It seems to me that my first obligation to the church is to be a role model of life as a Christian. That means that I have to live a life of interaction, engagement and service in front of my church.
On the other hand, there is an expectation that I be sitting in my office handling the daily traffic flow of information and the potential that “someone might need me.”
When we send missionaries to the field, we have the expectation that their job is to be “among the people” building relationships. We never expect that they remain stationary in anticipation of small tasks or communication that may or may not be on its way.
If I am the Lead Missionary (Servant Messenger), is it not incumbent upon me to be out and about on a regular basis so that I can build relationships and have Gospel centered conversations?
How much time do you spend in the office? What keeps you from getting out? Does mobile communication free you to do your work in the community? How successful is that in your preparation? In your having meaningful conversations?
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Joseph M. Smith
on Jan 15th, 2009
@ 5:21 am:
I found in my full-time pastoring years that there were two things that worked to keep me in the office: [1] my own anxiety that someone somewhere might think I am not working enough, and [2] very occasional comments from church members that when they came by the church they expected to find one of the pastors there. So the issue was really one of self-image and of perception, and I found that if I interpreted to the occasional questioners that when I am out I am still working, I also convinced myself!
We did, in our church, go through an episode where an assistant pastor was so hard to find that our personnel committee started a sign-in/sign-out process so that they could record when we were in the office. When I protested that being in the office does not equate to working, the chairman, a government bureaucrat, replied that in her experience when one works it is in the office, period. That changed when members of her family had hospitalizations and I was there for them!
Rick Boyne
on Jan 15th, 2009
@ 8:46 am:
Art,
This is perhaps the greatest struggle for me as a “new” pastor. I feel I am in the office WAY TOO MUCH. Yet, when I’m “out” I have the feeling that folks think I’m somewhere goofing off. I don’t think it is a guilty conscience; in fact, I don’t know where that feeling comes from.
I’m a bit conflicted with your stated expectation of missionaries as well. Most of my missionary career was spent in missions support. In West Africa, we operated the regional guesthouse. In East Asia, I was the business manager. Almost ALL of my “job” was in the office. Perhaps some of my current struggle comes from that past experience, where I was expected to be in the office at least 8 hours per day!
To answer your questions: I spend at least 6 hours per day in the office. (I’m allowed to take Friday’s off, but it usually doesn’t work out that way) I have the freedom to do what I want, when I want. If I need to make visits, of course, it is no problem, for that is an expectation. I have made my cell phone number “public” to my members and tell them that is always the best way to get in touch with me. I’ve told them that if I’m busy, to just leave a voice-message and I’ll get back to them, ASAP.
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Bob Cleveland
on Jan 15th, 2009
@ 9:19 am:
This is sort of a strange question. If I look at is as the behavior a pastor should “model”, then I’d have to say that the average member has his work to do 8 hours a day, and that the building relationships (which I DO consider an essential part of the believer’s life) has to be done during the course of his work, not as his work.
And since most jobs feature a limited number of people with whom the worker associates, much (if not most) of the relationship-building would be, I suppose, done on “personal time”.
One of the staff members with whom I differed the most as respects his work at the church, never could tell me what he really did, in his job, beyond the things he did for his Sunday School class .. the same things I did for mine.
But, I have never really wondered what pastors did; I’ve always figured there were lots of ministry things to do outside the 4 walls, so I can’t identify with guys who think the preacherman ought to be there all the time.
Just a view from the pew.
Bob Clevelands last blog post..Gooodbye, Brother. I’ll See You Later
art rogers
on Jan 15th, 2009
@ 1:10 pm:
Very insightful.
JMS, I think you are right about where the doubts come from… little comments often feed a fear that they are only the tip of the iceberg and a mountain of dissatisfaction lurks beneath the surface. It has also been my experience that faithful ministry in times of crises does wonders for relationships and for understanding that you work hard after hours and outside the office.
Rick, Isn’t it amazing how our experiences shape our current perceptions. I had an experience with a previous church where they made me make up time spent attending and speaking at my nephew’s funeral because such leave was not covered in the personnel policies. I still resent it. When I started there (as a Youth Minister) I had to work Mon-Fri in the office (even though the pastor had Friday off) Sunday was a work day and Saturday was often the day for me to use to reach Youth.
They had me working a literal 7 days a week. Extra time away from the office was just part of my job. They didn’t realize it, but they created a huge incentive for me to do my job poorly. Since my office requirements were so high and no grace was given for working during my “family” time, it made no sense for me to plan activities that would take me away from my family. Thus, I was encouraged by their system to “work” in the office away from teenagers and not bother “working” when teenagers were free for me to be around.
I worked hard to change these perceptions and soon got a day off during the week, but the office hour thing never changed and I never got “comp” time for time away from my family. The expectations were ridiculous and I finally had to push back quite severely when the chairman of the deacons publicly challenged me by saying that I wouldn’t give my “free time” but I was asking my Youth Workers to do so. My response? “That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.”
Bob, Honestly, the difference between me and the person with a “view from the pew” is an apples and oranges kind of difference. I think that the ability to share Christ should spread organically through the relationships built within the infrastructure of society. That’s a fancy way of saying that people should build and reach people they naturally come into contact with through their life and that happens mainly through their job.
My job, however, is one in which I am surrounded by people who are already committed to Christ – or should be. In order to share the Gospel, I have to get away from the Ivory Tower.
When people come by and I’m out in the community, I tell my Secretary to just tell them, “He’s out sharing the Gospel.” It’s an “old” way of saying what I’m actually doing in a different way than we used to do it.
Anyone notice this comment is longer than the actual post? :)