Jason's Job Transition FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

On May 14th I will begin a new job as a chaplain with VITAS Innovative Hospice Care, a hospice care provider in Palm Beach County. I will be transitioning from a full time paid position with our church to a part time paid position with our church. This will be new experience for our church and it brings up some different emotions and questions in people's hearts and minds. Some of the questions I will attempt to answer here. Other questions and emotions we will seek to experience and work through as we continue our journey together.

How did you learn about the chaplain position with VITAS Innovative Hospice Care?

I have recently completed a six month internship with VITAS as a requirement for school. Clinical Pastoral Education, an educational experience composed of supervised ministry and theological reflection is a requirement of both ordination in the Florida Conference of the United Church of Christ and my graduation from Florida Center for Theological Studies. Just as I was finishing my internship, a chaplain position became available on the team that services the Lake Worth/Boynton Beach area. I was invited to apply for this position and was subsequently hired.

Why did you decide to take this position now?

There are several elements that make up the answer to this question.

First, I found the work with hospice patients to be very rich and meaningful. I have the opportunity to have spiritual conversations with people who may have never had them before. As an interfaith chaplain, my role is to be a companion to them, listening for, and facilitating interpretation of, what is spiritually meaningful for them. I recognized in myself and those I worked with recognized in me some undiscovered gifts in this area which I am looking forward to developing as I continue to grow into the minister God has called me to be.

Second, our church's current financial reality (currently operating at a $70,000 a year deficit) is not suitable for supporting a full time pastor. By me becoming "bi-vocational" (a pastor with two jobs, not at all unusual for small and medium-sized churches), there is financial pressure taken off of our church and there is a little more long-term financial security for me and my family.

Third, after much prayer and consideration, I believe this is a good next-step in our ministry together. Financially, this allows us to continue our ministry together indefinitely. It takes the issue of survival off the table and creates the space for us to listen to and follow the still-speaking God into a vital and thriving ministry in our community. Eccclesiologically (Are you impressed? It's a big word that just means regarding how a church operates and functions.), it moves us another step closer to the ministry of the church being dispersed and decentralized from a few "paid professionals" to all of us together.

So now you'll just be a part-time minister?

Nope. I will still be a full-time minister, just like you are. And now, just like for you, part of that ministry will take place in another work place between Sundays. And even though my hours and salary will be reduced, I will still be the full-time pastor of our church, providing leadership and facilitating our ministry together.

What if there is an emergency that happens during the day? Will you still be able to "do my funeral?"

Yes. My hours with VITAS provide some flexibility so that if there is an emergency I can break away and attend to it, especially since my work with them will be in this general vicinity. And yes, with some negotiation, I will still be able to officiate at weekday funerals and memorial services. 

How are you going to be able to do all of this?

Well, honestly, I am going to have to get a little bit better at asking for help. There are many of you who have already graciously offered to help with whatever you can and I am busy organizing some of my responsibilities to hand-off.

What can I do to help the church?

OK, this is sort of a trick question. We often think of the church as an institution, building, or entity that needs our protection, support or help to continue to exist.You are the church.  So the question really becomes:

How can I be the church?

Ahhh, there ya go. Fix a meal for a neighbor in need, babysit the kids of the young couple you know who desperately need a night off, call the friend that you heard is going through a hard time, introduce yourself and sit with the stranger who wanders into church on Sunday morning, offer to work in the nursery once a month so that our younger adults can be in worship, tell a friend the difference Jesus has made in your life, share a song or testimony in a worship service, at lunch sit with the kid that no one else sits with. I could go on, but I think we get the idea.

How are you going to grow the church working part-time?

Just as well or as poorly as I did full-time. I can't grow the church anymore than I can grow a tomato plant. God grows a church. We, together, facilitate that growth by loving God, loving others, and serving the world. This transition gives us more time to practice!

Won't this make it look like we can't support a full time pastor? What will people think?

People that are interested in being the church, not just going to or being served by the church, will not be concerned with whether the pastor is a full-time or part-time position. In fact, there is a trend in missional churches (churches that are intent in carrying out the great commission and great commandment) to minimize the percentage of their budget spent on staff and buildings so that more money is available for loving God, loving others, and serving the world.

I look forward to continuing the conversation with you in the comments below or by email.