The pastor's schedule

You don't have any time set aside for dealing with in fighting and bickering between members. That is obviously going to take up most of your time! :laugh:

 

Looks good to me. Everyone has their own schedule that best gets them through the week.

One thing that has helped me in my day off (tuesday) is to that my wife has veto power over any activity on that day (obviously other than church emergencies).

One other thing that has helped me is to have consistent office hours.

 

Build in weekly time for reading as far as "professional development" is concerned. Be always reading a book on pastoral ministry, theology, church history, biblical studies, the languages, preaching, leadership, evangelism, etc. When I had a week that there was no service (say, no Wed service or no PM service or a guest speaker in the AM), I used that time to double up for long-range sermon planning (something else that needs in the schedule) and for study such as I'm suggesting.

 

Where is your family time and date night with your wife? If you want to have a good ministry, it is CRITICAL that you and your wife have alone time to build your marriage without talking about church, church events, church members, or having your personal cell phone on date night "just in case" a church member needs you instead.

If you have children, or plan to, your wife will need time for herself or she will soon start feeling like a single parent.

Please don't think I'm being overly critical here because I'm coming at this from a pastor's wife viewpoint. My dh is a full time pastor and also works full time in a secular job, so I know how important this is. Brother, you have something for church planned every single day of the week except for Monday, your day off. Even Saturday and Sunday is for ministry including having people in your home. I hope you have your evenings free to spend time at home with your family, otherwise, they will be getting the short end of the stick. I'd have a specified evening just for "marriage time" and let the church know not to disturb you then unless it's a life or death matter.

 

What are you doing to train people in your congregation to do some of the ministry?

 

Let me also add you should be reading a book on preaching regularly. Once a quarter at minimum. Preferably, once a month.

 

I can't believe this hasn't already been asked, but where is the time slot for 18 holes of golf? Also there is no mention of weekly fishing time! That should go under Saturday visitation time. Just name your boat "Visitation" that way when anyone calls your wife can tell them "you're on visitation!":thumbs:

Now I did like this:

But I call it sitting on my deer stand!:smilewinkgrin:

All kidding aside, your schedule looks fine. The main thing with any ministry schedule is to be as consistent as you can be with it. That benefits you in terms of not getting bogged down, and benefits your people in that most learn to respect your schedule.

Do you have a set day in your schedule in which you are available for counseling?

 

From personal experience... be sure to schedule your personal, marital and family devotional times. i learned early how easy it is to let these slip. i tried fitting these in when i could. they all too often slipped through the cracks. make these nonnegotiable as much as possible so your home is your sanctuary for yourself and your family. pastoral ministry can be hard on you and your family

 

How could/should this or any other schedule be modified for a bi vo?

 

It will depend on your work schedule. For me, my employer allows me to work four (4) 10 hour days with taking Mondays off. My schedule will be the following:

Monday -- OFF from both places (Family Day)
Tuesday - Friday 7 am to 5 pm with employment
Tuesday evening -- study for Wednesday evening/Business meetings (monthly)
Wednesday evening -- Prayer meeting
Thursday evening -- Studying
Friday evening -- Date night with my wife
Saturday morning -- Family time
Saturday afternoon/evening -- Preparing for Sunday (SS and Morning Service)
Sunday -- Preach/Teach SS and Morning Service
Sunday afternoon -- Rest for about an hour and prepare for Sunday Evening
Sunday evening -- meetings at 6:00 at times and service starts at 7:00.

What I have to realize is that I cannot do everything that a full-time pastor does or what the church expects me to do. I have been here for almost 5 years and have yet been able to work on updating the constitution. Typically, for studying, I preach through a series of messages so each Sunday I have an idea what I will be preaching on. With SS, we are currently going through the book of I Timothy, but it is a Bible Study format not a preaching format.

Sunday evenings, is also a Bible Study format where we will discuss a passage or I will do a power point using questions with multiple choice answers. This way, the whole congregation, even the kids, will be involved and try to guess each answer.

Hope this helps.

 

I privately keep up with my hours as a means of keeping my work week within reasonable limits. My goal is to work between 40 to 45 hours per week, Sunday - Thursday. If I have to work on Friday or Saturday I compensate for those extra hours on another day. There were a few weeks in this past year where I put in over 50 hours. And, when I'm gone too much you can be sure that my wife lovingly reminds me that I have a family to serve too. I know many pastors who put in way more hours than I do and are very successful in the ministry. Long hours can produce quicker results. But, I often wonder about the costs to their marriages, their health (physically and spiritually), etc.

 

Not if you delegate.

 

Finally, irrefutable, indisputable proof in black and white of what I've always known and suspected...

FULL TIME MINISTERS DO ABSOLUTELY NOTHING YET ALWAYS COMPLAIN THEY ARE ALWAYS BUSY!

I laugh in the face of your schedules!!!
I'm going to print this out immediately and save it in my archives!

 

That's right, we only work for one or two hours on Sunday. The rest of the time we play golf and eat donuts with the cops.

 

That is just hilarious. I just spent about an hour in my office this morning with two of our local deputies eating donuts and drinking coffee! :laugh:

 

That is true of anyone who lives for time and not eternity. Someone who lives to the glory of God knows when He must take time to seek God rather than visit men.

 

Awesome, I also work 4-10 hour days!

This gives me a good starting point, but I would need some visitation in there and really don't know how I can get complete a day off. Haven't had a scheduled day off in years.

 

I have the same problem about visitation. That is where I depend on my congregation to step up. That's not easy because of expectations.

On Monday's, I make it a point not to go to the church and work. That is usually a day when my wife and I go places she needs to go. Also, if there are any doctor's appts, we try to make it on that day.