Co-vocational has become a preferred term over bi-vocational because it communicates that both fields of work are part of God’s call and go together. Author Brad Brisco explains, “The language of co-vocation pushes against the temptation to compartmentalize different aspects of our lives. When we begin to understand that each calling is a legitimate and necessary aspect of God’s mission, they can be leveraged together for His purposes.”

We do not consider co-vocational ministry a higher calling or a preferable alternative in every context. Discernment between options is needed based on God’s calling and each person’s unique situation. Our desire, however, is to affirm those considering co-vocational ministry as a legitimate and (often) strategic way to pursue church planting and to empower and deploy the many “sitting on the bench.”

While it may be difficult for many of us to imagine co-vocational church planting at work, it has been a common practice throughout history and worldwide.

David Gustafson, Church Historian and Evangelism professor at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, observes: “Dual-role ministry, or tentmaking, as a means for Christian leaders to finance their mission has been the practice of the Church since its inception. In fact, throughout church history, the full-time, fully funded pastor is the exception and bivocational ministry is the norm. Moreover, bivocational ministry is not rare today; most pastors around the world earn their living from means other than serving their churches.”

Not really. Our main focus is not to move pastors with a full salary into part-time schemes. Sometimes, this kind of help is necessary. However, our desire is to develop the next generation of church planters through accessible paths that will allow them to keep their jobs and plant new churches in teams.

Not necessarily. Co-vocational ministry is not tied to a particular form of church or ecclesiology. It simply represents a strategy or a path that can lead to different types of churches depending on context and theological convictions.

The way we develop pathways for leaders is different in every context. It can be described in three steps: Inspire, Develop, and Re-Imagine. First, we seek to strengthen the local churches’ missional DNA by inspiring others toward God’s mission and casting a vision for co-vocational ministry. Second, we work with local networks and ministries in the development of pathways to identify, equip, and deploy co-vocational and full-time church planters. Sometimes, existing training and pipelines need to be modified, reorganized, or complemented. Other times, resources need to be designed and developed from scratch. Finally, we work in partnership to re-imagine church planting to make it more accessible, sustainable, and reproducible.

No. I am currently under the umbrella of a partner 501(c)3 focused on church planting and a team of pastors who supervise my work and to whom I am accountable. The support being raised is for my role as a church-planting catalyzer. Other support goes to leaders in Latin America. Since the project is still at a very early stage, I will wait and later decide when it needs to become an independent 501(c)3.

Many denominations and church planting ministries in Latin America are already stretching their resources to the limit by focusing on church planting with full-time workers. Co-vocacional is needed to expand the conversation, complement the existing work, open new streams for growth, provide specialized assistance, and improve the stewardship of resources.