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Welcome to Bivocational Ministries
Ministry at the Corner of Main Street and Church Street
This site will be undergoing some major changes over the next few weeks. We plan to add a number of new resources designed to assist you in the ministry you provide your churches. Whether you are a bivocational minister, a fully-funded pastor of a small church, a lay leader in a smaller church, or a judicatory leader who works with small churches, you will find helpful resources on our site. We will especially focus on leadership and ministry tools that will assist those who work with churches and church leaders. (Those of you who serve larger churches will find these resources helpful as well.) I hope you will bookmark this site and return often to see the changes we have planned to help you fulfill the calling God has on your life.
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I became a bivocational pastor in 1981 when I accepted the call to serve Hebron Baptist Church in southeast Indiana. I began that ministry without any ministerial education or pastoral experience. I only knew God had called me to the ministry. I served that church for 20 years while working in a factory for most of that time. During those years I also graduated from a Bible school and earned a bachelor's degree.
In 2001 I became an Area Minister with the American Baptist Churches of Indiana and Kentucky and remained bivocational even in this role. Two years before I took early retirement from my factory job our family assumed ownership of a small business which I continue to manage. As an Area Minister I have the opportunity to work with churches when they seek new pastoral leadership. More and more of these churches are saying that they are willing to consider a bivocational minister. They have seen the successful ministries of many of our bivocational colleagues, and they now understand that this is not a second-class ministry. In fact, for many of these churches becoming bivocational could be the best choice they could make.
In the spring of 2006 I earned my Master of Arts in Religion with a concentration in leadership and then enrolled in a Doctor of Ministry program which I am currently pursuing. If approved, my DMin thesis will address the role of coaching in equipping bivocational ministers for greater ministry effectiveness.
The frustration I felt as a bivocational pastor was the lack of resources developed specifically for us. That is why I have written four books specifically for bivocational pastors and the small churches we often serve. I am committed to providing resources and encouragement for bivocational ministers and the churches they serve. Along with this website we also offer a monthly e-newsletter that is free to anyone who requests to receive it. We only need your request and your e-mail address, and you can be certain that we will never sell our addresses to anyone. About a year ago I became involved in coaching and started coaching bivocational ministers. We now offer a blog to help bivocational ministers have a place to share their thoughts with one another. It's a great place to discuss with other bivocational ministers the joys and frustrations you feel in this ministry.
We also want to provide you with the information you need to excel in the ministry God has called you to. Let us know the topics that would be most helpful to you. Ask the questions that are troubling you. Help us help you in this exciting ministry God has given you.
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Free Monthly Newsletter Now Available
Would you like to receive a free monthly e-mail newsletter that focuses on bivocational ministry? All you have to do to receive this is to send us your e-mail address with your request to begin receiving the newsletter. Your address will not be sold or given to other people. Let us know what information you would like for us to cover in the newsletter, and tell us a little about yourself if you wish. I look forward to hearing from you.
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Check Out My Blog
I have a blog at http://bivocationalministry.blogspot.com that is updated regularly with information that I hope the readers find helpful. It gives you an opportunity to respond with your own thoughts and comments. It is my hope that this blog will become a community for bivocational ministers and small church leaders to share with one another. How helpful would it be for each of us to be able to learn what has worked and not worked for others who have the same call of God on their lives as we do? Several people have joined as friends of the blog, and I hope you will decide to do so as well. We can never have too many friends in the ministry! Bookmark the blog and check it out regularly.
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This website was last updated on February 16, 2010. Please let us know of articles or information that you would like to see included on this site. Thank you.
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