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Libraries Serving Students 
Preparing for Multivocational 
Ministry
Susan Ebertz, Associate Professor and Director for the Library,  
Wartburg Theological Seminary

ABSTRACT Libraries and librarians need to help and support students who 
are currently dealing with busy multivocational lives and to prepare them 
for their multivocational ministry. This session looks at multivocational 
ministry and suggest ways in which libraries and librarians can be involved 
in serving students living in and preparing for their multivocational lives.

At one time the typical seminary student was called to full-time, uni-
vocational ministry. Many of our students are still being prepared 
to do that. In Jo Ann Deasy’s article “Shifting Vocational Identity in 
Theological Education,” (Deasy 2018, 69) she mentions that “Data 
from the GSQ indicates that almost one-third of 2017 graduates are 
planning on bi-vocational ministry.” She later asks, “What are the 
unique skills needed to prepare someone for bi-vocational ministry?” 
As librarians we need to ask, “What are the skills we need to teach to 
prepare them for multivocational ministry?” Libraries and librar-
ians need to help and support students who are currently dealing 
with their overly busy multivocational lives and to prepare them for 
their multivocational ministry. This session will look at multivoca-
tional ministry and suggest ways in which libraries and librarians 
can be involved in serving students living in and preparing for their 
multivocational lives.

I became interested in this topic when I was asked to contribute a 
chapter in the book Bivocational and Beyond: Educating for Thriving 
Multivocational Ministry, edited by Darryl W. Stephens. The book is 
published by Atla Open Press and is available from the Atla website 
(https://doi.org/10.31046/atlaopenpress.82). If you are interested in 
the topic of multivocational ministry, you need to read this book. 
Many of the things I will talk about come from this book and from 

https://doi.org/10.31046/atlaopenpress.82


LISTEN AND LEARN SESSIONS  211

what I learned from being a part of the creation of the book. In this 
session, I would like to bring up several strands of thought that deal 
with the topic of multivocational ministry, then talk about ways that 
these strands are affecting theological education in general and theo-
logical librarianship in particular.

The first strand is multivocational ministry. Multivocational min-
istry is full-time ministry with part-time compensation from the 
ministry. It is not part-time ministry. It just means that the pastor or 
deacon or religious leader is receiving only part-time compensation 
and may be receiving compensation from other segments of their 
life (Stephens 2022, 1-3). I remember the term “tentmaking” being 
used a generation ago, and Paul the Apostle is described as a tent-
maker (Acts 18:3-4). It is the idea of having another vocation or job 
other than as pastor of a church. As you will note in reading Bivo-
cational and Beyond, more and more students who are graduating 
from seminary and pastoral training institutions are entering bivo-
cational or multivocational ministry. JoAnn Deasy’s article in Theo-
logical Education (2018, 69) and her chapter in Bivocational and Be-
yond say that “two-thirds of all students entering master’s programs 
in graduate theological schools considered bivocational ministry a 
possible outcome of their degree (2022, 256).” What does this mean 
for theological education and for library services if that many stu-
dents are thinking about this?

The next strand is the priesthood of all believers. The priesthood 
of all believers is understood by some Christian denominations that 
all Christians should be involved in ministry. The passage in 1 Peter 
2 is combined with Paul’s body of Christ imagery from 1 Corinthians 
to understand the call for all Christians, ordained and lay, to be in-
volved in the ministry of the church. Multivocational ministry means 
that the ministry in a church must be a collaboration of all those in-
volved in a particular congregation so that it becomes shared minis-
try. The pastor does not do everything but encourages the members 
to use their gifts for the building up of the entire body (Ephesians 
4:11). Learning collaboration tools may become an important part 
of theological education. An interesting side note to this is how other 
rosters such as deacons are included into the mix of pastors and la-
ity in multivocational ministry.

A third strand is formational theological education. Daniel Aleshire 
talks about formational theological education in his book Beyond 
Profession (Aleshire 2021, 82). He says (emphasis his):



212  ATLA 2022 PROCEEDINGS

The goal of theological education should be the development of a wisdom 
of God and the ways of God, fashioned from intellectual, affective, and behav-
ioral understanding and evidenced by spiritual and moral maturity, relational 
integrity, knowledge of the Scripture and tradition, and the capacity to exercise 
religious leadership.

This understanding is that theological education is not about 
learning the tools of being a pastor or deacon or ministry leader but 
of being formed. He later says, “the aim of theological education is di-
rectly linked to the qualities that are important for persons who serve 
as Christian leaders.” Who we are is as important as what we know.

A fourth strand is a model of learning from Hubert Dreyfus (Drey-
fus 2009, 27). In my chapter in Bivocational and Beyond, I go into more 
detail than I do here (Ebertz 2022, 314-7). Dreyfus names six stages 
of learning: Novice, Advanced Beginner, Competence, Proficiency, 
Expertise, and Mastery. Christian Scharen talks about theological 
education in terms of these stages in his chapter “Learning Ministry 
over Time” in For Life Abundant (Scharen 2008, 26-88). He mentions 
that students in seminary rarely go beyond the competent stage. The 
other stages occur after they are in a congregation. The learner pro-
gresses through these stages with the help of mentors.

