Many avant-church leaders/hosts/facilitators/curates/etc. are serving in bi-vocational ways; meaning they earn their living working a “regular” job in order to support their community habit. Some have made this a conscious decision, others have been forced into this bi-vo-role by slower than expected growth. Increasingly I believe that most paid staff in churches – including clergy – serve a bi-vocational role. Their paying job is to manage the institution or structure and provide a host of goods and services for those people within their affective community.
Running those structures and providing religious services creates contexts for transformation through connection. As such it may be helpful for us to think of all clergy as bi-vocational. The primary responsibility of clergy is to curate-connective space which encourages kenotic relationship with God, with one another and with creation. I’ll say more on this later.
Peace, dwight
Bi-vocational? Interesting thought. It takes some of the edge off the battle of what it means to be a pastor with so much of the hours of the week spent on being the program coordinator/manager.
Most would say that the pastor role has morphed throughout the centuries and manager is just a modern adaptation.
I like managing but also am a pastor.
I will look for more thoughts on this subject.
Why dont we let the pastors just do pastoral stuff, and train those with different giftings to do the managing stuff. Of course wed have to call them something different – how about "deacon"? 🙂
Re: Mike O’s comment
I think I know what you are saying… but do you think the fact that deacons do not get pay and pastors (bi-vo) does makes any difference?