Working 9 to 5 doesn’t cut it for many pastors. Neither does working strictly at one church.
The National Survey of Religious Leaders report revealed 35% 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 nearly half (47%) report having a second job. Around a third of Black Protestant pastors are bivocational (35%), while it is much rarer among Catholics (14%) and mainline Protestants (11%).
The overall percentage of bivocational pastors increased from a similar 2001 survey (28% to 35%). 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% in 2001 to 19% among clergy in the most recent study.
While 1 in 5 U.S. clergy say they are serving more than one congregation, this is more likely among mainline Protestants (24%), Catholics (22%), and Black Protestants (21%). Few evangelical pastors (9%) lead multiple churches. Growth since 2001 occurred strictly among mainline and Catholic pastors.
Experience
Two in 3 pastors (66%) came into the ministry having worked somewhere else first, according to the NSRL report. Only among Catholics (33%) are second-career clergy a minority. Around 3 in 5 evangelical (64%) and mainline (62%) pastors say they worked outside of the church before starting ministerial work. Among Black Protestant clergy, 9 in 10 (89%) 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, 7 in 10 senior pastors started their ministry career somewhere else in the church, according to Lifeway Research. Around 2 in 5 began as a youth or student minister (44%) or an assistant or associate pastor (42%). Fewer were children or kids’ ministers (16%) or had some other ministry role (18%). Only 30% 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 1 in 4 (25%) were members of the church before becoming its leader. Moving from member to pastor is more prevalent among Black Protestant (37%) and evangelical (27%) pastors than mainline (5%) or Catholic (3%) clergy.
Education
U.S. pastors remain one of the more highly educated groups. The NSRL found 4 in 5 pastors (81%) have at least a bachelor’s degree, and 59% have a graduate degree. Nearly half (48%) have a master of divinity or equivalent professional degree.
For comparison, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, 38% of U.S. adults over 25 have at least a bachelor’s degree, including 14% who have a graduate degree.
The most educated clergy serve in Catholic and mainline Protestant churches. A full 95% of Catholic clergy have at least a graduate degree, with 90% holding an MDiv. Nearly as many (85%) mainline Protestant pastors have a graduate degree, including 84% with an MDiv.
Among Catholics, just 4% have a bachelor’s degree without any graduate degree, and 1% have not graduated from college with a four-year degree. For mainline Protestants, 8% have only a bachelor’s degree, and another 8% have less education than that.
For Black Protestants, 39% have an MDiv, 13% a different graduate degree, 16% a bachelor’s degree, and 32% less than that. Evangelical pastors have similar rates of an MDiv education (38%), while 8% have a different graduate degree, 32% a bachelor’s degree, and 22% 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.”
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Aaron Earls and originally published by Lifeway Research.
