Covocational Ministry
we believe
Every believer is a minister
In this documentary, some members share how and why they are involved in ministry, and how it’s possible to live life on mission in the context of a church family that’s doing life together.
what is
Covocational Ministry
The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few
When we look at our world today, what we see is a dearth of Christian workers against a backdrop of great spiritual need.
Our nation is becoming less and less Christian, with Gen Z being described as the largest and least-Christian "unreached people group" in our history.
We share in this burden, as we see people all around us in need of the message of God’s forgiveness and love.
Meanwhile, many Christian leaders bemoan the phenomenon of spectator Christianity: in many churches, a small percentage of paid staff bear a disproportionate amount of the ministry load, while many congregants rarely, if ever, experience a deeper level of involvement with the Great Commission. Jesus’ statement, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few” remains as true as ever.
But where will these workers come from?
Every believer is called into ministry
We believe that the answer to the need of the harvest field is you and me.
Starting with sharing the burden, we are compelled by the love of Christ to join in his ministry.
Scripture teaches us that every believer is uniquely gifted to build up the body of Christ [1], and that the entire purpose of church leadership is not merely to serve the needs of its members, but to equip each of its members for the work of ministry! [2]
That’s why we structure our church in a way that equips and deploys every member for a life of active ministry.
This enables us to live out what we believe: that the love of Christ that we received must go through us to reach others.
Because the labor required to "put on church" is not enough to fully deploy our members, most of our kingdom labors are out in the field, not inside the church. So, over time we have gradually become less like a traditional church and more like a band of kingdom workers engaged in full-on ministry outside the church walls, whether that's in a college building up a campus ministry, or investing in one of our parachurch ministries.
For those of our members who are able, we invite them to join our Ministry Teams — tight-knit families of brothers and sisters who live on mission together, working day jobs while also investing serious time and energy into frontline gospel work. We find this the most compelling use of our lives imaginable.
[1] Romans 12:4-5
[2] Ephesians 4:6-7
challenges of doing
Covocational Ministry
The challenges of covocational ministry
As thrilling and meaningful as it is, covocational ministry isn’t easy. In addition to the inherent challenges that come with evangelism, discipleship, and church life, our covocational ministers also have work and family obligations to take care of.
We also aren’t immune to the ups and downs of life. We have members who have children with disabilities; those whose parents who are terminally ill; members struggling with mental health issues; members grappling with loss and trauma; or those undergoing taxing medical treatments. After all this, how do we have time and strength for ministry?
Alone, it might be all but impossible. But what about when we do it together?
Co-laboring together in covenantal community
We’ve discovered that the answer to sustaining ministry through life’s challenges is found in following the biblical model for Christian community. The Bible tells us to strive together for the gospel [1], to bear each other's burdens [2], to meet together every day [3], to contribute to each other's needs [4], and to encourage one another regularly [5]. Incorporating all of this is the inspiring picture of the early church that we find Acts 2:42-47.
By following this portrait of high unity and high surrender for the common good, we’ve found that covocational ministry is not only sustainable, but practicable in a full-throated and energizing way. So how does this all net out? For the covocational ministers in our church, it comes down to our shared commitment to a common body of values.
[1] Philippians 1:27
[2] Galatians 6:2
[3] Hebrews 3:13
[4] Romans 12:13
[5] Hebrews 10:24-25
solution
How this All Works
Common mission
Broadly, our common mission is to fulfill the Great Commission. But each individual joins a ministry team with a pretty focused mission
Common structure and schedule
Because we serve covocationally, our team members have limited discretionary time. This means that we need a high degree of coordination to align our schedules so that we can collaborate together effectively.
This isn’t always easy, and only works because of the flexibility and mission-mindedness of all of our team members.
To facilitate this process, we have regular team meetings, follow a common team calendar, and meet throughout the week to encourage one another and collaborate on ministry initiatives.
Mutual dependence
In order to support one another in the day-to-day of everyday life, most of our team members live near one another so that we can practically bear each other’s burdens.
That means on a given night, when we might otherwise be engaging in leisure time, we might be helping someone move, or babysitting for a friend who is preparing content for the next day’s life group. This isn't always fun, but these practical sacrifices are key to obeying Jesus’ command to love one another, and a crucial way we enable one another to persevere in ministry.
We’ve also found that close proximity leads to a lot of joy, too! Doing life in community means a lot of laughter-filled dining rooms, late-night birthday celebrations, and a shared corpus of jokes, stories (even some local legends) and shared prayers and victories—a little taste of heaven.
Focused lives
We’ll admit it—we’re a bit crazy about the Great Commission. We believe that it's the cause that deserves our zeal and the best of our energies and attention.
To keep our lives focused on the mission, we share a common commitment to avoid escapism and potentially addictive behaviors. We avoid being distracted by political causes. We even tend to dial down our hobbies somewhat so that we can channel more of our discretionary time into ministry.
Because of all this, we’ve been accused by some of being a bit homogeneous in our lifestyles. But we believe that aiming for a simple life helps us stay focused on what counts: making ourselves all things to all people, that by any means we might save some [1].
