What did you do when you got home from work today? Play with the kids? Relax in a favorite chair and watch the evening news? Or maybe catch up on some work around the house? If you’re one of the 52 percent of Southern Baptist pastors who are bivocational, leaving one full-time job doesn’t mean your workday is over. Rather, it means getting busy on your other full-time job.
That’s right. More than half of Alabama’s Southern Baptist pastors are bivocational, meaning they support themselves with a full-time, usually secular career as well as serve as a full-time minister. The number of bivocational pastors has increased steadily over the last several years up from 25 percent in 1987.
The Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions (SBOM) reports that 1,663 churches affiliated with the state convention are led by bivocational pastors. That is 52 percent of the 3,198 Alabama Baptist churches.
A common misconception about bivocational ministry is that it is part-time work. However, according to Jim Swedenburg, coordinator of annuity and insurance services with the SBOM, “Bivocational pastors are not part time. Many put in 40 hours at one job and another 30–50 hours at a church that can only afford to pay them for five–10 hours a week. They do this because they are called to be ministers and are committed enough to support their calling through tent-making (Acts 18:3–4) just as Paul did.”
Dan Eades works full time — about 50 hours a week — in electrical and plumbing supply sales. He is also full-time pastor of Mount Hebron Baptist Church in Leeds. In a typical week at Mount Hebron, he preaches Sunday morning and evening services, preaches Wednesday evening services, teaches a Sunday School class for young adults, leads a study group through Experiencing God, leads churchwide visitation and handles the usual pastor-type jobs such as hospital visits and funerals.
Eades has a positive attitude about his busy schedule. He finds that his congregation is compassionate and understanding of the demands on his time.
He says the demands make him a better time-manager and force him to prioritize his life. Juggling two careers makes his time with his wife of 30 years, his children and his grandchildren precious.
Another common misconception about bivocational ministry is that the ministers use their positions as stepping stones to “bigger” and “better” churches.
Swedenburg also dispels this notion. “They are not preparing for bigger churches. They are where God has called them to be.”
Eades, having served as a full-time pastor until 1993, seconds that opinion. His move to bivocational ministry was subtle and somewhat unexpected, yet he says, ‘It was definitely a calling.”
For a bivocational pastor to have an effective ministry, two things must happen. First, he must have some flexibility in his secular career. Eades has been blessed in his career. He notes, “The folks I work for have never given me any trouble. When I need to get to the hospital for an emergency, they are very understanding.”
Second, the bivocational pastor must have the support of his congregation.
The support must be there in tangible ways such as strong servant leadership from deacons. The work of deacons and other dedicated lay leaders makes up for the time crunch that hits every pastor. Birmingham Baptist Association consultant to bivocational pastors Mark Lawley says, “They [bivocational pastors] feel they can never find the time to do everything they want to do.
“They can’t be everywhere they want to be.” Pastors like Eades count on their deacons to make those important hospital or home visits that they just can’ t get to.
Resources also are available through the SBOM. Contact the office of LeaderCare and church administration at 1-800-264-1225 for more information.
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