One of my great hopes is to not get caught up in the busy loop. You know the one, where you ask someone how they’re doing and they say, oh, busy, and you say, oh, me too. (Is this because we have a hard time saying, I’m good these days?)
There is never a more alluring time to be this way than Holy Week for pastors. I’m here to say some of that frenzy is real. It’s unusual for me to have three church services in a week, one of them on my standard day off. I am coordinating extra music for Easter Sunday, and making sure we have someone acting as greeter that day. I am updating service times on our website. I am also still teaching my usual piano lessons this week. I’m also pretty sure I’ll be spending time with family on Easter, although they tend to be kind enough to not ask me to bring anything (thanks, family).
My church work will not fit into a 20 hour work week this week and the rest of my life seems a little fuller than normal, too.
But you know, my official church work will only be 30 hours max this week. And then, there’s a week after. Do you think I’m going to be still hustling the week after Easter? No way! I’m going to be working in my garden.
What I’m more concerned about than a busy week is endless busy weeks. In my cheerful, isn’t part-time so great space, I do want to acknowledge that sometimes pastoral ministry just doesn’t scale any smaller. If you’re in a 10 hour a week contract, what do you do with Holy Week? What if two funerals get scheduled back to back? What if your lay leaders are out sick? This can be the reality.
Pastors aren’t alone. It’s important for everyone, full-time, part-time, in ministry or not to know the ebb and flow of their work. My dad worked at a CPA firm for a while. You think pastors are busy this week? Check in on your accountants. Teachers have the seasons of teaching and summer preparation. Fast food employees deal with more customers at the beginning of the month.
For me, it’s about understanding and putting the Holy Week hustle in context. I’m honored to be able to help host services that mark ancient Christian traditions and give folks a chance to experience God anew. Is it more work? Sure, but it won’t last forever. There’s always the next week.
Blessings on your Holy Week.
What I’m reading
I have to admit, this one took me a bit to finish. But once I got into the second half, I raced through Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Children of Time. This is crunchy, crunchy science fiction. There’s some topical overlap if you’ve been interested in recent questions about AI. This book also features genetic engineering, arachnids, and leaders in crisis. (But seriously don’t read it if you don’t like spiders. A necessary content warning.)
Fun things happening after Holy Week
A deep dive about learning how to do online worship from watching gamers on Twitch
Teaching a class for my Association about half-time ministry
Being part of the digital gift bag for the Festival of Homiletics
What life looks like
Banana nut muffins made perfect by a stick and a half of butter