Being a bivocational minister means serving a church part time while holding down a secular job until the church can pay you enough to go full time. Right? In some cases that is true, but there is a decided shift toward bivocational ministry as a ministry in its own right – inside and outside the church.
Changing demographics in ministry are trending increasingly toward bivocational ministry as a preferred path of service – not unlike the Apostle Paul who used his secular craftsmanship, and theological expertise as dual service to the Lord (Acts 18:1-4).
This does not mean that many bivocational ministers do not aspire to a full time position, but it does seem to suggest that increasing numbers of men and women believe that there are distinct benefits to serving God in dual positions.
However, one of the challenges is that unless professionally trained, bivocational ministers are often shut out of many profitable non-ministry career positions due to a lack of adequate secular training. This is especially true in the business and professional world where their interpersonal skills do otherwise make them ideal employees. There is a need for a degree program that addresses this need.
As an attempt to meet the challenge, Master’s International University of Divinity has partnered with Columbia Southern University to create a combined graduate degree option that provides both ministerial and appropriate business training in one program.
Four high demand business areas are now available:
- Church Administration and Human Resource Management
- Biblical Counseling Center and Healthcare Management
- Church and Para-Church Finance Management
- Church and Para-Church Project Management
The professional/employment benefit to the minister is obvious, but there is also another benefit to the Kingdom of God. Increasingly, local churches are raising up their own leadership, and adding new and innovating ministry positions (part time and full time), particularly in large churches.
In multifaceted church ministries there is usually a need for church administrators, Biblical counseling center directors, and church finance directors. Churches beginning major building programs need a project manager with the required organizational skills.
Bivocational ministry is certainly multifaceted, and no single degree program can meet every need, but now for the first time, there is an online degree program that meets the demand for training for bivocational ministry both inside and outside of the church.
For more information visit: https://the.mdivs.edu/-bivocational-macs
