I’ve had the privilege of working with hundreds of pastors in planning for their retirement.  As you can imagine, the stories I’ve heard of God’s blessings and faithfulness are really encouraging.  I can’t tell you how many missionaries I’ve worked with who are ready for retirement because they consistently saved 10% of their income, even when it didn’t amount to much.

While many pastors and missionaries are quick to share about God’s provision, a lot of them still have very modest incomes.  Now there are some churches that can support their pastoral staff with very healthy salaries, but that represents a very low percentage of the pastors I’ve met with.

One of the most common scenarios is to meet with a pastor who is bi-vocational, meaning they serve the church and also hold a job outside of ministry.  This is especially true for smaller churches that don’t have the resources to support a pastor full time.  It’s always fascinating to hear the line of work a bi-vocational pastor does to support their family while in the ministry.  In order to make ends meet, I’ve seen pastors with jobs as web developers, photographers, teachers, school bus drivers, factory workers, accountants, and small business owners.

Does a Second Job Negatively Affect Ministry?

When I first started working with ministers and noticed how many of them had job outside of their pastoral role, I couldn’t help but wonder if they felt limited in ministry because of it.  For many, working a second job was a necessity, so the choice was clear – work a second job or go hungry.  But working a second job didn’t mean that their ministry was less effective than full time pastors.