{"id":5687,"date":"2009-09-22T13:39:44","date_gmt":"2009-09-22T13:39:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/jesuscreed\/2009\/09\/the-pastors-schedule-jim-marti.html"},"modified":"2009-09-22T13:39:44","modified_gmt":"2009-09-22T13:39:44","slug":"the-pastors-schedule-jim-marti","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2009\/09\/the-pastors-schedule-jim-marti.html","title":{"rendered":"The Pastor’s Schedule: Jim Martin Advises"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"JimMartin.jpg\"<\/span>Recently we had a conversation about the pastor’s time schedule, and Jim Martin, a friend, posted a comment I thought deserved a separate post. So here it is…<\/i><\/div>\n

<\/i><\/div>\n

This is such an important concern. Working with a church can eat you
\nalive without the kind of boundaries talked about in the above
\ncomments. <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
A couple of suggestions:
\n1. There is not end or completion to this work. Consequently, you must
\nset boundaries. You may work all day and then it is reasonable to be
\nhome in the evenings. <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
2. Put all commitments on your calendar.
\nAppointments, children’s ball games, dates with wife, coffee with a
\nfriend. Someone asks are you busy, “Well I’ve got a commitment at 3:00
\nbut I am happy to visit with you at 4:00, etc. Treat your family
\ncommitments like any other commitment. <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
3. Cluster meetings, counseling
\nif at all possible. There are some people who just can’t meet with you
\nduring daytime working hours. I will often get together with them on
\nSunday afternoon. I will also use the 2:00-4:00 for meetings. So I
\nmight have a meeting and then fifteen minutes later meet a couple for
\nsomething that is more counseling in nature. I have done this for years
\nand it has really helped eliminate the need to be gone one more
\nevening. <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
4. Set your schedule by being proactive instead of being reactive. You
\ndecide when you are going to the hospital or when you are going to
\nstudy. Some pastors will flinch at the slightest bit of criticism “Well
\nour last pastor was at the hospital so much that the staff knew him by
\nhis first name.” Some might hear this and think they are supposed to
\nimmediately rush to the hospital because of a veiled criticism. <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
5. You
\nwill have emergencies. There have been a number of times that I have
\ndropped everything that I was doing to rush to the hospital. A serious
\ncar wreck. A massive heart attack and the person is near death. A drug
\noverdose. Bottom line: Be intentional and do the work. Set boundaries
\nand know this is right. On the other hand, try to please everyone and
\ndo everything that everyone would like to see you do and you will end
\nup totally exhausted and a poor model of what it means to live a
\nbalanced life. <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Recently we had a conversation about the pastor’s time schedule, and Jim Martin, a friend, posted a comment I thought deserved a separate post. So here it is… This is such an important concern. Working with a church can eat you alive without the kind of boundaries talked about in the above comments.  A couple…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":70,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pastoring-and-leading","category-pastoring-and-preaching"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Pastor's Schedule: Jim Martin Advises - Jesus Creed<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2009\/09\/the-pastors-schedule-jim-marti.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Pastor's Schedule: Jim Martin Advises - Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Recently we had a conversation about the pastor’s time schedule, and Jim Martin, a friend, posted a comment I thought deserved a separate post. So here it is… This is such an important concern. 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