After getting this question a bunch of times over the last month and reading Mark’s post I decided to post my basic schedule. It does drive me crazy when people say, "So what do you do all week?" But I can’t get too crazy over it because I remember being a young christian and thinking that my Pastor only worked on Sunday and Wednesday! Maybe that’s why I’m in ministry now. It’s God’s way of showing me that this isn’t the case!
So here goes…
Monday – OFF (I know most Pastors don’t take Mondays off. I do. I’m so wiped out after Sunday that need a day to recoup). Monday is my day with Carey. NOTHING gets in the way of this. I look forward to Monday all week long.
Tuesday – Usually, it’s my other day off. But that has only been for the last year and a half. Tuesday used to be prep for our midweek service and I’d do some admin stuff at church on Tuesday as well. But Tuesday is my swing day. About 50% of the time, I work on Tuesday. The other weeks I take it off. I’m a much happier person when I take Tuesday off.
Wednesday – Meetings…All day. I don’t see the sun on Wednesdays. Recently, I’ve been teaching at other churches for their mid-week service, so I’ll spend some time getting ready to teach that night (By the way, whenever I guest speak, it’s always a re-run – Don’t write a new message if you’re guest speaking. If you have a message that was worth giving once, it’s worth giving more than once). When I’m not teaching somewhere else, I usually lead a small group.
Thursday – This day has morphed into a day of meeting with people, meeting with some of our staff for the weekend, and reading/ research. This is also the day that I usually schedule any meetings about our building (contractors, architects, etc…). This takes up more time than I’d like to admit. This usually ends up being the day I have board meetings for the church boards I serve on.
Friday – Friday is split between studying for NEXT weekend’s message and a couple of appointments that I take. I usually don’t even go into the office until after lunch time because it is impossible for me to get any studying done at the office (it sounds weird, but it’s true).
Saturday – From the minute I wake up (7AM) to the moment I go to sleep (12AM), I am working on my message for Sunday. I usually print out the first draft by Noon (because I have been working on it since last Friday and looking it over at times during the week) and then I spend the rest of the day refining and revising it. I usually have too much to say, so I try to get it to the irreducible minimum. Some weeks that works better than others.
Sunday – Get up early and look the message over a couple of times. Get to church and try to connect with as many people as I can. Teach. Then I try to be one of the last people to leave and talk to as many people as I can (For a lot of people, this is only interaction we have with them). Go to lunch. Usually I’m home by 4PM and I’m done. I’m only thinking of one word…nap!
Wake up monday morning and do it all over again. I love it. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else…
