Get a Skill Before Going to Seminary!
Here’s an idea, maybe the 8 churches of 25 members each in a small town should actually merge and become one church. Then they could fulfill the biblical model of paying their pastor. I know that isn’t the case in every town, but it is in the area I’m in.
[KLengel]Josh,
Graphic designers are always in need. The problem is you really don’t need a degree in order to have this as a skill. In fact, I am putting together a product for young pastors so they can supplement their incomes by developing skills in need in the marketplace.
KML
The study that I saw said it was among the highest unemployment rates for college grads. Maybe it would be good for a pastor since he could do it part time as needed.
IMO one of the best possible jobs for a pastor is an RN. The pay is excellent, it is among the most hireable jobs out there, there is an abundance of per diem work so that he can work when it works for him, many opportunities to witness, etc. the only drawback is that it is a very stressful job which a high burnout rate. In the case of a pastor it would probably be ideal for someone who didn’t have to work quite full time.
[Mark_Smith]Didn’t they close down 30 years ago? Here locally maybe you can get a job delivering pizzas…does that count?
I guess I dated myself. For my friend it was a steel mill; for me it was a paper mill. These were places with tough men and hard working conditions. They were the type of jobs that a lot of the people I ministered to had. It’s good for a pastor to have had a job that produces sweat and blisters.
"Some things are of that nature as to make one's fancy chuckle, while his heart doth ache." John Bunyan
[RickyHorton]Here’s an idea, maybe the 8 churches of 25 members each in a small town should actually merge and become one church. Then they could fulfill the biblical model of paying their pastor. I know that isn’t the case in every town, but it is in the area I’m in.
It’s been my experience that struggling churches aren’t open to merging. I was in a town of 3000 with four struggling fundamental Baptist churches within a mile of each other, none of which had a full-time pastor. While one was strongly Calvinistic, there were essentially no doctrinal differences between the other three but the mention of merger would put the pastor’s part-time job in jeopardy. Two independent Baptist churches in another place both closed rather than merge. The sticking points? Acoustic guitars, slacks on women, and the hymn book.
"Some things are of that nature as to make one's fancy chuckle, while his heart doth ache." John Bunyan
[WilliamD]- The church should provide some kind of income for the pastor.
I agree with this. When we started out, the church paid me $100/mo. When we started, we had a small group of about 5 or 6 people (gathered in a Bible study prior to launch). My contribution was well over 50% of the church income, but we started with a pastoral budget item from the first budget. I think it should be part of the budget from day one because the church needs to be aware that they have a responsibility. You don’t have to preach on it, every time you have a business meeting, people look at that figure and realize you can’t live on $100/mo. Provides incentive. But it took a long time to build the income up.
[WilliamD] - A plurality of elders will alleviate a great bit of burden for the lead teaching and preaching pastor.
Well… how will you do that with only 5 or 6 people? And no one qualified except you? Kind of hard.
On the other hand, when we started we had a Bible study on Saturday nights and one service on Sunday. I didn’t have time for more.
Anyway, I have to say that there are many ways to make the ministry work. One size doesn’t fit all and each local situation will be different. You have to be flexible, work hard, and trust the Lord to build his church.
Maranatha!
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3
[Don Johnson]Well… how will you do that with only 5 or 6 people? And no one qualified except you? Kind of hard.
Yes, if you’re starting the church solo…that will take a while to develop.
In our case, at Redeemer Church, we are starting from the beginning with four elders.
[Ron Bean]RickyHorton wrote:
Here’s an idea, maybe the 8 churches of 25 members each in a small town should actually merge and become one church. Then they could fulfill the biblical model of paying their pastor. I know that isn’t the case in every town, but it is in the area I’m in.
It’s been my experience that struggling churches aren’t open to merging. I was in a town of 3000 with four struggling fundamental Baptist churches within a mile of each other, none of which had a full-time pastor. While one was strongly Calvinistic, there were essentially no doctrinal differences between the other three but the mention of merger would put the pastor’s part-time job in jeopardy. Two independent Baptist churches in another place both closed rather than merge. The sticking points? Acoustic guitars, slacks on women, and the hymn book.
And that is the sad part of the whole story. We tell the world that we can’t get along, and why would they want to be a part of that?!
Discussion