A fifth strand is competency-based education (CBE). Some theologi-
cal institutions have been experimenting with competency-based 
education. The institution provides students with a formal structure 
which students go through as they become competent in various cur-
riculum topics. CBE often includes practical and formational learn-
ing as well as learning content. Mentors as well as the instructor 
may be involved in each “course.” Students progress at their own 
pace. The Association of Theological Schools has created Guidelines 
for Competency-Based Theological Education which may be found 
at https://www.ats.edu/files/galleries/guidelines-for-cbte-programs_
(15_April_2020).pdf.

A sixth strand is church-based ministerial training. Many denomi-
nations have for years used church-based training for their minis-
ters. It is beginning to trend in mainline denominations. I know of an 
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America congregation which has an 
apprenticeship program in which they provide biblical and theologi-
cal content as well as practical experience and mentors.

Another strand involves issues of justice. Theological education 
can be seen as elitist, and the whole academic enterprise could be 
seen as colonial attempts to press a certain type of ministerial train-



LISTEN AND LEARN SESSIONS  213

ing into a particular academic mode. Understanding different cul-
tures within our particular location and context may change the 
way we do things.

My final strand is students are involved in multivocational minis-
try. Our understanding of seminary students as preparing for full-
time, univocational ministry needs to change. Many students are not 
only taking classes full-time but are also working full-time, involved 
heavily in a church, have a family, and have other commitments. 
These many vocations take a toll in terms of time and energy. They 
feel pulled in many directions and need ways in which to study that 
understand their reality. Learning how to set boundaries and flow 
between commitments are all skills needed for multivocational 
ministry.

I can understand our students who are working in a church full-
time while being a student full-time. I started library school after I 
had begun my role as the director for the library. I probably under-
stood how my classes fit in with the profession better than those 
who were not working in a library. I was able to make connections 
between the theory and the practice and could integrate what I was 
learning with my job. I noticed in my library classes that there were 
a significant number of fellow students who were also taking classes 
while working.

Multivocational ministry and preparation for multivocational 
ministry begins to weave some of these strands together. What kind 
of theological education does this entail? And the corollary is: what 
kind of library skills do we teach these students? How do we blend 
biblical and theological studies with practical ministry so that whole 
students are formed to begin the road to growing in their vocation? 
As conversations about this take place, theological librarians need to 
think about what kinds of library skills students need to learn in or-
der to weave their multivocational reality. As I thought about how to 
teach our students the library skills they need, I came up with several 
possibilities. I also cover this in more detail in my chapter “Seeking 
Information Mastery in Multivocational Ministry” in Bivocational 
and Beyond (Ebertz 2022, 313-326).

On-demand services are needed so that services are available 
when our students are available. Some of our students study af-
ter the kids are in bed. This means that library resources and help 
should be available. This does not mean that a live person needs to 



214  ATLA 2022 PROCEEDINGS

be available. Creative ways of answering or helping late at night may 
be needed instead.

Students need to be taught how to find reliable information that 
is not based on databases to which they may not have access once 
they graduate. Learning search skills, evaluating hits from browser 
searches, and general information literacy skills become important. 
Collaboration with others through text studies or ministerial groups 
may be helpful, or learning about algorithm bias in searching. Basi-
cally, learning how to learn becomes important.

Multivocational ministry and multivocational students are trends 
theological librarians cannot ignore. As we find ways to teach in this 
new environment, we may want to keep in mind Dreyfus’s stages of 
learning and think about where we are.

WORKS CITED

Aleshire, Daniel O. 2021. Beyond Profession: The Next Future 
of Theological Education. Theological Education between 
the Times. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William. B. Eerdmans 
Publishing Company.

Deasy, Jo Ann. 2018. “Shifting Vocational Identity in Theological 
Education: Insights from the ATS Student Questionnaires.” 
Theological Education 52, no. 1: 69.

Deasy, Jo Ann. 2022. “The Multivocational Plans of Students.” 
In Bivocational and Beyond: Educating for Thriving 
Multivocational Ministry, edited by Darryl W. Stephens, 253-
274. Chicago: Atla Open Press.

Dreyfus, Hubert L. 2009. On the Internet. 2nd ed. Thinking in 
Action. New York: Routledge.

Ebertz, Susan J. 2022. “Seeking Information Mastery in 
Multivocational Ministry.” In Bivocational and Beyond: 
Educating for Thriving Multivocational Ministry, edited by 
Darryl W. Stephens, 313-326. Chicago: Atla Open Press.

Scharen, Christian. 2008. “Learning Ministry over Time: 
Embodying Practical Wisdom.” In For Life Abundant: Practical 
Theology, Theological Education, and Christian Ministry, edited 
by Dorothy C. Bass and Craig R. Dykstra, 265–88. Grand Rapids, 
MI: Eerdmans.

Stephens, Darryl W. 2022. “Introduction.” In Bivocational and 
Beyond: Educating for Thriving Multivocational Ministry, edited 
by Darryl W. Stephens, 1-3. Chicago: Atla Open Press.


