At the Intersection #1: Side Hustles, Side Gigs, Bivcoational and More
Moonlighting isn't just an 80s television show.
Hello everyone! I’m starting this new thing where I will write about things related to the podcast every Wednesday with links of interest that you might want to look at. So with our further ado here is At the Intersection #1!
If you are a pastor, you already know pastors don’t make the big bucks. Add inflation and the paycheck you might get from your church doesn’t go as far as it once did. This isn’t just about low salaries for clergy. The changing religious landscape in America means that especially in Mainline Protestant churches, the full-time pastor is becoming a thing of the past. As a Washington Post article from the summer shows denominations must be creative:
To meet the needs of churches, often ones that cannot afford to pay full-time clergy, mainline denominations are adjusting their strategies for recruiting and training leaders. They include providing lay leaders with more training and authority, encouraging more clergy to have day jobs that support themselves — a trend known as bivocational ministry — or revisiting the way they view ministry itself.
I hope you enjoyed the podcast with my friend Ruth Hetland on Side Hustles for Pastors. Presbyterian Pastor Jan Edminston has a good post from 2020 about side hustles aimed not just at pastors, but also the members of congregations. The podcast, Side Hustle School featured Ruth in a 2022 podcast. The Christian Standard has a story from 2021 about a pastor who is also a beekeeper and another pastor who started a coffee business on the side. Ruth herself has a post from 2019 where she offered shared ideas she collected from other women in ministry on how the work to make ends meet with side hustles.
I’d love to hear of pastors who might have their own side hustle or are looking for a hustle. (I love editing and producing podcasts and video, so if you or someone you know needs a freelance producer, I’m your man.)
My colleague and fellow podcaster Loren Richmond Jr. did a great episode on his podcast, Future Christian a few months back with pastor Eric Hoke on getting pastors ready for jobs outside of the pulpit. Finally, I did an episode last year with United Church of Christ pastor Jeffrey McDonald on the joys of being a part-time clergy.
As I said in a recent post, I’ve moved podcast hosting over to Transistor. However, if you use Substack to listen to the podcast, it isn’t going anywhere. You will still get full episodes in your inbox or through the Substack app.
That’s all for this week. Questions or comments? Please feel free to leave them below. Have a good weekend!