Tentmakers: Multivocational Ministry in Western Society

By Narry F. Santos and Jeff Christopherson

Tentmaking is a growing reality in Western society that necessitates more reflection and relevant response from pastoral and mission leaders. The need to consider bivocational or multivocational ministries is catalyzed by established congregations wrestling with decline in attendance, by new immigrant communities looking for sustainable ways to minister, and by misunderstanding or lack of information on the nature of this ministry approach. This need is also triggered by the urgency to address biblical, theological, and pragmatic issues of tentmaking that can forge a way forward for the Canadian church in the midst of an uncertain future.

This volume seeks to forge a way forward as a result of the Canadian Multivocational Ministry Project (CMMP), a qualitative and community-based research project among tentmaking pastoral leaders across Canada. This research partnered with the Wellness Project @ Wycliffe, which uses online questionnaires to assess wellness in congregational ministry. The CMMP research report and the wellness findings form the basis of the multifaceted reflections in the book by Canadian scholars, researchers, and multivocational practitioners. This book offers an accurate pulse of the challenges, opportunities, and future of tentmaking in relation to Christianity and the church in these uncertain times.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Release date: Sep 27, 2022
• ISBN: 9781666739992

Book preview

Preface

Narry F. Santos

The genesis of this edited volume was sparked in 2018 when James W. Watson and I were part of a ministry project that allowed us to share common passions of study and research. One common passion that surfaced in this conversation and other ensuing discussions was about tentmaking in Canada. Anecdotally, we sensed that this is a growing North American reality in church and ministry, especially in church planting. In our own circles of ministry, we kept hearing of the need to engage in bivocational approaches in pastoral leadership. But we knew there was a dire need to do research on the current tentmaking realities across Canada.

Watson’s rich experience in qualitative and community-based research was pivotal in spearheading this research project and gathering a robust multidisciplinary research team for the Canadian Multivocational Ministry Project (CMMP). The research team brought a broad range of perspectives and expertise in research methodology and practice. The following disciplines provided such variety from different professors and graduate students: missiology and intercultural studies (Santos and Watson), New Testament (Santos), practical theology (Marilyn Draper, Beth Ann Fisher, Michael Puddicombe, Jared Siebert), psychology (Wanda Malcolm), and religious studies (Mark Chapman). These research team members were invited to speak into the interview design, conduct interviews, serve as analysts, or give comments on the analysis of written reports. Moreover, the executive team of Watson (cochair) and Siebert (cochair), Cam Roxburgh, and Santos discussed the trajectory of the research and opportunities for engaging the Canadian church.

While the research team conducted the majority of the interviews, we would like to thank Tracey-Ann Van Brenk for her willingness to serve as interviewer. Amy Bratton and Alanna Johnson of New Leaf Network directed the administration and management of the research data, including the time-consuming transcription of interviews (with the added help of Melissa Summach and Watson). We also received the added blessing of forging a partnership with the Wellness Project @ Wycliffe, which uses online questionnaires to assess wellness in congregational ministry. Malcolm served as the lead researcher for the Wellness Project, while Watson served as lead researcher for the CMMP.

Th whole research project became a reality through the support and encouragement of a wide range of Canadian Christian leaders. We are grateful for the participation of these leaders. Specifically, we appreciate the executive and research team members of Forge Canada, The Free Methodist Church in Canada, Lausanne Movement Canada, The Salvation Army Canada and Bermuda, Tyndale Intercultural Ministry Center, Tyndale University, and the Wellness Project @ Wycliffe. New Leaf Network deserves special recognition for being the administrative partner in managing the transcription of interviews, data storage, and promotion of resources. We also thank the following partners who financially supported this project: The Free Methodist Church in Canada, Mennonite Church Canada, The Salvation Army Canada and Bermuda, and Vision Ministries Canada.¹

Having seen the completion of the research report and the analysis of the wellness and interview findings, Watson and I (along with the executive team) desired to extend the mileage of such significant study on multivocational ministry in Canada. This edited volume is the result of that desire. We wanted scholars (in New Testament, theology, practical theology, religious studies, and psychology), researchers, and reflective practitioners of multivocational ministry to engage the findings of the research project. The chapter contributors graciously accepted our invitation to reflect on tentmaking in relation to their field of study, church context, or multivocational ministry experience. To them we express our heartfelt thanks. Additionally, we extend our gratitude to Chris Spinks (Wipf & Stock editor) for believing in this book project.

Finally, we give thanks for the Holy Spirit’s guidance throughout the research project and writing of this volume, for Jesus’s inspiration, and the Father’s calling of many pastoral leaders and church planters who have stepped out in faith toward a fulfilling, challenging, and strategic multivocational ministry.

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. To get a full copy of the CMMP research report, kindly visit this link: https://www.canadianmultivocationalministry.ca.

