Most seminary students have their sights set on full-time ministry, whether to work as a lead pastor or in students or kids or worship ministry. It is your primary calling, and you are excited about it.
While I hope that you serve in your primary calling and enjoy a long season of ministry in it, here’s a word to the wise. Make plans now to be able to pivot quickly to another career path, ideally one closely or at least moderately related to your ministry and calling.
Here’s why.
Most churches in the United States are small, so in all likelihood, a seminary student or graduate will spend at least part of his or her career serving a small church. Many of these small churches are run by a small group of lay leaders—sometimes just one—who hold all of the social power in the church. Sometimes these people are mean, controlling, and abusive. Many, many times, pastors are abruptly fired when they get on the wrong side of this power group.
Believe it or not, there is an entire literature around this kind of pastoral abuse. See this book or this one or this one.
Even if this is not the case, many churches, despite their best efforts, are in decline. It is entirely possible you could go to work for a church that gets to the point after a year or two they can no longer afford to pay you and have to let you go.
While the tenure of pastors used to be lamentably short—three years or less—more recent data shows that pastoral tenures are rising. This is not entirely good news, however. Part of this statistic is due to Baby Boomer pastors who are remaining at their churches longer, some because they cannot afford to retire. Recent data shows that the average age of pastors has risen precipitously. This translates to fewer open positions for younger pastors, and may translate into a much harder pastoral transition if you replace a retiring Baby Boomer whose methodology is still stuck in the 90s.
In today’s economy, job insecurity has risen in many career fields. The days of the 35-year career in a single company or even industry are largely in the past. This instability need not frighten you, so long as you have a backup plan.
The usual backup plan for pastors is to find a position at a different church. This process, however, takes forever. Most church search committees are run by laypeople who meet once a week and have a stack of 200-300 resumes to sort through. It’s not uncommon for the search for a new pastor to take a year and a half, sometimes longer. If you’re depending on regular income, a new church position had better not be your only plan, because it will take a while to find.
In fact, it’s a good idea to have two backup plans. LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, in his book The Startup of You, recommends a threefold career plan, which he calls ABZ.
- Plan A is your primary objective and calling: pastor, student pastor, etc.
- Plan B is your pivot plan—an alternate or related career path that you cultivate so that you can shift to it when the need arises.
- Plan Z is the last resort, a survival plan if you are abruptly let go.
First, establish your plan Z—if the worst happens, what will you do? Move in with your parents? Sell your house and live off the proceeds and get a job delivering pizzas while you figure out your next move? Plan Z is usually not glamorous, but is only there in case the worst happens.
Second, focus on Plan A. You want to serve in ministry, so you’re in seminary preparing yourself with knowledge and a credential in order to do so. Keep at it!
Most importantly, while you’re pursuing Plan A, develop Plan B, a pivot plan, which you can pursue if the need arises.
People in ministry gain a number of skills that can be useful in other career fields. The ability to teach, recruit, and manage volunteers, give spiritual direction, and evangelize or disciple people can overlap with careers like these:
- Teaching
- Coaching
- Customer Service
- Managing an office
- Project management
- Sales
- Non-profit work in program directing or donor development
- Life coaching or executive coaching
- Community Life Director for a Senior Citizen facility
You could shift to another channel of ministry, like being a missionary serving on support, or working in a parachurch organization. You could also get a job and shift to doing ministry on a bivocational basis.
In addition, you (or your spouse) might work on starting a side business which could be your pivot plan.
To develop a plan B, consider the following:
Aspirations. If you could really have your dream job, what would it be? How could you lay the groundwork for it now so that pivoting to it could be attainable?
Credentials. What credentials do I have? A Bachelor’s in Business might increase your appeal in the corporate world. An undergraduate degree in history might help you quickly land a high school teaching job.
Skills. Are you fluent in another language? A skilled musician? Certified in VPK or personal training?
Experiences. If you grew up in a rough urban neighborhood, you could use that in social work or as a policeman.
Relationships. This might be the most important factor. If you worked for a radio station in high school, perhaps your old manager might need you in the back office. Your friend from high school might run a business that needs a capable manager.
The point: do not assume that your career will be a smooth ride on your primary path from beginning to end. In all likelihood, it will not be. Unforeseen challenges may force you to shift to another path. If you’re prepared to pivot, you will be much better off.
