"I write from the perspective of one who who has served in bivocational ministry for a number of years and who believes that God is using this kind of minstry to do some wonderful things in his Church.  I want to encourage those of you who are now serving as bivocational pastors. I also want those who are considering bivocational ministry to carefully consider such a call. It is also my hope that church leaders of small churches will read this book before calling their next pastor. Finally along with what I hope will be some practical advice I want to share with you the joy of bivocational ministry." [Quote p.12]

"Bivocational pastors can play an important part in the planting of new churches.  A person who already lives in the area in which a new church is being started up will have an advantage over someone who must move in and learn about the community.  Not only would he [sic] already know the community he may also be one who is known and trusted by the community." [Quote pp.27-8]

"During [low] times the advantage that I had as a bivocational pastor was that my self-worth was not tied to my pastoral role.  Monday morning I was back in the factory running my machine or working on the assembly line or responding to a customer in another country who had a problem with one of our products. Perhaps I had failed at a ministry task the day before but that did not make me a failure as a person.  My work that day at my other job proved that I was a competent person. ... I have [also] had bad days at my factory job when everything that could go wrong did.  That evening however I may have had a wonderful experience during a hospital visit in which I was able to bring comfort to someone." [Quote pp.31-2]

"It is important to maintain your integrity with your employer. Your employer is paying you to work for him not to witness to your fellow employees or to do other ministerial functions during the work day.  ... Bivocational ministers need to make sure they do not view their ministry as a godly calling and their second job as merely a way of paying the bills." [Quote p.38]

"When we think of church growth we should not think only of numerical growth. We look at numercical growth because anyone can count nickels and noses but what about the growth that occurs in the lives of the members ... isn't spiritual maturity more important than the number of visitors who attended a service on a particular Sunday ?" [Quote p.45]

"Paul teaches in Ephesians 4 that the work of the minister is to equip church ministers to do the work of ministry. The Bible says nothing about a church in which the ordained minister does all the work while the church members sit on the sidelines either cheering or criticising. A pastor's primary role is to challenge encourage and train the members to do the work of ministry for which God has gifted them. ...
The bivocational pastor has a unique opportunity to model that type of ministry to his church. ; When the pastor goes to a second job it is much more difficult to put him up on a pedestal as one who is different and more specially equipped to serve God. ... God has given me certain gifts to be used in ministry.  My gifts may not be your gifts and my ministry may not be your ministry but you also have gifts and a ministry that God has given you." [Quote p.69]

"Balance in ministry requires that a pastor understands he [sic] is not responsible for making things happen in a church.  He is called to serve to lead to pray and to trust God."  [Qote p.80]

"How many pastors have you heard brag about how full their calendars are ? They appear to equate busyness with spirituality.  ... Is God now proexhaustion ?  Doesn't he lead people beside he still waters anymore ?" [Quote p.87]

1. More resources are available for ministry
2. Longer pastorates
3. More is expected of laypeople
4. The possibility of hiring more staff
5. A pastor who can relax

1. Lack of immediate availability
2. Weakened denominational ties
3. The church has only a preacher and not a pastor

1. You're one of them
2. Personal experiences
3. Knowledge of community
4. Relationships with unchurched people

Of Baptist churches in the USA, 73% are pastored by bivocational ministers (BMs). Most are small, but some supported by teams of BMs, and there is a growing trend to mixed ministerial teams of paid and bivocational ministers. “Bivocational” corresponds more closely to “Non-Stipendiary” than it does to MSE. The principle concerns in the book are with the self-supporting minister as the pastor of a local church; its strengths lie in that. MSE as such is covered in a page. On balance though, this is a useful addition to the corpus, especially as it is deeply rooted in experience.

After 18 years as pastor of Hebron Baptist Church, Madison, Indiana, Dennis Bickers decided it was time to share his experiences more widely than the Southern Baptist Bivocational Ministers network. It was worth it. For most of this time Dennis worked at a Cummins engine factory about 50 miles north of his home, and for his first seven years of ministry combined working the late shift with study (mornings) at a theological seminary 50 miles south. One of the strengths of his book is the practical advice on time and resource management!

The first two chapters demonstrate how this kind of ministry is both real and needed, in terms familiar to the UK reader. As Dennis puts it: “Those denominations whose policies do not welcome and affirm bivocational ministers will be sending these individuals, and the churches who called them, a message that their ministry is second-rate at best”. The third chapter examines the problem areas: practical, such as denominational meetings, funerals and so on, personal – jealousy from stipendiary ministers, identity - and professional. “Bivocational ministers need to make sure they do not view their ministry as a godly calling and their second job as merely a means to paying the bills.”

The following chapters look at preparation for ministry and its rewards, then chapter six examines the importance of keeping a balance. The order of priorities Dennis gives is revealing: God – family – church – work – self; it invites comparison, so mine would be: God – family – work – church – self. Chapters seven to nine look at the importance of preaching, and considering the call to bivocational ministry made to the individual and to the church.

For the non-stipendiary minister focussed on the local church this is a “must read”. It is well presented, carefully considered, oozing with personal experience and commitment. For the MSE it is certainly a “good read”, and touches on many familiar areas and experiences. As Dennis himself puts it: “A [stipendiary] pastor may have little idea of how difficult it can be to be a positive Christian witness while working on an assembly line with a group of people who do not hold to …. Christian values.” The bivocational minister – whatever their title - can.