[1] 1 Corinthians 9:22
Covocational Ministry
we believe
Every believer is a minister
In this documentary, some members share how and why they are involved in ministry, and how it’s possible to live life on mission in the context of a church family that’s doing life together.
what is
Covocational Ministry
The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few
When we look at our world today, what we see is a dearth of Christian workers against a backdrop of great spiritual need.
Our nation is becoming less and less Christian, with Gen Z being described as the largest and least-Christian "unreached people group" in our history.
We share in this burden, as we see people all around us in need of the message of God’s forgiveness and love.
Meanwhile, many Christian leaders bemoan the phenomenon of spectator Christianity: in many churches, a small percentage of paid staff bear a disproportionate amount of the ministry load, while many congregants rarely, if ever, experience a deeper level of involvement with the Great Commission. Jesus’ statement, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few” remains as true as ever.
But where will these workers come from?
Every believer is called into ministry
We believe that the answer to the need of the harvest field is you and me.
Starting with sharing the burden, we are compelled by the love of Christ to join in his ministry.
Scripture teaches us that every believer is uniquely gifted to build up the body of Christ [1], and that the entire purpose of church leadership is not merely to serve the needs of its members, but to equip each of its members for the work of ministry! [2]
That’s why we structure our church in a way that equips and deploys every member for a life of active ministry.
This enables us to live out what we believe: that the love of Christ that we received must go through us to reach others.
Because the labor required to "put on church" is not enough to fully deploy our members, most of our kingdom labors are out in the field, not inside the church. So, over time we have gradually become less like a traditional church and more like a band of kingdom workers engaged in full-on ministry outside the church walls, whether that's in a college building up a campus ministry, or investing in one of our parachurch ministries.
For those of our members who are able, we invite them to join our Ministry Teams — tight-knit families of brothers and sisters who live on mission together, working day jobs while also investing serious time and energy into frontline gospel work. We find this the most compelling use of our lives imaginable.
[1] Romans 12:4-5
[2] Ephesians 4:6-7
challenges of doing
Covocational Ministry
The challenges of covocational ministry
As thrilling and meaningful as it is, covocational ministry isn’t easy. In addition to the inherent challenges that come with evangelism, discipleship, and church life, our covocational ministers also have work and family obligations to take care of.
We also aren’t immune to the ups and downs of life. We have members who have children with disabilities; those whose parents who are terminally ill; members struggling with mental health issues; members grappling with loss and trauma; or those undergoing taxing medical treatments. After all this, how do we have time and strength for ministry?
Alone, it might be all but impossible. But what about when we do it together?
Co-laboring together in covenantal community
We’ve discovered that the answer to sustaining ministry through life’s challenges is found in following the biblical model for Christian community. The Bible tells us to strive together for the gospel [1], to bear each other's burdens [2], to meet together every day [3], to contribute to each other's needs [4], and to encourage one another regularly [5]. Incorporating all of this is the inspiring picture of the early church that we find Acts 2:42-47.
By following this portrait of high unity and high surrender for the common good, we’ve found that covocational ministry is not only sustainable, but practicable in a full-throated and energizing way. So how does this all net out? For the covocational ministers in our church, it comes down to our shared commitment to a common body of values.
[1] Philippians 1:27
[2] Galatians 6:2
[3] Hebrews 3:13
[4] Romans 12:13
[5] Hebrews 10:24-25
solution
How this All Works
Common mission
Broadly, our common mission is to fulfill the Great Commission. But each individual joins a ministry team with a pretty focused mission
Common structure and schedule
Because we serve covocationally, our team members have limited discretionary time. This means that we need a high degree of coordination to align our schedules so that we can collaborate together effectively.
This isn’t always easy, and only works because of the flexibility and mission-mindedness of all of our team members.
To facilitate this process, we have regular team meetings, follow a common team calendar, and meet throughout the week to encourage one another and collaborate on ministry initiatives.
Mutual dependence
In order to support one another in the day-to-day of everyday life, most of our team members live near one another so that we can practically bear each other’s burdens.
That means on a given night, when we might otherwise be engaging in leisure time, we might be helping someone move, or babysitting for a friend who is preparing content for the next day’s life group. This isn't always fun, but these practical sacrifices are key to obeying Jesus’ command to love one another, and a crucial way we enable one another to persevere in ministry.
We’ve also found that close proximity leads to a lot of joy, too! Doing life in community means a lot of laughter-filled dining rooms, late-night birthday celebrations, and a shared corpus of jokes, stories (even some local legends) and shared prayers and victories—a little taste of heaven.
Focused lives
We’ll admit it—we’re a bit crazy about the Great Commission. We believe that it's the cause that deserves our zeal and the best of our energies and attention.
To keep our lives focused on the mission, we share a common commitment to avoid escapism and potentially addictive behaviors. We avoid being distracted by political causes. We even tend to dial down our hobbies somewhat so that we can channel more of our discretionary time into ministry.
Because of all this, we’ve been accused by some of being a bit homogeneous in our lifestyles. But we believe that aiming for a simple life helps us stay focused on what counts: making ourselves all things to all people, that by any means we might save some [1].
