“Sorry Kings.” You only needed 10 mil…

Maybe some of you have seen this. I know in my first call I’m at fault at several keys points…

On a typical Sunday in an evangelical church, the pastor will begin work at 7:30 in the morning and knock off at 6:30 at night. And that is not even the busiest day of the week, according to a new national study of clergy work habits published in Leadership Journal.

The study found that Wednesday is the longest day in an average 55-hour work week for evangelical clergy. During that week, the pastor on average will work four evenings and take four phone calls at home at night.

Sometime during the month, the typical pastor will feel both physical and emotional stress. Forty-two percent of spouses will complain about the schedule at least once a month.

So who is putting all this pressure on the pastors to work long hours?

According to the survey, it is not the members or the church board. It is the pastors themselves who are often their own worst enemies when it comes to setting limits on their workloads.

More than two-thirds said they expect too much of themselves. And, in a comforting thought for church members, just over half said they love what they do so much they don’t always know when to stop.

In the Leadership-sponsored study, 580 clergy responded to the mail survey sent out last spring to 1,199 pastors randomly selected from the subscription lists of Leadership, Christianity Today and Your Church. The sampling error was plus or minus 4 percent.

In describing their typical work week, pastors said they spend about 14 hours planning and attending meetings and services, 13 hours teaching and preparing sermons, nine hours in pastoral care and counseling, six hours in prayer and personal devotions and 13 hours in other tasks, including long-range planning and evangelism.

Asked how they would like to reallocate their time, approximately three out of four said they would like to spend more time in prayer and preparing sermons, and two out of three said they would give more attention to personal devotions. Given the opportunity, six in 10 pastors said, they would like to spend less time on administrative and budget tasks and preparing for and attending meetings.

Despite reporting high degrees of satisfaction with their jobs — 91 said they like the kind of work they do — the clergy also reported considerable stress. Two-thirds said they feel emotional stress at least monthly because of the nature of their work.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the most stressed-out pastors are those who work the longest hours, a median of 62 hours a week. They are more likely to work on their day off and are more likely to feel resentful about working too much.

The most satisfied group of pastors, according to the Leadership survey, limit their work week to 45 to 50 hours, use all of their vacation and consistently take at least one day off a week.

I know I have some work to do. I have to confess there are days off I’ve worked. After a year of ordained ministry I’m learning that it will only will hurt my my marriage, my family, and ministry. And as you read this you ask why is he still up?

Nighty. Night.

Pastor JOHN!

Interesting little quiz thanks to Tim and Steve. I thought I’d give it a try. My only involvement with the Methodist tradition was in my Boy Scout troop as a kid at a Methodist church in Los Angeles. Most of my life was hanging out with Evangelicals. I accepted Christ at an evangelical camp and attended a large evangelical Presbyterian church. Two of my favorite Wesley hymns I sang while growing up in the church were, “And Can It Be” and “O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing.” No wonder I scored the way I did! Thanks be to God that I’m saved by grace…And to quote my Wesleyan brother…

“Long my imprisoned spirit lay, fast bound in sin and nature’s night; thine eye diffused a quickening ray; I woke, the dungeon flamed with light; my chains fell off, my heart was free, I rose, went forth, and followed thee. My chains fell off, my heart was free, I rose, went forth, and followed thee.”

“Amazing love! How can it be that thou, my God, shouldst die for me? Amazing love! How can it be that thou, my God, shouldst die for me?”

The QUIZ!

You scored as Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan. You are an evangelical in the Wesleyan tradition. You believe that God’s grace enables you to choose to believe in him, even though you yourself are totally depraved. The gift of the Holy Spirit gives you assurance of your salvation, and he also enables you to live the life of obedience to which God has called us. You are influenced heavly by John Wesley and the Methodists.

Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 93%
Reformed Evangelical 89%
Emergent/Postmodern 71%
Neo orthodox 68% (My East Coast Barthian Score)
Charismatic/Pentecostal 68% (My time attending the Vineyard Church on the side with those Evangelical Presbyterian pastors I had when I was a kid)
Fundamentalist 64%
Roman Catholic 46%
Classical Liberal 39%
Modern Liberal 25%

What’s your theological worldview? created with
QuizFarm.com

I don’t know about you, but when the first count was read and the verdict was not guilty…I had this feeling that it was over. I also must confess that the “celebrity card” popped up in my head. I hope, I pray that our judicial system worked.

