Practical Expressions: Living Out Our Calling in the Everyday
Part Seven: The Rise of Transvocational Ministry
Let’s get practical.
In previous posts, we laid the groundwork for the concept of transvocational ministry, exploring its biblical and historical roots, the role of the Holy Spirit in empowering all believers, and the theological foundation for integrating faith, work, and everyday life. Now, we want to take a step further and explore how this vision plays out practically. How do believers and churches embody transvocational ministry in the real world, in the midst of daily life, busy careers, relationships, and communities?
At the heart of transvocational ministry is the idea that every believer is a missionary. This concept flips the traditional view of mission on its head—mission is not something we do outside the context of our work or everyday lives, but something that is integrated into the fabric of daily existence. The Holy Spirit plays a pivotal role in enabling believers to live on mission in the spaces where we work, live, and play.
The concept of mission often gets relegated to overseas trips or church-sponsored evangelism efforts, while everyday life is viewed as neutral, secular, or even disconnected from the “real” work of God. However, the biblical story tells us that God is at work in every aspect of life, and the Holy Spirit empowers believers to join God’s work wherever they are.
The goal of transvocational ministry is to help Christians live our faith as an integrated whole, seeing every aspect of our lives as an opportunity to glorify God and participate with the Holy Spirit in mission. The question is, how do we make this vision a reality in the midst of a rapidly changing world with diverse career paths, shifting social structures, and varied personal circumstances?
Here’s three snapshots of real-life examples of transvocational ministry in action—individuals and communities who are already embodying this vision, bringing their professional work, relational lives, and missional calling together in powerful ways.
1. Work as Calling: Reconnecting the Sacred and the Secular
As we explored in-depth earlier, one of the clearest biblical examples of transvocational ministry is the Apostle Paul, who worked as a tentmaker while preaching and planting churches. Paul’s example of tentmaking ministry was not just about earning a living while pursuing his mission—it was a model of integrating his faith, work, and calling into a holistic lifestyle.
For many Christians today, the idea of ministry is often confined to church settings—leading worship services, preaching, and organizing church programs. There is a disconnect between the sacred and the secular. Many feel that ministry requires a full-time church position. However, Paul’s life shows us that ministry can occur in any vocation, and that work itself can be a platform for the gospel.
Called to be a Healer
Caitlin is a nurse in a busy urban hospital. While her clergy father had hopes she would enter into pastoral ministry, Caitlin sees her job as more than just a career, but as her ministry. Every day, she ministers to patients in various stages of crisis—many of whom are experiencing physical, emotional, or spiritual challenges. She integrates her faith into her work by praying with patients (when invited), showing deep empathy, combing their hair, doing their nails, and offering words of comfort and hope, all while using her skills and expertise to care for people’s physical well-being. She sees herself not just as a healthcare provider. Her job as a nurse is a sacred calling to be a healer. She is embodying the way of Jesus by ministering in the marketplace.
In Caitlin’s case, her work as a nurse is her “tentmaking”—a way to provide for her family and open doors for Jesus conversations. Just as Paul used his profession to build relationships with people who would not typically attend synagogue, Caitlin uses her vocation to connect with those in need of the hope of Jesus, even if they never set foot in a church. She is also an active participant in her local church ecology, serving on a leadership team that is cultivating fresh expressions across her city.
Transvocational ministry allows believers to serve God in their everyday work, knowing that their “secular” job can be an expression of sacred calling. Like Paul, Christians can use their professions to generate income and build relationships that lead to healing impact.
2. Entrepreneurs with Kingdom Vision: Transfiguring Existing Potentials
Another powerful example of transvocational ministry is seen in entrepreneurship. In a world where businesses are often associated with profit-maximizing strategies, Christians with a Jesus vision are using their entrepreneurial skills to make a difference in the world. These individuals are not only building successful businesses but also integrating kingdom principles like justice, compassion, and equity into their company cultures, products, and services.
In many cases, the marketplace is viewed as a place where profit trumps purpose, where workers are seen as tools to increase revenue, and ethical practices often take a back seat to competition and growth. For Christians in business, there can be a tension between being successful in business and staying true to biblical values.
Trap Stars for Jesus
Connect is a fresh expression that meets primarily with children in the Martin Luther King, Jr. Building on the west side of Wildwood. The west side is primarily an African American community. Churches in the community collaborated to renovate the once abandoned space. Jill and her dedicated team collaborated with friends from other area churches and turned that third place into a church on Saturday mornings. Mostly children and teens show up for food, games, and Jesus stories. On one occasion, as Jill was leading Connect, some dealers from across the street came over and handed Jill a wad of cash. (Drugs are being sold across the street night and day.) There’s no seminary class for what to do in this scenario!
This opened the door for the Connect team to have a conversation with the group across the street. They went over to thank them for the contribution and let them know they would use it to buy Bibles and food for the children. The dealers thanked the team for being there, and for what they were doing in the community.
