Hi there! Thanks for visiting my website. I’m Tim, and I live in rural northwest IL with my wife and 3 kids. When people ask, I usually tell them that I daylight as a truck driver and moonlight as a pastor. In the church world, this is called, “bi-vocational ministry.”
Do you think that you already have busy life/ high demands that makes a second vocation too steep a climb?
Is bi-vocational ministry flexible enough for someone with a life/career/schedule like mine?
Will a church be willing to adjust its expectations for someone in a situation like mine?
Are you asking yourself if you can do church ministry while also making a living?
If these concerns cross your mind, not only am I right there with you, but I hope I can help.
Getting on the School Bus
I never wanted to be bi-vocational or a commercial driver. In 2012, I was pastoring a local church, our family was growing, ministry was starting to deteriorate, and our family finances just weren’t getting it done. Through the advice of a friend, i applied @ the local school district to become a school bus driver. My career in the industry of commercial driving and in bi-vocational ministry began.
My ministry situation continued its decline as did our financial outlook. In the fall of ’15, I made the very difficult decision to resign where I pastored and began making ends meet with 3 part-time jobs. We moved, and I struggled to find my footing. We still owned a house in FL, had school aged kids, and were expecting our youngest in the fall of 2016. Through a gift, I completed professional truck driver school at a local community college, even though i had no idea where I was going with it. Through the reference of another friend, I started my first trucking job in August of ’16.
Meanwhile, I thought that pastoring was out of my life, if not for good, then at least for a long time. However, a church from across the county contacted me, and I preached there on new year’s day 2017. I continue to serve there, where i am doing the most refreshing and meaningful ministry of my life.
Core Values. Clear Priorities. Daily Habits.
Out of all this change, chaos, self-doubt, and deep frustration, a new purpose also developed. I needed to decide what I truly valued and then to make daily decisions that built my life on those values.
I worded my values into 4 priorities that were application and habit-oriented. I wrote them down in several places, made them easy to remember (they are all 3 words or fewer), review then regularly, and use them as motivators and guides for my life.
This website is for people that want what they value to be what they live out.