[1] 1 Corinthians 9:22
Covocational Ministry
we believe
Every believer is a minister
In this documentary, some members share how and why they are involved in ministry, and how it’s possible to live life on mission in the context of a church family that’s doing life together.
what is
Covocational Ministry
The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few
When we look at our world today, what we see is a dearth of Christian workers against a backdrop of great spiritual need.
Our nation is becoming less and less Christian, with Gen Z being described as the largest and least-Christian "unreached people group" in our history.
We share in this burden, as we see people all around us in need of the message of God’s forgiveness and love.
Meanwhile, many Christian leaders bemoan the phenomenon of spectator Christianity: in many churches, a small percentage of paid staff bear a disproportionate amount of the ministry load, while many congregants rarely, if ever, experience a deeper level of involvement with the Great Commission. Jesus’ statement, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few” remains as true as ever.
But where will these workers come from?
Every believer is called into ministry
We believe that the answer to the need of the harvest field is you and me.
Starting with sharing the burden, we are compelled by the love of Christ to join in his ministry.
Scripture teaches us that every believer is uniquely gifted to build up the body of Christ [1], and that the entire purpose of church leadership is not merely to serve the needs of its members, but to equip each of its members for the work of ministry! [2]
That’s why we structure our church in a way that equips and deploys every member for a life of active ministry.
This enables us to live out what we believe: that the love of Christ that we received must go through us to reach others.
Because the labor required to "put on church" is not enough to fully deploy our members, most of our kingdom labors are out in the field, not inside the church. So, over time we have gradually become less like a traditional church and more like a band of kingdom workers engaged in full-on ministry outside the church walls, whether that's in a college building up a campus ministry, or investing in one of our parachurch ministries.
For those of our members who are able, we invite them to join our Ministry Teams — tight-knit families of brothers and sisters who live on mission together, working day jobs while also investing serious time and energy into frontline gospel work. We find this the most compelling use of our lives imaginable.
[1] Romans 12:4-5
[2] Ephesians 4:6-7
challenges of doing
Covocational Ministry
The challenges of covocational ministry
As thrilling and meaningful as it is, covocational ministry isn’t easy. In addition to the inherent challenges that come with evangelism, discipleship, and church life, our covocational ministers also have work and family obligations to take care of.
We also aren’t immune to the ups and downs of life. We have members who have children with disabilities; those whose parents who are terminally ill; members struggling with mental health issues; members grappling with loss and trauma; or those undergoing taxing medical treatments. After all this, how do we have time and strength for ministry?
Alone, it might be all but impossible. But what about when we do it together?
Co-laboring together in covenantal community
We’ve discovered that the answer to sustaining ministry through life’s challenges is found in following the biblical model for Christian community. The Bible tells us to strive together for the gospel [1], to bear each other's burdens [2], to meet together every day [3], to contribute to each other's needs [4], and to encourage one another regularly [5]. Incorporating all of this is the inspiring picture of the early church that we find Acts 2:42-47.
By following this portrait of high unity and high surrender for the common good, we’ve found that covocational ministry is not only sustainable, but practicable in a full-throated and energizing way. So how does this all net out? For the covocational ministers in our church, it comes down to our shared commitment to a common body of values.
[1] Philippians 1:27
[2] Galatians 6:2
[3] Hebrews 3:13
[4] Romans 12:13
[5] Hebrews 10:24-25
solution
How this All Works
Common mission
Broadly, our common mission is to fulfill the Great Commission. But each individual joins a ministry team with a pretty focused mission
Common structure and schedule
Because we serve covocationally, our team members have limited discretionary time. This means that we need a high degree of coordination to align our schedules so that we can collaborate together effectively.
This isn’t always easy, and only works because of the flexibility and mission-mindedness of all of our team members.
To facilitate this process, we have regular team meetings, follow a common team calendar, and meet throughout the week to encourage one another and collaborate on ministry initiatives.
Mutual dependence
In order to support one another in the day-to-day of everyday life, most of our team members live near one another so that we can practically bear each other’s burdens.
That means on a given night, when we might otherwise be engaging in leisure time, we might be helping someone move, or babysitting for a friend who is preparing content for the next day’s life group. This isn't always fun, but these practical sacrifices are key to obeying Jesus’ command to love one another, and a crucial way we enable one another to persevere in ministry.
We’ve also found that close proximity leads to a lot of joy, too! Doing life in community means a lot of laughter-filled dining rooms, late-night birthday celebrations, and a shared corpus of jokes, stories (even some local legends) and shared prayers and victories—a little taste of heaven.
Focused lives
We’ll admit it—we’re a bit crazy about the Great Commission. We believe that it's the cause that deserves our zeal and the best of our energies and attention.
To keep our lives focused on the mission, we share a common commitment to avoid escapism and potentially addictive behaviors. We avoid being distracted by political causes. We even tend to dial down our hobbies somewhat so that we can channel more of our discretionary time into ministry.
Because of all this, we’ve been accused by some of being a bit homogeneous in our lifestyles. But we believe that aiming for a simple life helps us stay focused on what counts: making ourselves all things to all people, that by any means we might save some [1].
[1] 1 Corinthians 9:22