Barnabas File

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 ...

My friend, Tom Brown, passed away on May 14 at the age of 90.   Since he was a Navy veteran of World War Two, remembering him today seems especially appropriate.   Tom was the complete Baptist layman.  He was one of the people who are an asset to a church and an encouragement to a pastor because his only agenda was to serve. His desire was always to encourage, support and inform. Tom knew the Bible but he also knew people and he loved both. Tom was also a great father and husband.  His wife, Helen, was the first woman elected by First Baptist, Murfreesboro, as a deacon.  Tom was not only supportive of Helen’s selection but he felt it was long overdue.  One of my earliest memories of Tom, as you might expect, is connected to Helen.  When I was Baptist Student Union director at Middle Tennessee State University in the early 70’s, we organized a group of married students who met regularly on Friday nights.  We invited Tom ...

Given that lay people often fail to understand what the clergy do during the week—“Preacher, it must be nice to work just one day a week”-- we can understand why clergy do not have an appreciation for what their parishioners face during the days when they are not at the church building.   Most clergy have held only temporary or part-time non-church jobs (although this is changing as median age adults are responding to the call to ministry).   Few clergy today visit their members at their place of employment; in fact, often the laity don’t even work in the same community where they reside and attend church.   Even if the pastor was employed in business before responding to the call to ministry, he or she may not be familiar with the stresses that are peculiar to the settings where their members work in 2013. This can be addressed in many ways in the church, but the process of making the connection can begin in the seminaries, schools of theology, and divinity schoo...

Several months ago, I wrote a blog about laity carrying the primary responsibility in startingnew churches .  My friend Frank Broome, the coordinator for Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Georgia, responded positively to that post.  He reported that CBF of Georgia has had a dozen successful lay led starts with only two failures.    In an effort to gain some realistic feedback on this approach to staring new work, I asked Frank, “W hat factors contributed to the success of lay lead church starts in your state?”  Here is how he responded:   "They began with a committed core of between 30 and 40 individuals who understood that they needed to give money and time. " They were willing to begin in a home, fire station, metal shed or even Jewish synagogue, thus keeping rent to a minimum. " They found an interim (usually through me) that was willing to preach at a small salary. " They made sure the nursery was staffed with volunteers.  " They ...

I have lost count of the number of ordination services in which I have participated. Although the ordination of men and women to the Gospel ministry (perhaps I am dating myself in using that term) is meaningful to me, just as important is the opportunity to set aside men and women to the diaconate of the church.  These are people who have shown that they have gifts to both lead and serve. When I place my hands on the head of a new deacon, I whisper these words from 2 Peter 3:18:  “G row in the grace  and knowledge  of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. ”  My desire for that person is that she or he will continue on the journey that they have begun so well and will continue to discover what it means to be a fully equipped follower of Christ. In talking to church leaders, however, I have discovered that many have no roadmap for the journey of growth.  Whether they are deacons, Sunday school teachers, small group leaders, or committee chairpersons, t...