What are the most common jobs in ministry?  Does everyone have to be a senior pastor?  These and other questions like them will be answered in this podcast episode. There are many ways and opportunities to be involved in full-time ministry.

Most full-time ministry falls into one of three categories:

Local Church Ministry

1. Solo pastor – a pastor who serves without any support staff in a small to medium church.
2. Lead Pastor – a pastor who supervises one or more staff ministers and additional support staff.
3. Youth Pastor – a pastor whose role will vary depending on the size of the church.
4. Staff Pastor – a pastor who is usually trained in specialized areas to meet specific needs in larger churches. This is mentioned later in podcast.

Here are different examples of a Youth Pastor’s role depending upon the size of church:

1. In a small church, the youth pastor serves as an assistant to the pastor in addition to preaching and leading the youth ministry.
2. In a medium size church, the youth pastor’s ministry is focused on leading the many facets of a complex youth ministry.
3. In a large or mega church, the youth pastor will lead their own youth staff.

Parachurch Ministry:

Ministries that operate outside the structure of the local church and can even overlap denominational lines. Most people who work in parachurch ministries first gained their experience in the local church

Bi-vocational Ministry:

Where the minister needs to engage in part-time or full-time secular employment for personal financial support.

Each and every one of these ministry settings is needed, viable, and vital to the Kingdom of God.  No one form is better or more relevant than the other.

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Related posts:

1. Explore the Call Episode 20: What is Bi-vocational Ministry?
2. Explore the Call Episode 3: What Pastors Do
3. Explore the Call Episode 2: What is the Ministry?
4. Explore the Call Episode 14: Talking with Pastors about Your Call
5. Explore the Call Episode 15: Can Women be Ministers? – Part 1

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009 at 10:36 AM and is filed under Explore the Call Podcasts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

Tags: bi-vocational ministry, full time ministry, lead pastor, parachurch ministry, pastor, solo pastor, staff pastor, youth pastor