Today, as has always been the case, many pastors labor in churches that cannot afford to provide any or all of their living expenses. Christian Bible colleges and seminaries are filled with students who have effectively mortgaged the first fifteen to twenty years of their ministries in the form of student loans. Following what they believe to be God's call on their lives, they hope to find a position in the ministry after graduation in which they can support themselves-and perhaps a spouse and children-and pay back the student loans. While they may indeed be fulfilling God's plan for them, many of these students do not realize the only ministry positions that will be available to them will not adequately provide for them and their families, leaving them with no option but to work a "secular" job in addition to their holy vocation. They also may not realize what an important blessing this is. In The Pulpit and the Paycheck, Rev. Steve Eichelberg explores why the role of bi-vocational minister can be both an enormous blessing and an incredible challenge and how this may indeed be God's plan for many ministries. In writing this book, he hopes that by understanding the vocational divide that separates the pulpit and the pew, and by debunking the vagabond notion of holy and unholy work, that career ministers and laypersons alike will have greater appreciation for all types of labor and laborers who are employed in the manner in which God has called them.