A New View on Church Work...

In the past several days I've come to a conclusion about work in the church.

Previously, I viewed working in the church as sitting in my office, planning events, preparing to teach, reading, praying, etc... Now I have a somewhat differing view of what it means to be at "work."

I was talking with my amazing girlfriend the other night, and she asked me why I refer to my job as going to "work" or being at "work." My answer: because church work is my job. Plain and simple. I love my job. So much of the time we always place a bad stigma on being at "work." The word itself has come to carry a negative connotation. I love my job. I love being at "work." Nonetheless, I think still "work" is the proper label for it.

I do, however, have a different opinion on what it means to be at "work."

I've come to view being at "work" as a lot more than spending time inside the walls of the building where our church meets. The way I see church work is this: The church that hires me (Fair Haven UMC as of right now) gives me the resources to do ministry as I see fit. I am the youth pastor, therefore my primary target is youth. So much of the time we see our pastors as those who minister solely to a congregation. Now, we, as pastors, are definitely that. But we are called to do so much more.

If you've known me for about five minutes you know that one of my favorite television shows is a show called 'SportsNight.' It ran for two seasons on ABC several years ago, and was canceled after the second season. In one of the episodes, titled The Quality of Mercury at 29K, one of the main characters, Dan Rydell, searches for a charity to give some of his disposable income to. At one point during the episode, Dan's broadcast partner, Casey McCall, tells him "You can't fix everything, but you know what you should do? Anything. As much and as often as you can." I think that's the way we should do ministry --"Anything. As much and as often as possible."

We shouldn't restrict ourselves to...well...ourselves. We need to be doing ministry and seeking discipleship as much and as often as we can. In my mind my employer hasn't hired me just to minister to the youth of the church. They've hired me to work along side them in ministering to the community...as much and as often as I can. They've also hired me to sharpen myself as a minister. That means reading, fellowship with other ministers, and other things. By these things I become a better pastor.


God, I pray that you help me to do ministry as much and as often as I am able. Let your name be glorified by what I have done and what I will do. Amen.