Church Planters flourish when they are mentored, challenged and supported in the kingdom work that they’re doing. Bi-vocational planters especially want to know that someone is cheering them on and noticing their ministry. How can we as pastors and leaders better support bi-vocational pastors? I got to talk to Dave Jacobs, a coach and consultant of bivocational pastors from www.smallchurchpastor.com, and he shared these ideas:
Go out of your way to make bi-vo planters feel validated and important
There’s a good chance that the bi-vo pastors and planters you know feel alone. We can celebrate them by bringing them on stage at conferences or by asking a bi-vo pastor to speak at such an event. All of a sudden every bi-vo pastor in the auditorium will know that someone is taking notice of their ministry.
Another way to validate their efforts is to plan events with them in mind. You could schedule events on Thursday evenings through Saturday mornings so most bi-vos only miss one or two days of work. You could even schedule the topics that would be most pertinent to them on Saturday so if they can’t miss work they can still come and enjoy at that.
