Definitions: Short Versions
A Bivocational Church Planter works a second job to supplement the salary the church provides. They hope that the church will eventually be able to provide financial support for the planter to leave the second job to focus full-time on the church plant.
A Covocational Church Planter is one whose primary vocation is in the marketplace and at the same time is called to start a church. A “covo” planter has a clear calling in the marketplace that they never intend to leave. They know God has called them to be a teacher, mechanic, graphic designer or doctor and they desire to weave that calling into the plan to plant a church.
Definitions: Long Versions
A Bivocational Church Planter works a second job to supplement the salary the church provides. Historically, the language of “tentmaker” (the Apostle Paul’s trade described in Acts 18) has been used to define this type of church planter. Typically, a “bivo” planter has a marketplace job that is viewed as temporary. Their hope is that the church plant will eventually be able to provide the financial support for the planter to leave their second job to focus full-time on the church.
A Covocational Church Planter is one whose primary vocation is in the marketplace, but at the same time, is called to start a church. A “covo” planter has a clear and definite calling in the marketplace that they never intend to leave. They know God has called them to be a teacher, mechanic, graphic designer, or doctor and they desire to weave that calling into the plan to plant a church. The prefix “co” is the reduced form of the Latin “com” which means “together” or to have “in common.” English words like cofounder, copilot, or coauthor are examples of words that denote partnership and equality. Covocation embodies the reality that if a person is called to the marketplace; and at the same time is called to start a church, the different callings are not isolated from one another, but instead are interlinked and equal.