proceeds will go toward the scholarship.
Reach out to Camp at rcamp@shelbybaptist.org or call Shelby Association at 205-669-7858 ext. 101 or 102 to make a donation.
“We really want our churches to get on board and begin praying and supporting our bivo pastors,” Camp said. “Just pray for our safety as we travel.”
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