Evangelical Pastors More Likely To Be Bivocational These Days
Working nine to five doesn’t cut it for many pastors. Neither does working strictly at one church.
The National Survey of Religious Leaders (NSRL) report revealed 35 percent of all clergy in the U.S. serve bivocationally, holding an additional job outside of their congregational ministry.
Among evangelical Protestants, bivocational ministry is even more common. The study found almost half (47 percent) report having a second job. Around a third of Black Protestant pastors are bivocational (35 percent), while it is much rarer among Catholics (14 percent) and mainline Protestants (11 percent).
The overall percentage of bivocational pastors increased from a similar 2001 survey (28 percent to 35 percent). The authors of the report were hesitant to proclaim statistical growth in bivocational ministry, but they highlight an evangelical shift.
“If there is a change,” the report concluded, “it seems to be driven entirely by more bivocational leaders among white evangelical Protestants.”
If a Catholic or mainline pastor has extra work responsibilities, it’s likely with a second church, not a secular job. The NSRL report found this increased from 12 percent in 2001 to 19 percent among clergy in the most recent study.
While one in five U.S. clergy say they are serving more than one congregation, this is more likely among mainline Protestants (24 percent), Catholics (22 percent), and Black Protestants (21 percent). Few evangelical pastors (9 percent) lead multiple churches. Growth since 2001 occurred strictly among mainline and Catholic pastors.
Experience
Two in three pastors (66 percent) came into the ministry having worked somewhere else first, according to the NSRL report. Only among Catholics (33 percent) are second-career clergy a minority. Around three in five evangelical (64 percent) and mainline (62 percent) pastors say they worked outside of the church before starting ministerial work. Among Black Protestant clergy, nine in 10 (89 percent) started their working career outside of the church.
A Lifeway Research study of U.S. Protestant senior pastors found this non-ministry work likely didn’t last for long. Six in 10 say they worked 10 years or less outside of ministry before becoming a pastor.
Additionally, seven in 10 senior pastors started their ministry career somewhere else in the church, according to Lifeway Research. Around two in five began as a youth or student minister (44 percent) or an assistant or associate pastor (42 percent). Fewer were children or kids’ ministers (16 percent) or had some other ministry role (18 percent). Only 30 percent say they had no previous ministry experience before becoming a senior pastor.
According to the NSRL report, most pastors come from outside the congregation. Just one in four (25 percent) were members of the church before becoming its leader. Moving from member to pastor is more prevalent among Black Protestant (37 percent) and evangelical (27 percent) pastors than mainline (5 percent) or Catholic (3 percent) clergy.
Education
U.S. pastors remain one of the more highly educated groups. The NSRL found 81 percent have at least a bachelor’s degree, and 59 percent have a graduate degree. Almost half (48 percent) have a Master of Divinity (MDiv) or equivalent professional degree.
For comparison, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, 38 percent of U.S. adults over 25 have at least a bachelor’s degree, including 14 percent who have a graduate degree.
The most educated clergy serve in Catholic and mainline Protestant churches. A full 95 percent of Catholic clergy have at least a graduate degree, with 90 percent holding an MDiv. Almost as many (85 percent) mainline Protestant pastors have a graduate degree, including 84 percent with an MDiv.
Among Catholics, just 4 percent have a bachelor’s degree without any graduate degree, and 1 percent have not graduated from college with a four-year degree. For mainline Protestants, 8 percent have only a bachelor’s degree, and another 8 percent have less education than that.
For Black Protestants, 39 percent have an MDiv, 13 percent a different graduate degree, 16 percent a bachelor’s degree, and 32 percent less than that. Evangelical pastors have similar rates of an MDiv education (38 percent), while 8 percent have a different graduate degree, 32 percent a bachelor’s degree, and 22 percent have not finished a four-year college degree.
According to the NSRL report, the differences among evangelicals and Black Protestants compared to mainline and Catholic clergy point to differing ministry models—”one emphasizing formal education and one emphasizing personal connection to the congregation. Different religious groups lean toward one or the other of these models.”
You can see the complete study at research.lifeway.com.
Aaron Earls is a writer for LifeWay Christian Resources.