wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] Tentmakers pitching Chicago conference

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Note #8968 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

05555
Oct. 18, 2005

Tentmakers pitching Chicago conference

Event is for ministers who have to hang on to 'day jobs' to make a living

by Toya Richards Hill

LOUISVILLE - Forty-seven percent of all congregations in the Presbyterian
Church (U.S.A.) have fewer than 50 people at Sunday worship.

	Obviously, many PC(USA) churches can't afford to hire full-time
pastors.

	At the same time, many ministers find that they have to work at
secular jobs to make a living - or feel that they're called to more than one
vocation.

That's where "tentmaking" comes in - a Biblical reference to the apostle
Paul, who made tents as a living while also ministering.
 
	Bi-vocational ministers from around the country will gather next
month for the annual Tentmaking Conference, a convention for pastors who
derive a substantial portion of their income from outside the ministry.

	"We have a lot of churches that can't afford a full-time pastor,"
said Marcia Myers, associate director of leadership and vocation in the
denomination's National Ministries Division (NMD). "We need to help those
churches grow, and tentmakers are a wonderful way."

	Pastors with "day jobs" - as accountants, farmers, factory workers,
whatever - have "their other foot in the community, and they are going to be
in contact with people every day who might not darken the doors of a church,"
Myers explained. "It's a wonderful way to have a witness."

	This year's three-day conference starts on Nov. 4 at St. Mary of the
Lake Conference Center in Mundelein, IL, just outside of Chicago. It is
co-sponsored by the Association of Presbyterian Tentmakers (APT) and the
National Association for the Self-Supporting Active Ministry (NASSAM).

	The agenda includes a report from the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago on
its tentmaking program; a panel of church leaders discussing their
perspectives on tentmaking; and opportunities to hear from newly ordained
tentmakers.

	Panelists will include Rev. Deborah F. Mullen, the dean of
masters-level programs at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago, and Rev.
David Ezekiel, associate executive for congregational development for the
Chicago Presbytery.

	"I think the primary content takeaway is going to be what does it
look like to promote and to support tentmaking at the diocese/presbytery
level," said Rev. Ross Blount, co-moderator of the 2005 conference and
moderator-elect of APT.

	Participants also will hear about efforts to help men and women in
ministry who also feel called to set up businesses of their own, Blount said.
"This would be an effort to assist people who are interested in
entrepreneurship."

	And of course there is the "opportunity just to get together with
other people who are doing the same kind of work that you are doing," said
Blount, a farmer from Allerton, IA "There's wonderful fellowship that grows
around this rather unique form of ministry."

	Anyone involved in secular vocation and ministry or interested in
exploring the possibilities is invited to attend, Blount said.

	For more information, or to register for the conference, visit
www.nassam.org online, or email Blount at allertonblount@yahoo.com.

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