Covocational Ministry: A take from Acts2
A common question in Christian circles is “what is your secret sauce?” If I had to sum up Acts2 Network’s secret sauce, it would be “co-vocational ministry.” Our ministries are run not just by full-time paid staff, but largely by people who have day jobs. They work full days and use the rest of their time to minister to others. It’s like they have two vocations; hence the name “co-vocational.”
Why covocational ministry?
One of our key verses as a network is Matthew 28:18–20, the Great Commission, “And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’” This has been the heartbeat of what we do, the identity we try to instill into every one of our team. Being a minister is not only for those who are specially called; it’s a commandment Jesus gave to every one of his followers. Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” These verses teach us that every person has work that God prepared for us. And Apostle Paul again affirms in Romans 1 that “we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations” (v. 5) and that we are under obligation to everyone (v. 14) to preach the gospel. For many of us, these verses inspired us to take ourselves seriously, every Christian a minister, who can bring the gospel of Christ and change people’s trajectories for eternity. We find this the most compelling vision and use of our lives imaginable.
Many or most Christians, and especially Christian leaders, agree to what I’ve said so far; it’s surely not so atypical that it rises to the level of secret sauce. But what it looks like in the lives of our ministry team members is often surprising to those who visit, or know something about how our church operates. Our ministry teams consist of those who are actively serving in some ministry at our church — whether college, youth, children’s, inner city, or elderly care. They are members of our “team,” and have signed onto our Way of Life, which lays out what’s expected in order to live on mission together as a covenantal community. Over 90% of our members are part of some ministry team, and have signed onto the Acts2 Network Way of Life.
So what are these people agreeing to?
A common creed:
• The harvest is plentiful, the laborers are few (Matt. 9:35). From children to youth to college students to working professionals, to our family members, here and abroad, the fields are ripe for harvest. Non-Christians vastly outnumber us Christians. So wherever we go, there are people to minister to, who need the gospel of Jesus.
• Life is short, eternity is long, death is certain. It will happen to us all, and we don’t know when. So the window of opportunity is finite, and the mission is urgent.
• We are to strive side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel (Philippians 1:27, 2:2; 1 Corinthians 1:10). As a church, we are to be united as a church in full accord and one mind, and we strive for that kind of unity. A church that is divided cannot function as the gospel-advancing community that God intended it to be.
• We are under obligation to share the gospel (Romans 1:14). Evangelism and ministry are not a side note or a nice-to-have; it’s a clear command to every Christian.
• Heaven and hell are real. The stakes are high. People’s eternities are at stake.
A common mission:
Broadly, our common purpose is to fulfill the Great Commission. But specifically, an individual’s purpose depends on the type of ministry team they are part of. Some are part of children’s ministry (Joyland), some serve the youth (Element, Area Youth Ministry and Interhigh, which are different types of youth ministries), some college students on campuses ranging from community colleges to 4-year universities, some serve international undergrads, grads or visiting scholars, and some reach out to working professionals, or kids urban contexts, the unhoused, or to the elderly in convalescent homes. These have changed, evolved and gotten added onto over the years, but our team-ministry model has remained pretty much the same. Each ministry team focuses their attention and efforts on effectively reaching out to and discipling people in that demographic.
A common structure & schedule:
How much time do our covocational ministers devote to their ministry? 1–2 hours a week for their Sunday program or mid-week gathering? Their mindset is actually not like that. They are co-vocational. Their ministry is as or more important to them than their day job, because of the stakes involved.
What does it take to make a difference against the whole world vying for the attention of everyone from children on up, trying to dissuade and distract every one of us from seeking God? We need to be a fully deployed, available, watchful and effective team of people, each individual member surrendered and willing, synchronized to do what needs to be done. Practically speaking, we need to deploy our best logistical and scheduling skills. Everyone has personal character flaws and ways we just don’t work right, that leads to frustration and conflict that needs to be worked through. And that all means that we need to put in time.
Thankfully, we have a team of people who have deliberately chosen to maximize what little discretionary time they have after working full days, plus weekends for the sake of salvation of souls. By and large, they’ve embraced the sacrifice needed to bring people into God’s kingdom. And they’ve embraced the organizational realities that come with trying to coordinate a number of people to carry out a common mission. We need a common schedule in order to carry out something that seems as simple as a weekly life group with food because we need to plan for it, agree on what we’re going to do, get the materials ready, perhaps decide on a menu, shop for the ingredients, cook the ingredients, maybe give people rides, etc. This is just a simple life group. What if we’re trying to have a life group plus a Saturday outing on a given week? Then it’s the above plus more. And this is all to get one person or some small group of people to feel enough kinship and bonding with others to be able to open their hearts and lives to the gospel message.
