Twenty Hours

What kind of expectations can you have for part-time pastors?

There’s this pervasive idea that no one can keep part-time work to just 20 hours a week. I get it—it can be very difficult to prioritize and keep things within what is a fairly compact amount of time.

Get ready: I’ve made pie charts.

These are just some configurations of what my weeks look like. I’ll go into a bit more detail with each, but I want you to know these are truthfully how I am able to organize my week. It also does require the ability to notice things that need to get done and just not do them sometimes.

First up, outreach first.

Outreach first is one of my favorite configurations that comes from a congregation that’s okay with simple worship. You’ll notice the worship preparation is down to a mere five hours for the week. This happens through reusing liturgy, having a four minute sermon, and allowing weekly communion to be the bulk of our worship together. The benefit of this model is all that extra connection with folks outside of the congregation.

This is more of my typical week. Worship takes up more time and much of this comes in the sermon writing category. Full disclosure, for me the writing part is still minimal but this prioritizes time to study, listen to commentaries, and even go on long walks. Visitation is also a fairly dispersed category as this includes texting and calling congregation members.

This is my rarest configuration, but truly would work well for a congregation that is seeking a preacher above all else. Ten hours a week on sermon writing looks like a lot in a twenty hour work week, but isn’t unusual in the broader church world. You’ll notice that a piece that can’t ever entirely go away is administration. This is my catch all for emails, building concerns, minor wider church obligations, and more.

All of these options are just reminders that for me twenty hours of work can be just that—twenty hours. I have to say no to nice church people on occasion, but I don’t have to work full-time for part-time pay. I promise.

What would your pie chart include? Let me know!

What I’m reading

I’m slowly working my way through Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond Productivity Culture by Jenny Odell. I love reading books by collectors of information (see also Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander by Thomas Merton) and Odell is a peak collector. Each chapter is packed full of references and footnotes. It’s like a little adventure to follow them! One of my favorite sidebars has been watching clips from the Charlie Chaplin movie Modern Times. My slow pace of reading also feels appropriate for the content of the book. I highly recommend you join me.

What life looks like

Ohio in the winter

Find me elsewhere!

Find more photos on Instagram and lots of my romance recommendations on Goodreads.