Fulltime secular ministry

Eugene Peterson writes a letter to a friend advising them what to say to their pastor who wants them to go into ministry:-

. . . I realised that I have also been called into full-time Christian ministry. And I need your help. . . . Two things in particular I need from you. First, I need your blessing on my ministry. . . . [cf Mk 5:18-9] . . . . In the immediate context of my life, 'family' translated into my daily work. . . . it is not easy, for none of my associates at work nor my new Christian friends understand it as ministry. I'm beginning to feel very isolated, even beleaguered. That's why I need your blessing - your blessing and your prayers, validating and strengthening me in my full-time Christian ministry. The second thing I need is your protection. This is demanding work and requires much concentration and energy. The longer I am in this church the more I feel that
people here are distracting and diverting me from my ministry. If I lived out my Christian faith the way they think I should, I would end up simply putting in 'secular' hours at the laboratory and saving up my 'Christian' energies for evening meetings and weekend church projects. . . . the help you need is the word of God preached with imagination and conviction. Tell them you need to be prayed for with passion and faithfulness and listened to without distraction or hurry.

The Wisdom of Each Other by Eugene H. Peterson.