I think that the church should be the most dynamic, creative, well-planned organization in the world with the highest standards of excellence. In the American culture today, that means that there are huge opportunities for individuals to pursue full-time ministry careers outside of standing up every week to preach. And these jobs are just as responsible in the overall kingdom of God as the man called “The Pastor”. Many of you who follow this blog want to serve God with your life, and even want to know how you could give your career to that cause. But you don’t feel like God is calling you to preach or got to Bible college. So what should you do? What options are there for others equally passionate to serve in ministry? The following is by no means an exhaustive list, but may very well help you think outside normal definitions of working in full time ministry. Anything including the title of “pastor” would benefit from a bible degree although not necessarily essential, depending case to case:
- Executive/Administrative Pastor: Requires skills in organization, management, and administration. A business degree could be extremely helpful.
- Small Groups Pastor: Requires skills in organization, planning, teaching, and administration. A business degree could also be beneficial here.
- Graphic Designer: Creation and production of graphics for worship guides, series graphics, handouts, powerpoint, websites, logos, signage, banners, etc. Proficiency in Photoshop, Illustrator, and Flash.
- Videographer: This could easily be multiple jobs which would include, camera work, scripting, directing, and editing.
- Children’s Director: Skills in teaching, leading, administration, and (obviously) working with kids. Degree in Elementary Education would be highly valued.
- Worship leader: Proficient with one or multiple instruments, singing, and working with staging and sound systems. Also skilled at teaching others musically, leading people to worship.
- Producer: I lack a better term, so sorry. But this is someone responsible for putting worship experiences together. They would require multiple abilities including, sound, lighting, camera, video, and program planning. Also possess skills at leading others (no one could possibly do all of these jobs in one service), and troubleshooting on the fly. Degree in almost anything technical could help.
- Web Developer: Designs, updates, and maintains websites. A church like Edgewood has approximately 12 different sites at once, all with multiple pages.
- IT Tech: Maintains a church’s computer network and information system.
- Finance Director: Tracks budget, income, expense, etc. Degree in Accounting.
- Ministries Pastor/Director: Oversees volunteers, gets people connected to serving, and meets needs of church functions (greeters, ushers, parking volunteers, setup, tear down, staging, community ministries, etc…)
- Outreach Director: Responsible for getting the message of the church to it’s intended audience. Uses all means of advertising available, and finds creative ways to communicate (TV, internet, theater ads, literature, etc…)
The list could easily go longer, and some church have one person to do multiple jobs. At Edgewood, our Administrative Pastor is also our IT guy, and leads the our Married Adult ministries. I lead the Saturday night service, but I’m also the Small Groups Pastor, Singles Pastor, and graphic designer. The size and budget of a church may dictate how necessary a full time graphic designer is to communicating the Gospel powerfully. In all fairness, most church do not have alot of these positions. But many churches are also starting to realize their needs in today’s culture as well. I can’t tell you how many times in staff meetings we’ve said, “If we just had a staff member who only did… ______!”
God gave you the passions that you possess to fit in some capacity in the body of Christ. God may have shaped you for a career in ministry other than preaching or being a pastor. Pursue the possibility!
Blessings,
John
P.S. ~ If you work for a church in any function, post a comment and share how God is using you to advance His kingdom!
