Trends May Point to Freelance Pastors

As several trends begin to align, the potential for an increase in freelance pastors is a plausible outcome. As younger generations are more broad in their financial giving as opposed to retiring baby boomers who have been primarily focused on giving to their church, the prospect of cash flow problems are likely for many American churches. Churches with extended mortgages, when faced with reduced cash flow and high building costs will be required to reduce staffing.

The younger generations who are more diverse in their giving will likely be more loyal to causes that match their personal preference for ministry which will open the door for an increase in non-church affiliated ministries to seek funding for these more specific ministry projects.
To leverage their ministry, these non-profit freelancers may return to the traditional church setting with the offer of "outsourcing" their ministry. For example, an independent youth pastor may serve multiple churches providing individual congregation ministry and support while at the same time aggregating ministry activities to include all churches he covers. Loyalty with the minister rather than loyalty to a particular church or denomination will likely be more prevalent causing a more scattered approach to giving and a more conducive environment for freelance pastors.

The growing dissatisfaction among young pastors with the traditional board and committee approach to church governance, will further fuel this outsourced pastor approach allowing them to focus more on the goal of their ministry without having to manage the "politics" and risk of high turnover often found in more traditional church settings. It is plausible that independent pastors will eventually combine across multiple specialties to form an association of non-profit ministries that could eventually outsource an entire church ministry team, allowing the formation of new church start-ups to accelerate their development time-line and be more intentional in their particular area of ministry emphasis.

Courtesy of Trend Ping