We’ve tried different ways to organize all this in the past but it usually nets out to a common scheduling doc (which we often call the “What’s Up Doc”, or “WUD” — like most organization, we have our own set of acronyms). So we need to check the WUD. If we’re trying to schedule ministry meetings, we need to know whether you’re going to be there — just like your boss needs to know that you’re going to be there for your time on call, or for that big release. So we ask each other, things like, “Where were you? Why weren’t you there? You were supposed to bring the paper plates — we had to eat on napkins…” or, “Hey I thought you were going to be at the picnic for rides, you didn’t tell me you were going away this weekend so 2 people were stranded..” So no matter how much I’ve always wanted to go and check out that new restaurant in that town 2 hours away, we know we need to learn to limit our personal freedom, and prioritize the common good of the community over our personal preferences.
We depend on each other
You can tell that we’re heavily dependent on one another. And it gets even more fun (and complicated) when people get married and have kids, or as we age. That’s why we need to live in close proximity to one another. It’s welcome week and you need to go to campus 3 nights this week? How is that possible as a mom? It’s not, unless you have friends who can help pick up your kids from school or practice, and who you can trust to take care of them until you come back. You need to have some planning meetings since a retreat is coming up but your kids have Saturday morning soccer practice? Hey, your friends have kids in the same practice, and can take them, or some other staff who doesn’t have kids says, I’ll spend time with your kids and take them so you can plan this upcoming event. Everyone faces adverse life events, as we all experienced especially with the onset of covid-19. With friends nearby, you don’t need to worry about whether you’ll be dehydrated and hungry if you catch covid or the flu, because someone will check up on you and bring you food and medicine. And as we grew as a church, more of our members have children with special needs; you might think that would take them out of ministry. But due to the help and support of the church, they’ve been able to stay in ministry at some capacity, and this has been a blessing for them and their children, as well as the rest of the team. We share the burden of caring and praying for their children, and the family and those who are helping them end up mutually strengthening one another. This was how church was meant to be.
The challenges to covocational ministry
There are wonderful aspects of being this kind of close-knit, efficient ministry team. But of course there are downsides too. Who likes being asked “Where are you?” Many of us might have the knee-jerk reaction taught us by our culture, or maybe by our friends in middle school–none of your business! But as we gain experience in life and ministry, understand its challenges, and see the huge stakes and impact we can have, we come to quiet that immature voice, and recognize that what I do affects everyone, for good or for bad. We learn to limit our personal freedom and choices. We recognize that we can’t maintain the close relationship and trust we enjoy with one another if we can’t depend on each other; and also can’t maintain that unity if we have huge discrepancies in lifestyle–concretely, how we use our money, time, etc. If one person is generous towards others and ministry while frugal towards themselves, and another lavishly and freely spends on themselves but hardly will spare a dime for ministry, there’s going to be disunity and division. If one person buys a car for function and maximizing the number of rides they can give, and another buys a flashy car that they are loathe to let anyone else ride, with no food allowed inside, then how can we have fellowship? If one person can’t afford lessons for their child because they took a lower paying job so they could be more available for ministry while another gives everything from martial arts to figure skating lessons to their child just because they can, would these parents want their children to play together? These topics can be touchy. But over time, for the sake of ministry, we’ve learned to bring up these topics with each other, and to accept feedback and make adjustments because we treasure the close community of trust. There have been tough talks, and tears shed, but also times of embracing each other, being known and loved, and getting close in a way that most of us never experienced before.
Life has its challenges. And much moreso when ministry’s in the picture. We’ve named a few here, but there’s much more to the story, because each person represents a world of brokenness, addictions, dysfunctions, challenges, and just plain issues that come up with living normal life. While faltering at times, we’ve learned to include everyone who wants to, to have a chance to live out our calling. It’s been hard. But in the process, we’ve experienced the highest highs, the lowest lows, the joys and the pains of living life on mission. And after all these years, we still say to the younger generation, come, join us. It’s worth it.
