My wife and I have served in bivocational ministry for over 25 years. During our first church plant in the inner city, we often faced a difficult choice: Should we take a larger salary from the church or distribute those funds to empower leadership and support our community’s benevolent needs? Looking back, I rarely drew more than one-third of my income from the church budget. This experience leads to a vital question: How can you truly thrive in bivocational ministry?
What Is Bivocational Ministry?
To succeed, you must reject the misconception that bivocational ministry means doing two things poorly. Many view it as a compromise for those who aren’t quite ready for a full-time salary or a career in business, resulting in a mediocre approach to both. However, that is not the reality of this calling. It is essential to understand the reasons to go bivocational and the unique advantages of bivocational church planting.
Bivocational ministry is about intentionally leveraging every aspect of your life into a single, unified calling. It is not a one-size-fits-all model; rather, it is a flexible strategy for fulfilling your mission. Success isn’t just about paying the bills; it is about building a team and establishing a sustainable ministry model that others can follow. If you can multitask, embrace variety, plan your schedule intentionally, and communicate effectively with your spouse, you will likely find great fulfillment in bivocational ministry.
Over the years, our financial buckets have varied from a combination house painting, driving a delivery truck, writing books and/or raising financial support, along with some financial support from the church. Most of the time, we weren’t juggling serving our church and one job. We were juggling serving our church and many jobs.
Smart Jobs vs. Not-So-Smart Jobs
Many of you have probably tried a job and thought, “Man, that was a bad job.” There is a difference between smart jobs and not-so-smart jobs for bivocational ministers. Smart jobs typically involve making a substantial amount of money relatively quickly or connecting you to a lot of people.
You must know your gifts and abilities to find a job that best fits you as you serve in bivocational ministry. For me, I’m evangelistic and like to be with people, so a bad job would be one that puts me in a cubicle running numbers. However, for some of you, that same job may sound appealing and fit your gifts and skills.
I once talked to a megachurch teaching pastor who regretted giving up his real estate company because he felt called to ministry as a teaching pastor. He later resigned his church salary, remained an unpaid teaching pastor, and went back into the real estate business because it enabled him to engage people in his community and financially support his family and church. This bivocational teaching pastor/real estate agent found a way to get it done and leverage all of life into his calling.
And when you find a smart job, don’t overlook developing your skills or trade. You should invest in and develop your skills just as much as you develop your theology.
What Should a Church Pay You to Do?
If you’re serving in a team-based bivocational ministry, you should get paid for what you can do or what no one wants to do for your church and community. Don’t ask for a title or position and the subsequent financial remuneration, and don’t base it on a hierarchy or years of service.
I know a church that has an all bivocational ministry team. Each role is compensated based on total weekly hours given to the church and community. In this church, the director of the church’s homeless shelter is paid more than the teaching pastor because the director role requires more hours in community involvement and engagement.
Remember that serving in bivocational ministry allows you to architect the life you want to live. Commit to your church the things that are unique to your skill set and commit to your trade to financially support your family and get to know the people in your community. That’s how to best leverage all of life into your bivocational ministry calling.
This content by Hugh was adapted from our Bivocational Ministry course. Are you leading in ministry with limited time and resources? Are you wrestling through the joys and pain of bivocational ministry? Check out our Bivocational Ministry course and access 14 modules to help you leverage all of life into your calling as a bivocational minister.