I have four churches I'm responsible for; how does that work?
I'm still surprised at how often people ask me this question. In my denomination, and even in others, it's not uncommon for pastors to manage more than one church. Maybe what's unique is that I'm relatively young to be doing it. Usually, young pastors are associates on stable teams at larger churches. Maybe it's because this is all I've ever known, even as a child, but I don't really mind. I like where I'm at. Still, I hear the question every week - especially from people who ask what I do for work - "How do you pastor so many churches?"
People ask this question because typically pastors have one church and are pretty busy with just that one. Some churches even have multiple pastors with a lead pastor and one or more associates. Still, the concept of pastors operating on a circuit or district of churches has persisted for quite some time. For the Adventist Church, this practice has risen from necessity. As there aren't always enough resources to host one pastor in each local Adventist church, the conference of churches will assign pastors to areas to meet the needs of and share spiritual nourishment with. This is especially common in Latin America and many other parts of the world. Even here in the States, some Adventist pastors minister in areas with up to nine churches. (Such was a guest lecturer for my Homiletics class. He had a district with nine churches spanning almost the whole latitude of the state of Wyoming). We usually call these areas "districts" and the pastors who serve them "district pastors."
So that's me; I'm a district pastor. Every district pastor is different, but here's what my average week looks like.
My Average Week
For my churches, Saturday is the Sabbath. That day we gather for fellowship in worship and study. After I preach, I enjoy potluck and go home to enjoy some rest. I nap or play guitar, and sometimes paint or do some crafts with my daughter Lina. It's enjoyable for me, and I cherish getting to fulfill the fourth commandment that says the Sabbath is made for REST. I will admit I do feel a sense of pride knowing I truly rest on the day rather than some pastors who often complain about it being the busiest day. On Sunday, I work on sermon prep and other miscellaneous tasks. I also attend other Christian churches in my area to get acquainted with the broader faith community. Mostly though, I treat the day as a bit of a catch-up. This day is pretty flexible. once a month, I have Sunday board meetings for two of my churches.
Most months of the year have four sabbaths, so I split my attendance as such. I preach and teach at the Rifle Adventist Church every first Sabbath of the month. Fruita and Palisade Adventists see me on the second and third Sabbaths, respectively, and Glenwood Springs sees me in person every fourth Sabbath.
This sounds like each church only sees me once a month, but not quite. Fruita has in-person prayer-meeting services every Tuesday, and I attend those, leading out every other week. Palisade and Rifle have prayer-meeting services on Wednesday and Thursday nights via Zoom. This means that the Palisade, Rifle, and Fruita Adventist churches see me weekly, assuming people show up to that midweek service. Incidentally, most people who complain about the pastor's stretched schedule are the same people who either don't make an effort or can't afford to attend the weekly prayer meeting--though usually it's the former of the two.
That leaves us with the Glenwood Springs Church only seeing the pastor once a month. Compounding on this disadvantage, the Glenwood Springs Adventist congregation doesn't currently (at the time of writing) have any preachers to step up to the pulpit during the weeks I'm not there. They also don't have a regular prayer-meeting service (yet). The church had previously been led in preaching by an elder who passed late last year. For them, I decided to begin writing and recording sermons they could show during the 11 A.M. service if they chose not to watch a church livestream from a church halfway across the United States. It's not my favorite, but it helps me sleep at night, and the congregation has responded positively. It also helps me promote better continuity in the preaching. I try to keep the messages varied enough in content and style to not let the church feel same-y.
In addition to preaching, I also conduct a few Bible studies and visitations. I have a Baptismal Bible study regularly every Tuesday morning at a person's home. This is one of the few weekly events I bring my wife and kids to, because our kids like to play together. My visitations* are also organized by location. Tuesday afternoons, I set aside to meet with members in the Fruita to West Grand Junction area. Thursday mornings are set aside for Rifle, Parachute, and Meeker area visitations. Finally, Fridays are set apart for the parishioners in the Debeque, Palisade, Clifton, and east Grand Junction areas.
Rifle and Glenwood Springs meet on Wednesday or Thursday for the church board once a month (ish).
And that's how I do it!
Just Kidding, There's More
Two of my churches are constituents for a local community service center and a local Private Christian School. This means I get to serve at these places on the board of directors once a month. I have a passion for ministry to youth and children, so I pray with the teachers at the school twice a week before classes start and sing and speak for their Friday chapels about once a month when school is in session. For the local community service center, I also lead the morning worship for the volunteers once a month.
As happens in ministry, there is always something unexpected going on. A mission trip send-off here, a conflict management there. You know. Ministry stuff.
I've mentioned it on occasion; really, the struggle of being a pastor is less time management and more task management. Many of us experience burnout in ministry (and life) because we forget this one truth is non-negotiable.
There will never be enough time to meet all the demands of the modern church. We can schedule till every last minute of our day is occupied, but there will still be more. The most successful pastors and ministers have learned the value of delegation and trusting your team. This is important, but a mountain of needs will still be there, no matter how good your team is. At the end of the day, what will have mattered most is how well you and your team were able to prioritize the needs at hand. Maybe that will be a blog for another time, but for now, I think it's enough to say this. We need to glorify busy pastors less and cherish efficiency more.
If you don't want your pastor or elder to burn out, recognize that some problems can wait. Some things that seem so large to us are often just another drop in the bucket of ministry. This is where the pastor needs to be responsible in taking the tasks and schedules to God in preparation informed by prayer.
That's how I'm doing it.
Before I sign off, I want to take a moment to celebrate my family. I have an intelligent and beautiful wife with two little girls to match. I love them. I mentioned earlier that I like to take some time to relax with them on sabbath afternoons/evenings. I also take Monday off as a day to not worry about work (pastorate is work. I will gladly fight you on it). Sometimes I take my girls to the park to give Emily some needed respite; other times, we go out and do something special. Wednesday mornings are slow, and I enjoy some time with them as well. I do my best to never be too busy to stop what I'm doing and listen to my daughter when she wants to show me something. And I am happy about that.
I find lots of joy in knowing I get an opportunity to be more available for my kids than most other parents do. I have sacrificed a few "pressing anxieties" in ministry to just listen to her little voice tell me all about some ladybug she found. It's worth it. I grew up hearing way too many fathers lament the years they didn't get to watch their children grow. There will always be something that needs the pastor's attention, but my daughters will only be kids once. I think I know what priority I'm putting at the top of my task management.
How do I pastor so many churches?
Sometimes I Don't
-pastor eli
*In light of several comments made during my mid-year newsletter, I'd like to point out: Rifle, Palisade, and Fruita churches each have elders conducting regular visitations. A special thank you to Elder Dave Bottroff, Elder Curtis Strain, Elder Jensen, Elder Don Nicolay and Elder Steve Maybon, who have all accompanied me or agreed to accompany me on visitations in addition to the visitation work they are conducting themselves for their Church community, keeping the family of Christ in close fellowship.
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