Drug-dealers have incredible, God-given, entrepreneurial impulse. Many times, they are skilled marketers with great adaptive leadership capacity. They are often systematically oppressed and unable to obtain education or other basic opportunities afforded more privileged people. A group of pastor friends began to wonder if church might be able to form there. Trap Stars for Jesus was born, a church for drug-dealers desiring to go legit. The purpose was to work side by side with resourceful entrepreneurs to discover a better way.
The basic approach was that they would talk about this guy Jesus half the time, and during the other half they would offer a Business 101 course with mentorship and resources on how to get a business license, identify niche markets, obtain equipment, workers compensation, and insurance. Multiple small businesses sprung out of this incubator, a lawn care service, pressure washing, a commercial painting company, and so on.
The Spirit transfigured the already existing entrepreneurial gifts and graces, to become a force for positive change. Imagine the systemic impact on the community as one drug dealer becomes a legitimate business owner.
Many people, clergy and laity, have the potential to start small businesses. Christian entrepreneurs can use their businesses as ministry tools, promoting ethical practices, supporting the marginalized, and aligning their operations with the values of God’s kingdom. In this way, they fulfill a higher purpose beyond profits and build a legacy of redemptive influence. Pastors who run businesses can fund their local church, rather than expecting their local church to fund them.
3. The Church as a Missionary Hub: A Transvocational Community
While transvocational ministry is often thought of at an individual level, it also has a communal aspect—how the church, as the Body of Christ, can come together to support and equip believers for their everyday callings in practical ways. The local church can be a hub for vocational formation, where believers are equipped, trained, and encouraged to see their work and everyday activities as an opportunity for mission.
Many churches focus primarily on traditional ministry roles, with little attention given to equipping believers for ministry in their workplaces, homes, and communities. There’s a gap between the Sunday gathering and Monday’s work, leaving many Christians uncertain about how to integrate their faith into their daily lives.
Open Arms Village
St Marks UMC in Ocala converted its church building into men’s sober housing. Open Arms Village (OAV) is a holistic program that includes mental health services. Men often come in with nothing, fresh off the streets or from prison. When they graduate, they do so with a GED, driver’s license, vehicle, and a job.
Men live in the same buildings where worship, Bible studies, and committee meetings are held. The property also houses two dedicated clubhouses for twelve-step fellowships. Additionally, what was once a parsonage (pastor’s home) is now a step-up house for OAV graduates. What was once the pastor’s office is now dedicated space for mental health counseling services. All of these programs provide funding for the church, making the once declining congregation financially sustainable.
St Marks and OAV prepare members for vocations in various professional sectors: healthcare professionals, educators, business leaders, and the construction industry. The teaching and preaching ministries of the church are focused on preparing every member for transvocational ministry. Gatherings often feature open forums where members discuss how they can live out their faith in specific areas of work.
The church also partners with local businesses and organizations to provide resources, mentoring, and networking for those wanting to integrate faith and work. By encouraging a missional mindset that spans the whole week—not just Sunday—St Marks equips its members to serve God’s kingdom wherever they are.
In addition, the church works hard to celebrate and acknowledge the value of all vocations, whether someone is a teacher, a mechanic, or a lawyer. It’s an environment where every believer feels valued and called to their specific role in God’s redemptive work. The laity preach and serve equally alongside the clergy in ministry teams.
While every church doesn’t need to convert its space into housing (although increasingly more should consider this). Every church can become a hub for vocational discipleship, equipping believers to serve God and others through their everyday work. By celebrating every vocation, and offering practical support, the church helps believers understand that all work is sacred, and that ministry happens not only within the church building but in the world where God has placed them.
Conclusion: Transvocational Ministry in Action
It’s easy for Christians to get caught up in the “church bubble,” focusing on their personal spiritual growth but forgetting the broader missional calling to serve the needs of the city and the world. For some, it’s difficult to envision community impact outside of church-based programs or outreach.
This is massively impractical, and even fatal for many congregations.
Transvocational ministry allows us to re-envision a practical and holistic approach to community development. In the emerging political climate, we need more initiatives aimed at both spiritual and social transformation. How will churches seek to support undocumented friends, neighbors, and colleagues? How will our congregations be centers to collaborate in dismantling racism? How will we work to alleviate the coming rise in poverty and inequity?
Church members can partner with local businesses to provide mentorship, resume-building workshops, and job placement assistance. By integrating faith into community service, we can foster cultures of justice, where believers see their work not as separate from their faith but as part of their calling to embody God’s kingdom in the earth.
Transvocational ministry is not just about personal career development… it’s about community transformation. By engaging in local initiatives and being active communities, Christians can bring the gospel to bear on real-world issues, demonstrating the love of Christ in tangible ways.
As we continue to explore the power of transvocational ministry, we see that it is not a theoretical or distant idea—it’s a practical, everyday reality that many believers are already living out. From tentmakers in the marketplace to entrepreneurs with kingdom vision, from churches as missionary hubs to believers serving their cities, we are witnessing the integration of faith, work, and mission in powerful ways. This may be the church that rises from the ashes of a post-Christian and increasingly anti-Christian society.
In the next installment, we will explore strategies for cultivating a transvocational culture within the church, equipping leaders to foster environments where every believer can live out their calling and serve God in every area of life.