How A Minister Uses Time: Part 1 - Introduction
By Dave Redick
Author's Note: The following presentation was made to our congregation at an evening service. The occasion will become evident as the article is read. Basically, it was written to inform well meaning, but uninformed people about a minister's time use. Since it is a common issue in churches, I have chosen to reprint it here in hope that it will help someone else facing a similar situation. I did my best in the presentation to be "matter of fact" and not emotional. My aim was to take the high road, welcoming the opportunity to speak on a subject that, normally, there is little opportunity to address. There are three parts: This introduction is the first. The second is called "General Areas Where a Minister Spends His Time." The third, which I did not go over, but merely used as a hand-out, is called "How A Sermon Is Prepared." This author claims no corner on the market of wise time use, nor does he hold himself up as any special model. These lessons were presented to deal with a specific situation.
Good evening. I appreciate and welcome the opportunity to speak to you tonight about the special subject of how a minister uses his time. As you may or may not know, I was late getting back from the airport week-before-last due to the storm we were having and I missed the scheduled men's meeting I was to chair. In the course of that meeting the subject was raised and discussed about how ministers in general and I in particular use time each week. The topic grew out of discussion about our hiring of an associate minister to do some of our evangelistic work, particularly following up visitors and delinquent attenders. I believe the question raised was something like, "Why do we need a second man? Why can't Dave take care of these things?" It was a legitimate question and I am glad it was asked. Matter of fact, I'm particularly happy I wasn't present at the meeting, because it gave some of our men who have questions about this an opportunity to discuss something they might not have discussed had I been present.
It is not uncommon for people to have questions about how a minister uses his time. Many of you see me once or maybe twice a week standing up here in front and that is all. You have no way of knowing what else is involved without someone telling you or your following me around. As one man said one time, "What could be easier than speaking once or twice on Sundays, then playing golf the rest of the week?" It really isn't like that. Most ministers I know are as busy or busier than the other working members of their congregations.
You need to understand the difficulty involved in a minister himself speaking about this subject and maybe then you'll see why I welcome this particular opportunity. You see, if I were, out of the blue, to begin telling you Sunday after Sunday all the things I did the week before, it could easily be misconstrued as boasting. Most of us tire quickly of a person who always toots his own horn. In a forum where letting our good works rather than our words glorify God, there really is no place for a minister to give an account. He doesn't punch a time clock. He's paid a salary. Usually he files no reports. So it follows that unless you could somehow go with him, you wouldn't know what it is he does. Until I entered full time ministry in 1977, I had no idea of all that is involved. Understand, then, tonight, the spirit in which I come to you. It is not my intention to boast or toot my own horn. Nor do I want this to be anything negative. I am simply answering the sincere and legitimate questions of some of our men and perhaps even a few more of you
All of us need to realize that a lot of trust is put in the man people call their minister. One wizened preacher once told me that trust and integrity are the coin of the minister's realm. If he has neither, his work will be bankrupt. How true!
When it comes to trust, I have found that there are three kinds of people in the church with regard to this issue of how a minister uses his time. There are those who trust him implicitly and wonder why anyone would ever question his integrity. They usually get their back up in his defense when this issue comes up. Then there are those who are willing to trust as long as they can see reasonable evidence that he does not abuse their confidence in him. Finally, and this is sad but true, there are those who will never trust him no matter how accountable he becomes.
That first group of people who trust him implicitly make a minister's work a joy. I confess that to you. I suspect they are put there by God to keep his spirits up. The second group who expect some reasonable accountability are a great benefit to the church and to the minister because they help him have tangible reasons to maintain a high level of integrity. Accountability is a good thing! A sincere minister should appreciate such people and welcome their questions (as I do tonight.) The third group, usually in the minority, of people who will never trust him no matter how accountable he becomes, well, what should we say about them? The fact that they are in every church probably is an indicator that God considers them necessary. If you'll take this with the levity intended, perhaps it is comparable to the fact that there are mosquitoes or ants at nearly every picnic. God must considers them necessary for something (bless their hearts!) or they wouldn't be there.
Our issue at hand is really no less difficult than the challenge that would come if some of us tried to explain all the things we do in our jobs and professions. The uninitiated might have trouble understanding, looking on from the outside. Take the work of an electrician. It appears to me that all an electrician does is string wires. Suppose I need to install a couple of extra outlets in a hallway. I've never wired anything before, but it couldn't be all that difficult now, could it? Surely I don't want to pay an electrician! Brother Leroy is an electrician. He's done many things here in the church. When it comes to wiring, he does it and he does it right. We appreciate him and his work. But it couldn't be that hard, now could it? It's just a simple matter of connecting things. So I cut a length of wire, pull off the face plate, attach one end, string the wire across the hallway, and hook it in to the new face plate. There! Done! Now I have my new outlet. I repeat the procedure two more times and I'm in business. Why would I ever want to pay an electrician the kind of money electricians make? I can string a wire just like Leroy does. A piece of cake. Of course, brother Leroy might not be too sympathetic toward me when my house burns down! There is a bit more involved than what is evident on the surface.
The same is true with any of our occupations. I could assume that I know enough to run a modern sawmill like brother Amos did for many years because I can run a power saw. I could consider I know enough to drive a modern log truck like Russ and Rollie and others because I can drive a car. I could consider myself to be an advisor to brother Harold who drives a dump truck and a cat because I've pushed a wheel barrow around the back yard and can use a hand shovel. I could consider myself to be an adequate spray technician like Jake because I've pushed the button on the top of a can of Raid. But these things wouldn't be wise.
My point is that most of us don't really know how a modern minister spends his time or what is expected of him, any more than we understand all that is involved in any of the rest of our occupations. It takes some explanation.
You have before you two documents. The first has to do with general areas where a minister spends his time.
The second paper concerns how a sermon is put together. Since this is a minister's foremost responsibility, it should certainly be one of the issues considered. I won't go into great detail in my discussion of this. I do invite you to spend more time looking it over when you get home if you are interested.
As soon as we have those two issues out of the way, I want to address directly a few of the very good and legitimate questions raised in my absence at the last men's meeting.
Finally, I'll give you an opportunity to ask me any questions you might have remaining in your mind.
Outline of Presentation:
1. Go over general areas where a minister spends his time
2. Briefly mention sermon preparation document.
3. Go over specific questions raised in last meeting.
4. Further questions from congregation.
Conclusion
