{"id":30948,"date":"2011-12-13T22:14:00","date_gmt":"2011-12-14T04:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=30948"},"modified":"2021-01-20T22:18:49","modified_gmt":"2021-01-21T04:18:49","slug":"can-a-preacher-be-supported-by-multiple-congregations-that-he-is-working-with","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-a-preacher-be-supported-by-multiple-congregations-that-he-is-working-with\/","title":{"rendered":"Can a preacher be supported by multiple congregations that he is working with?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

Question:<\/h2>\n

Is it scriptural for a preacher to accept support from two churches at the same time? e.g. from the church where he is located and the other from the church which he helped established (currently preaching in both churches).<\/p>\n\t

Answer:<\/h2>\n

“I robbed other churches, taking wages from them to minister to you. And when I was present with you, and in need, I was a burden to no one, for what I lacked the brethren who came from Macedonia supplied. And in everything I kept myself from being burdensome to you, and so I will keep myself<\/em>” (II Corinthians 11:8-9).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Paul was supported by multiple churches while he was working in Corinth. This doesn’t mean he was drawing multiple salaries. He was being provided enough to live on, but the source for this funding happened to come from several churches. When there wasn’t enough, Paul willingly worked to support himself and those who traveled with him. “I have coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel. Yes, you yourselves know that these hands have provided for my necessities, and for those who were with me<\/em>” (Acts 20:33-34).<\/p>\n

What you don’t find in the Scriptures is a man preaching at multiple congregations at the same time. While there might be temporary needs because of a lack of preachers in the area, this should not be the normal mode of operation. The main reason is that the preacher no longer sees himself as a member of a particular congregation. There is also a tendency to create an office above the local church, where a preacher is operating multiple churches. See:\u00a0Must a Preacher Move?<\/a>\u00a0for more information on why this is a problem.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Question: Is it scriptural for a preacher to accept support from two churches at the same time? e.g. from the church where he is located and the other from the church which he helped established (currently preaching in both churches). Answer: “I robbed other churches, taking wages from them to minister to you. And when…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[1511],"class_list":["post-30948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-preachers"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":62367,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-sponsoring-church-arrangement-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":30948,"position":0},"title":"The Sponsoring Church Arrangement (Jennings)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 28, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Ethan Jennings Not long after World War 2, members of the Lord's church decided they wanted to take the gospel overseas to the countries with whom we had been at war. This was a good attitude to have. Especially since we are supposed to spread the gospel to everyone.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31376,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-a-congregation-at-least-partially-support-a-local-preacher\/","url_meta":{"origin":30948,"position":1},"title":"Should a congregation at least partially support a local preacher?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 19, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Even though an away congregation is supporting an evangelist full time because the one he is preaching for is small, shouldn't they (the congregation he is working with) still\u00a0try\u00a0to provide some support for him in whatever way? Answer: If another congregation is supporting a preacher fully, then the preacher\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":36756,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/paying-preachers\/","url_meta":{"origin":30948,"position":2},"title":"Paying Preachers","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 19, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Matthew W. Bassford Never does anyone argue harder for something they won't actually take than Paul does in I Corinthians 9:3-14. Through much of his ministry, especially his time with the church in Corinth, Paul refused financial support from the church with which he was working. It may be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/payment-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":25397,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-churches-support-retired-preachers\/","url_meta":{"origin":30948,"position":3},"title":"Should churches support retired preachers?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 4, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was reading some articles on your church web site,\u00a0one concerning paying preachers, written by Terry Benton. I was trying to find New Testament scripture for continuing to pay a retired preacher, I guess like retirement for years of service. I am wanting the Bible to be my guide,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":55460,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/changing-churches\/","url_meta":{"origin":30948,"position":4},"title":"Changing Churches","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 4, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"by Benjamin M. Shropshire via bulletin of the Leeward church of Christ in Waipahu, Hawaii, August 12, 2007 Someone who had moved his membership from one church to another was asked why he had left his former church. He answered, \"I didn't leave my church; my church left me.\" By\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20614,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-there-be-only-one-eldership-per-country\/","url_meta":{"origin":30948,"position":5},"title":"Should there be only one eldership per country?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 3, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi Mr. Hamilton, greetings. Please, I need your views on this idea that is being taught by a very influential brother in Ghana. According to the brother, all the churches in one country were under just one eldership. His argument is that the churches in the apostolic age were\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30948"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30948\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}