As part of the comment-storm late last week following this post, I received the following comment:
I appreciate your posts. I’m glad you have a coworker to study with – does this mean that the congregation there supports 2 preachers? I would like to see an online conversation about why this happens as opposed to supporting one of the preachers to work in a location where the church is small or non-existent and cannot fully support a preacher. Preachers still have opportunities to stay in touch and study together online.
I read this and said to myself, “Blog post topic! Great!” (Seriously—ask me to write about any spiritual subject, and I probably will) The commenter is correct in her surmise—Shawn and I are indeed both fully (abundantly, even!) supported by the Jackson Heights church. It is also true that the elders here could send one of our fully supported selves off to work with the church in Siberia while the other one stayed home to hold the fort (if it comes up, I think Shawn would do well in the Siberian work). Due to the magic of the Internet, he and I could continue to study together, even during his time on the tundra.
However, the elders have chosen not to do this. I don’t know all of their reasons, but as a participant in a two-preacher arrangement, I see all sorts of advantages to it, to wit: Continue reading