Sometimes people will ask me, “What do pastors do all week?” Afterall most people only see pastors on a Sunday morning but what about the rest of the week? Surely pastors can’t work on sermons all week, right? I have found this proverb to be helpful:
Proverbs 17:24, “Wisdom is in the presence of the one who has understanding, but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.”
The easiest thing to do as a pastor is chase after the “squeaky wheel.” There’s always a fire to put out. There’s always something that is broken that needs to be fixed. Sometimes a pastor could spend their whole week being really busy and being busy. Here are some areas I have found helpful to focus on:
- Sermon Preparation: I spend about 10 hours a week on a sermon (2 hours a day.) I have never preached a sermon and thought, “There is nothing else to study about this passage.” I could easily spend 40 hours a week on a sermon. It’s fun studying God’s Word and crafting God’s Word into a sermon but early on I prayed, “Father, help me to trust you to show up through my 10 hours of preparation.”
- Leadership Development: I spend about 10 hours a week on leadership development. This includes meeting with new people, elders, volunteers, staff and setting aside time to think about where those people are and how to help them grow in Christ.
- Vision: I spend about 2 hours a week working on our vision as a church family and how our church is moving toward our vision.
- Meeting with People: I spend about 10 hours a week meeting with people.
- Reading: I try to read a book a week. A number of years ago I read a book called, “How To Read A Book.” Isn’t that a funny title? The author gave the encouragement that not every book is worth reading word for word, so most of the time I try to read books as fast as I can, so I can come across the books that are worth reading word for word.
- Prayer: I do my own devotional time before I come to work. Some pastors make their sermon prep their devotional time and sermon prep is personal for me but it’s always been important for me to keep these two separate so that I don’t blur my relationship with God and my vocation as a pastor. I typically spend about 2 hours a week in prayer.
- Administrative: There are a lot of administrative tasks. It might be sending emails, texts, blogs, phone calls, or organizing information. I set aside 4 hours a week for administrative tasks. Our new admin role at NVC has greatly reduced those hours, which I am very thankful for.
- Ministry: Most people work 40 hours at work and then volunteer additional hours for ministry, so in the same way, I try to work a 40 hour work week as a pastor and then the time I spend with neighbors, outreach, community group, or in the community are considered ministry hours. This changes every semester but typically takes 8-12 hours in the week.
Each semester I create a weekly schedule and plug in when and where I will work on those areas listed above. It’s something I have done early on in ministry and found it to be really helpful.
As a pastor, most of the work is spiritual or abstract in nature. It isn’t often that I have the satisfaction of creating a “product” and seeing if that product was “successful” or not. Therefore, having the structure of a schedule to know where I want to work, how I want to work and when I want to work provides the freedom to know when I can stop working.
It doesn’t mean I will stop working as a pastor for the day but it means I will stop working on North Village Church things for the day. I will meet with friends. I will find a way to rest and relax. I will spend time with my family. And I will trust the Lord to do His work in me and through me for another day.
North Village Church
This article was written by Pastor Michael Dennis, Lead Pastor at North Village Church; a non-denominational church in Austin, TX, established in 2009 and built around Jesus and Bible teaching.
Are you looking for a church in Austin? At North Village Church we put Jesus at the center of our church family. We worship together every Sunday at 10:30am, encourage Christ centered fellowship through groups, and host special events such as Bible studies and Theological Training, to ensure that we are rooted in in God’s Word. We also serve our local community in association with several Austin based organizations.
North Village Church is made up of professionals, married couples, singles, and families who are wanting to experience the life-transforming power of Jesus. If you are a family with children or teens, we can support you with either or both our Kids Ministry and Youth Ministry.
Check out our North Village Church calendar highlights such as our Christmas Eve Service in Austin and Easter Sunday Service.
You are welcome to contact us if you would like more information, please call (512)-623-9272 or email [email protected]
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