Lawrence, David

Lawrence, David

Church: Johns Baptist Church, Adger

Favorite Bible verse: John 3:16

Favorite hymn: “Because he lives”

Hobbies: Hunting, working with tractors

Family status: Married for 39 years to Elizabeth; three children, four grandchildren

David Lawrence is someone you should know. He is the bivocational pastor of Johns Baptist Church in Mud Creek Association who works the night shift in a coal mine so he can perform his pastoral duties during the day.

Q: Why do you serve as a bivocational minister?

A: You don’t have to try to be off work to go to funerals and weddings. You can do your visiting and duties in the daytime and still work at night. Neither one of them conflict.

Q: What does the ministry demand?

A: It demands you to get short sleep sometimes according to whatever you have to do at church.

Q: What do you get from the ministry?

A: The joy of serving God.

Q: What led you into this ministry?

A: I was already working when I got saved (and) I already had two children so it’s kind of hard to quit work. We got our first church making $25 a week. I was working during the daytime so it just fit right in.

Q: How do other family members support you?

A: They’re all supportive of it. They know I feel that the Lord’s work comes before anything else in my life.

Q: How do you see yourself involved in this in the future?

A: Hopefully, one day I will be able to retire from my work and go full time at the church because you never retire from God’s work.

Q: What difference will this ministry make for you in the future?

A: Hopefully, it will show people that you can have a full-time job and still do what God wants you to do. That’s one thing that you hear people say today is that I was too tired to come to church.