Introduction

Canadian Tentmakers and the Future of Ministry in Western Societies

James W. Watson

Tentmaking has a long tradition in the Christian church. The terminology is associated with Paul, Aquila, and Priscilla, as they plied a trade of making tents and shared the gospel and catalyzed the initiation of churches.² Serving as a congregational leader and also engaging in another occupation has been noted throughout the history of the church in the writing or practice of Christian thinkers such as Tertullian (second to third centuries), Basil of Cappadocia and Chrysostom (fourth century), Columba (sixth century), Augustine of Canterbury (seventh century), Martin Luther (sixteenth century), Matteo Ricci (seventeenth century), Count Nicholas von Zinzendorf and John Wesley (eighteenth century), and Roland Allen (nineteenth to twentieth centuries).³ From a contemporary perspective, consideration of tentmaking in Western societies is drawing an increasing amount of attention, in part due to concerns about decreasing church attendance and starting new, sustainable churches.⁴

Multiple shifts in Western societies are generating creative ways to initiate and maintain churches. Secularization addresses many areas of life, but for the purpose of this text, it will be considered as societal trends negatively affecting personal belief as well as participation in religious organizations.⁵ Considerable attention has been given to congregational declines in Australia, Canada, Western Europe, New Zealand, and the United States of America (USA).⁶ Global migration has impacted congregations in Western societies as they have developed to serve immigrant communities.⁷ The history and outcomes of transnational migration are complex and vary substantially from country to country (with differences in immigration policies, migration flows, and settlement processes).⁸ While it is not possible to review all that has been discussed about secularization and global migration, it is important to note that these trends have been identified as having significant implications for Western societies, providing some background for understanding what the church is facing.

Canada provides an excellent context for considering the experience of tentmakers because of these contextual factors. Ongoing decline in church attendance and the rising demographic category of religious nones, who indicate no religious affiliation, place Canada among many Western societies that are directly affected by these trends.⁹ Immigration is a key factor in Canada’s population-growth strategy for economic stability, with projections that by 2036, people born outside of Canada may make up 24–30 percent of the country’s population.¹⁰ The largest Canadian city of Toronto compares to Brussells, Auckland, Sydney, Los Angeles, Singapore, London, New York, and Melborne, with each having at least a third of the population being foreign born.¹¹ A significant proportion of immigrants to Canada have been Christians (relative to the Canadian population), contributing to a trend running counter to secularization.¹² Migration is contributing to the need for new churches that reflect different cultural expressions of Christian faith. This study of multivocational ministry reflects on Canada’s current conditions to explore elements of the tentmaking experience.

Some explorations of the contributions that multivocational leaders make to the churches in Western societies have been started. European churches have benefited from leaders who also hold other jobs for financial support.¹³ There has been American interest in bivocational ministry from many different denominational circles, with surveys indicating that about a third of American churches have volunteer or part-time paid leadership, with variation in proportions among different traditions (and debate as to where there are recent increases).¹⁴ We know that part-time work of Canadian congregational staff has been slightly on the rise, but there is much more to learn.¹⁵ The interest in multivocational leadership is fueled by issues that are seemingly becoming more common—issues that have the potential to drive these trends in the future.

Long-established churches are wrestling with concerns about decline and looking for pragmatic (or outreach-oriented) ways to sustain ministry. New churches are being started by leaders concerned about how to engage meaningfully in local communities while managing the costs associated with start-up. Recent migrants—some of whom are arriving as Christians—are creating new churches while also facing the challenges of becoming settled in a new country (and supporting their congregants in their settlement process).¹⁶ Each of these scenarios points to the potential of tentmakers making substantial contributions.¹⁷

Canada has provided an excellent environment for conversing with tentmakers. It has had leaders serving in multivocational pastoral roles for many years and in a variety of forms.¹⁸ While there has been some recognition of the presence of part-time or bivocational leaders, there is currently a lack of information, and some tentmakers indicate that they feel their approach to ministry is perceived as an unusual or substandard arrangement.¹⁹ There is an interest among leaders and ministry instructors to have a more common understanding of this approach to ministry, as it provides one way forward for the Canadian church in the midst of an uncertain future.

The language of tentmaking has been chosen for this study because of the biblical references to Paul as a leatherworker or tentmaker.²⁰ While there are some distinctions, the authors have had opportunity to use bivocational or multivocational ministry as generally synonymous with tentmaking. Multivocational is a term that was selected after the Canadian fieldwork was completed because a number of the interviewees were committed to more than two significant forms of work. There are a number of other terms that may have specific meaning for a denominational tradition but largely describe a similar concept—a congregational minister or missionary who also has other paid employment.²¹

The terms bivocational, covocational, multivocational, and tentmaking often have overlapping definitions but are sometimes used in specific ways. Bivocational and multivocational tend to be used in a general sense, implying that there is other employment beyond congregational leadership, but the relationship to calling as a minister of the gospel is ambiguous. Covocational and tentmaking are frequently cited in missiological literature and may have very specific connotations. Covocational implies a shared direction and mission between the different forms of work.²² Tentmaking is a topic of biblical study because of its use in the New Testament narrative but is sometimes linked to business-as-mission approaches in global contexts (where Christian witness may be complicated because of laws or customs regarding religion).²³ There are other terms, often grounded in the particular polity or vocabulary of a Christian tradition.²⁴ Multivocational is the primary term used for the research project in order to explore the different ways individual ministers have organized their work (many of whom have more than two commitments). Tentmaker is the designation chosen for this volume because of its connection to the early church, as we examine the application of this form of ministry to the future of Western society.

