Pastors Today

Today's Bivocational Pastor

Written by Dan Garland

Pastor, I've been working on a new workbook that will help pastors and church leaders put in place the suggestions that Thom and Sam Rainer put forth in their new book Essential Church? Reclaiming a Generation of Dropouts. I was interested to see that the results of their study and the results of the American Church Research Project (which evaluated ten external factors to see what causes churches to grow or decline) both indicated that church growth had more to do with internal rather than external factors. I want to share what I found in the following article:

What Causes Churches to Grow or Decline?

If you are looking for help in this area be sure to pre-order Essential Church or register online for the Essential Church Retreat featuring Thom and Sam Rainer (February 26-28, 2009 at the Ridgecrest Conference Center in Ridgecrest, North Carolina).

I look forward to working with you and providing information and insights in this newsletter that will both encourage and equip you to do the work of ministry.

Please call me at 615-251-3893 or email me at dan.garland@lifeway.com for help that you need.

Dan Garland
Director of Pastoral Ministries and Church Consulting
LifeWay Christian Resources

Developing Ministry Teams in Bivocational Ministry by Steve Echols
After twenty years of being a pastor who was fully funded, I entered the world of bivocational ministry somewhat unexpectedly. After answering a call to teach at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, I began a bi-vocational pastorate. Now in my seventh year of bivocational ministry, I have learned that developing ministry teams is not an option but a necessity. Fortunately, I have discovered that bivocational ministers actually have some advantages in developing ministry teams. Read more...

Privacy information.

SBBMA Bivocational Regional Resource Centers
A Regional Bivocational Resource Center seeks throughout its geographical region to encourage, promote, connect, and service bivocational/smaller membership churches, ministers, and families for their effective service in God's kingdom. Primarily within its role as an entity of a Baptist, Christian educational institution, each Resource Center will provide:

Center leadership, Training programs, A resource "lab", On-campus events, Regional events, SBBMA participation. learn more...

Guidestone has recently released their 2007 Guidestone Financial Solutions for Bivocational Ministers and has given us permission to post it here. This 8-page guide is full of advice and help for pastors of churches with smaller budgets and limited resources.

Dowload it now: 2007 Guidestone Financial Solutions for Bivocational Ministers (2.5 MB PDF)

Visit the GuideStone Financial Resources website for more help.

Be sure to visit the Southern Baptist Bivocational Ministers Association website along with other State Bivocational Ministry Websites:

Arkansas, Louisiana, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas

Dan Garland is the new Director of Pastoral Ministries and Church Consulting. Dan came to this position in August 2007. Dan has twenty-two years of pastoral experience in various size churches, mainly in Kentucky. He was also the Team Leader for Church Development and Evangelism for the Kentucky Baptist Convention for over seven years. In that capacity Dan worked with bivocational pastors and smaller membership churches.

You may contact Dan Garland at 615-251-3893 or email him at dan.garland@lifeway.com.

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