1. Wife off to work, every one else out of bed at 8:30am…
2. Cartoon devotionals, some coco pebbles…
3. I make my world famous pancakes…
4. A glimspe of the news…
5. Time to get out and enjoy the 80 degree SUN…

Thanks to Tod and others for the posts. Read here and here. It’s worth the time to read if you haven’t already read it.

Summer has begun…

The party has begun. The grades are in our hands. I have to be honest I don’t remember how I usually ended my school year growing up in good old Los Angeles. I just dropped my little dudes off at the local swim club with their school buddies. If my memory is correct, I usually spent my summer hanging out on Hollywood Blvd. I went to the public parks and recreation pools, played summer sports, and attended the YMCA for a summer of youth stuff. I also spent time with some buddies going from one local motel to another “pool hoppin.”

By God’s grace and the intervention of many of a youth leader, when it came to summers in Los Angeles as a kid, I spent more time at the church, attending every single youth group event and camp known to church youth ministry. If it was happening I was there. The best part of being a kid attending my church youth group during the summer in Los Angeles was that the youth group I grew up in went to the beach every Tuesday. It was my favorite part of the week. It was my weekly retreat away from home. It was a no brainer when it came to summer planning for youth groups. It drew out every Jr. High and High school kid and their buddy and their buddies buddy. It was the event handed down from one generation of youth pastor to the next. It was the way we did relational ministry in a city commuter church in the middle of LA. I miss those days. At the end of this month ministry starts all over again. Camps ( I’m actually preparing some talks for a week of Jr. High camp at the end of this month here). Youth groups. Pool parties. Laser Tag. Scavenger hunts. I can’t wait. I look forward to this summers stuff with kids. I look forward to my summer with my own kiddoes. Anyways, summer is here.

I guess you do what you got to do. It’s a must. Parents of children have to sometimes juggle family, employment, and busy schedules. I watch this life style of being way to busy and overworked amidst the parental units of our own church. For me as a pastor I am learning what it means to juggle ministry and family. At church I watch moms and dads come and go from our pre-school to work or to whatever they do for three hours to stay ahead of schedule. I see half of them at Starbucks filling up on the wannabe juice of life to get through the day. I also watch us as parents try to keep up and remember who has to be where at such and such time and to help the kid who can’t find their baseball glove or hat. Somehow we still manage to keep it together. God’s presence, his strength, a hope to those who lack hope, promised to those who need him to make it through the day? This is what I live for. I also confess it’s sometimes hard to rely on that strength for which the Lord offers to me.

I don’t know about you, but our summer is about 15 hours away for our little guys. Already we have had to transition into a part-time job for mom at night and dad the go to guy while mom brings a pay check home while off from school for the summer. I now understand what my sweet wife endured while I was off being “seminary boy.” As all three guys have finally hit the hay I can remember being gone at night studying while in seminary and wondered what happened on the home front while I was cramming Karl Barth, John Calvin, and church polity into my tiny little brain. My wife played many roles and wore many hats. And still some how taught full-time during the day. Cleaning. Referee. Gourmet chef, a 3 year olds play buddy, and more cleaning. Thank you my God for MOM and all that she is and does! Thank you Lord for the strength that you give to us as parents to manage the stuff of life and especially for your love that gets us through the day and that fills our house, our kiddoes, and our lives.

Some morning reading. Here and here. You’ll get a laugh here too. At least I did.

I have feared the day that my body would begin the transformation into that part of life where one needs to start paying attention to how he or she takes care of themselves. In youth ministry especially one has to pay attention to how they are treating and honoring the bodies that the Lord has blessed us with. For me as a dad my three sons need me to be healthy and ready to be dad! For several months I have had numbness in my right hand. Carpal Tunnel? Maybe? About a month ago I went and saw our doctor. She ordered some x-rays and yesterday I got the dreaded phone call. She said, “well, everything is fine,” but…you have arthritis in your spine. “What?” “I’m to young to have arthritis.” She says, “I know. You’re just a baby. you’re just getting old. It’s normal.” “It happens to all of us.” So, today I will now begin plotting how I will not get old. I have no doubt I will moan some more later on, but I’m off to my middle son’ school musical. Say a prayer for my sweet wife as she begins a part-time summer job as a target employee. (The joys of being a school teacher who has summer’ off)