Barnabas File

My wife and I recently attended a concert presented by Jason Petty and his backup musicians at the Arts Center in Cannon County.     Petty is a musician, actor, and storyteller who got his big break portraying singer Hank Williams in a show called “Lonesome Highway.”      He has built on this role to build a career in which he channels the country music icon in various shows,     and he has developed similar tribute programs built around other musical figures. Petty and his ensemble did a great job, but he got to me thinking about his business model. He is an itinerant performer who has found a niche and does this work at a number of different venues in the United States and Canada.  He continues to refine his offerings to reach different audiences with his product.  He is leveraging his talents to do something he enjoys doing. His business model is really an example of the “gig economy.”  The gig economy ...

Several years ago, Intuit published its 2020 Report .  One of the key observations was, “By 2020, 40% of American workers will be independent contractors.”  A significant part of the population will be contingent workers who will piece together various paid opportunities in order to make a living.  Since 2020 is almost here, we should be asking the question, “What does this mean for the church?” From the perspective of how the church operates, this means we will see more of the following: First, outsourcing of non-ministerial services such as accounting, marketing, and cleaning to independent contractors.  This relieves the church of providing benefits and assures that someone with specialized knowledge or ability will meet a need that is important but does not need to be done by a paid staff member. Second, increased use of outside consultants, which is another type of outsourcing.  We already do this with capital campa...

With bivocational ministry emerging as a necessity for many churches and denominations, most theological institutions still focus on preparation for full-time congregational ministry and tend to ignore any other ministry model. Sharon Miller, director of research at the Center for the Study of Theological Education at   Auburn Seminary , was questioned about the role that seminaries play in preparing students to assume bivocational or biprofessional ministry roles. “The bivocational [model] by necessity is rarely, or never, talked about even as more and more graduates find themselves in this situation,” she says. “This is the arena where I think schools and students really need educating.” What are some ways that seminaries can address this opportunity? First, seminaries should acknowledge biprofessional ministry as a valid calling. Ministry has been done in many ways over the history of the church including tentmaker, worker priest, farmer pastor, and circuit r...

In 2017, 68 percent of the 156 congregations affiliated with the Maine Conference of the United Church of Christ had no full-time clergy.     Darren Morgan, the associate conference minister said , “They recognize their reality that they can’t afford a full-time pastor, but that doesn’t mean they’re not going to have a ministry. . ..     The leadership within those churches is strong. They say, ‘We’re not going to be a weak church. We’ll be a strong, small church.’” Whether a church has always had a biprofessional minister or is shifting from full-time to part-time, members should consider some guidelines for helping to make their pastor successful so that the church can thrive under his or her leadership. First, there should be a clear understanding about time commitment.  The church and the pastor should clearly state boundaries including when the pastor is available for calls, how much time the pastor will be “on the field,” and time off for h...

Chuck Strong, former biprofessional pastor  of Olive Branch Fellowship In a recent article , United Methodist Bishop Ken Carter shared  three New Testament models of stewardship: the beggar, the patron, and the tentmaker.  He asked, “Can we re-imagine these roles for a new age?” The one that caught my attention is the “tentmaker,” also known as the bivocational or biprofessional approach.  Carter points out that about one-third of UMC churches have 35 or less on Sunday mornings.  Some are served by ministers with two or three charges, but many are also served by ministers whose primary income is from another source. In my work with Baptist churches affiliated with the Tennessee Baptist Convention (now the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board),  I found that out of 3000 churches almost two-thirds had bivocational pastors.  One observer wrote , “ About 10,000 bivocational ministers were working in the Southern Baptist chu...

In the middle of the last century, the ideal staffing of a mainline church looked like this:  a full-time, seminary trained minister (male); at least one associate (often seminary trained) who specialized in youth and/or children’s ministry; and a full-time or part-time music leader.  Of course, this was not the reality for every church. Many churches, especially rural churches, had a bi-vocational minister (one with another vocation), a volunteer or part-time music director, and lay volunteers for other ministries. As we move further into the 21 st century, the second model is becoming more common. Even mainline denominations which have high standards for ministerial preparation--both in the discernment process and in educational preparation--are looking at other options to fill the pulpits of churches who have both declining memberships and smaller budgets.  On the other hand, there are the non-denominational or community churches who place m...

My friend Ka’thy Gore Chappell introduced the term “side hustle” to me.    Entrepreneur Magazine defines it in this way: “A  side hustle  is a way to make some extra cash that allows you flexibility to pursue what you're most interested in. It can also be your true passion – a chance to delve into fashion, travel or whatever it is you care about the most without quitting your day job.” Some ministry colleagues may think I lack faith when I say it, but I suggest that anyone in ministry should identify and pursue a “side hustle.”  Having an alternative way of making money has always been at the core of biprofessional (bivocational) ministry and allows many churches to have a minister who could not afford to pay a full-time pastor. When I returned to college from a summer doing mission work in the Midwest, I thought seriously about becoming a biprofessional pastor or campus minister in an area where Southern Baptists had few if any chur...

Bivocational or biprofessional ministry has always been part of Christian ministry.  The idea of serving as a minister while earning a primary or secondary income is nothing new, but the concept has been more common in some eras than others.  With the declining revenues in many churches and denominations, some are asking such questions as, “Can the church andminister afford each other?” Biprofessionalism is one alternative that many churches consider.  Those ministers who are biprofessionalism understand both the positive and negative aspects of the practice.  A new paradigm requires new ways of thinking.  One challenge is helping the church to transition to the idea that the pastor can longer give his or her full-time to the congregation.  On the other hand, the trend provides opportunities for lay leaders to reclaim significant ministries in the life of the congregation.  This is the topic I want to address. Lay leaders may be asked to ...

Recently  I wrote a blog on bi-vocational ministry that was picked up by  ethicsdaily.com .    I received several responses including one from a friend in another state who gave me permission to share his own experience.   We agreed that I would delete specifics to assure anonymity. A couple of years ago [my wife] lost her job suddenly when our local hospital closed, taking away more than half of our household income and our insurance.  Long story short, she is now working and drawing early retirement and we are doing just fine.  But in the meantime, I got a job as a part-time driver for a motor coach operator, having operated heavy equipment as a teen with my grandfather and driven thousands of miles in a church bus…as most of us have. Out of the blue about two years ago, a voice just told me to call [name of company] and ask about part-time employment.  I don’t always know what to call “the voice of God,” but it was providential with...