WHEREAS, The 2005 Annual Church Profile of the Southern Baptist Convention lists 14,279 senior pastors, or 31 percent, as bivocational, volunteer, or part-time; and
WHEREAS, Thousands of Southern Baptist ministers serve bivocationally, part-time, or as volunteers in various staff and ministry leadership positions; and
WHEREAS, These servants function faithfully in the model of Christ Jesus the carpenter and Paul the tentmaker; and
WHEREAS, The designations of “bivocational,” “volunteer,” and “part-time,” generally refer to the level of compensation and not to the tremendous responsibilities of ministry in the local church; and
WHEREAS, These ministers steadfastly fulfill their God-given calling to the Lord’s church in addition to the duties of non-church employment and family activities; and
WHEREAS, The Kingdom efforts of the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention could not be accomplished by those in fully-compensated ministry alone; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Greensboro, North Carolina, June 13-14, 2006, give thanks to God for the Kingdom service of our bivocational, volunteer, and part-time ministers; and be it further
RESOLVED, That we express our gratitude to these ministers and their families for their enormous contribution to the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ; and be it finally
RESOLVED, That we pledge our prayers for the Southern Baptist Bivocational Ministers Association as its members seek to serve the Lord and His church.