Regardless of the terms used, there are some general issues raised by writers on this topic. Some are very pragmatic, while others combine practical and theological dimensions. The available literature which is specific to this form of ministry is both diverse in its application and limited in depth in terms of general social-science investigation. Much of the literature is focused on biblical reflection and/or personal anecdotes contributing to strategic propositions.²⁵ Within Canada, there has been some student or denominational research that is helpful for pointing to the need for understanding and raising issues.²⁶ A review of literature from other Western countries shows a broader range of research; however, such research is still limited.²⁷ These (primarily qualitative-research) projects have highlighted issues of calling, work/life balance, concerns about lack of comradery or general understanding, and increased ministry relevance with local contextual awareness (via employment outside of the congregation).

Research

The core of this book is mixed-methods research with a community-based research approach: the Canadian Multivocational Ministry Project (CMMP). The research combines qualitative (focus group and semi-structured interviews) and quantitative (online questionnaires and statistical analysis) methods. The Wellness Project @ Wycliffe (WP@W) provided the online questionnaire and additional data beyond the interviewees (see chapter 2), while a focus group in Calgary (Alberta, Canada) assisted in the formation of questions for the interviews. In community-based research parameters, the design and analysis engaged leaders who were, or are, tentmakers alongside the other researchers and administrators.²⁸ There is an intentional focus for the research to contribute constructively to tentmaker ministry. The three primary research questions for the project demonstrate this approach:

1.What are key features of the diverse expressions of bivocational ministry in Canada? What are challenges? What are opportunities?

2.What are significant biblical and theological emphases to consider?

3.How can promotion of the opportunities and resourcing of the challenges take place strategically?

These three questions formed the basis of the research. Open-ended questions (developed for the semi-structured interviews) provided an opportunity for the interviewees to share details that the researchers may not have known to ask for, contributing to the breadth of findings (see chapter 2). Of the forty interviewees, thirty-two completed the WP@W online questionnaire. This allowed the questionnaire to address congregational leadership while the interviews facilitated discussion about the other work, recognition of theological frameworks, and recommendations of resources.²⁹ The WP@W analysis (in chapter 2) has expanded beyond these interviewees to contrast univocational and multivocational ministers who have completed the online questionnaire outside of the CMMP.

Progression of Chapters in the Book

The chapter contributors are a mix of researchers, writers, and tentmakers. The research has benefitted from former or current tentmakers who took part in design, data gathering, analysis, and reflection. While much of the bivocational literature available focuses on personal experience, a major contribution of this book is the combination of research and experience. The chapters progress from findings of the research (part 1), to general biblical and theological insights (part 2), to specific reflections on issues raised by the research (part 3), and to personal reflection on the experience of tentmaking (part 4). This progression both allows for general understanding and specific issues to be presented and gives the reader access directly to the reflections of current tentmakers. The objective is to provide the reader with the opportunity to benefit from the reflections of others and to reflect personally on the implications. The dream is that this book would contribute to further exploration, encourage further research or writing, and launch others into the multivocational adventure.

Part 1 introduces the Canadian research and its findings. Chapter 1 serves as my overview of the qualitative research. The focus in this chapter is placed on distinctive themes arising from the interviews with tentmakers. The reasons why tentmakers were performing multiple kinds of work often emerged from the descriptions of their work. The WP@W provides comparative analysis of multivocational and univocational leaders in chapter 2. The research of Malcolm, Fisher, and Prusaczyk advances in a similar fashion to an expedition, with examination of one facet of the similarities between these different ministry approaches leading to the next investigation. Their conclusions deserve further thought, particularly regarding the emotional cost of multivocational leadership.

Part 2 deals with selected biblical and theological insights on tentmaking. Chapter 3 places tentmaking in its New Testament context. As both a practitioner and a biblical scholar, Narry Santos provides grounding on the tentmaking experience of the apostle Paul and culls practical lessons for contemporary multivocational ministers. Chapter 4 offers a theological examination of charism, vocation, and work. James Pedlar’s historical reflection creates a framework for understanding that all Christians are implicated in this ministry. The theological basis for fundamental ways of thinking about ministry and work opens up possibilities for envisioning what can be possible for the future.

Part 3 discusses three specific