{"id":729665,"date":"2020-12-28T02:00:18","date_gmt":"2020-12-28T07:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/?p=729665"},"modified":"2020-12-27T20:56:38","modified_gmt":"2020-12-28T01:56:38","slug":"ten-vocations-pastors-would-choose-if-they-werent-pastors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/ten-vocations-pastors-would-choose-if-they-werent-pastors\/","title":{"rendered":"Ten Vocations Pastors Would Choose If They Weren\u2019t Pastors"},"content":{"rendered":"

What vocation would you choose if you were not a pastor?<\/span><\/p>\n

That is the question I posed on social media. Both the nature and the quantity of the responses are indicative that many pastors think about this matter. We received well over 1,000 responses. A number of them are bi-vocational, so they have already chosen a second vocation.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Here are the top ten responses in order of frequency:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Teacher. <\/b>Most of the pastors specified high school or elementary teachers. A few mentioned professors in universities or seminaries.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Coaching a sport\u2019s team. <\/b>There were a variety of choices among the various sports, but high school football was the most frequently noted.<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Law enforcement\/first responder.<\/b> More of the respondents chose police as their alternative vocation, but firefighter was a clear second choice.<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Small business owner\/entrepreneur. <\/b>Some of the pastors were very specific about the nature of this path, particularly with options in the digital world.<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. Skilled laborer.<\/b> These responses were really varied. They included such vocations as woodworker, plumber, electrician, and mechanic.<\/span><\/li>\n
  6. Denominational worker.<\/b> These respondents obviously wanted to remain in vocational ministry as their second choice.<\/span><\/li>\n
  7. Chaplaincy.<\/b> The most common choice was hospital chaplain followed by military chaplain.<\/span><\/li>\n
  8. Broadcaster.<\/b> These responses included radio broadcasting, television personalities, and play-by-play announcers for sports teams.<\/span><\/li>\n
  9. Counselor\/therapist.<\/b> The pastors who responded with this choice often mentioned that counseling was the most fulfilling aspect of pastoral ministry.<\/span><\/li>\n
  10. Medical field.<\/b> Physicians and nurses were the most frequently mentioned.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Pastors offered dozens of outlier responses. Here are a few of the stranger comments. None of these were offered by more than one pastor. That is totally understandable.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      \n
    • Lion trainer<\/span><\/li>\n
    • High King of Gondor<\/span><\/li>\n
    • Tollbooth attendant in Florida<\/span><\/li>\n
    • Exotic dancer<\/span><\/li>\n
    • Lion trainer<\/span><\/li>\n
    • Cranky deacon<\/span><\/li>\n
    • Hot dog vendor<\/span><\/li>\n
    • Billionaire<\/span><\/li>\n
    • Playing cowbell in a band<\/span><\/li>\n
    • Smoking pork butts and inhaling<\/span><\/li>\n
    • Trophy husband<\/span><\/li>\n
    • Dolphin trainer<\/span><\/li>\n
    • Ninja turtle<\/span><\/li>\n
    • Raiser of zebras<\/span><\/li>\n
    • Custom treehouse designer<\/span><\/li>\n
    • Disney monorail driver<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Thanks, pastors. Have a great 2021.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What vocation would you choose if you were not a pastor? That is the question I posed on social media. Both the nature and the quantity of the responses are indicative that many pastors think about this matter. We received well over 1,000 responses. 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