Rachel Ringenberg Miller explains how pastors fill their work week with various activities that congregants may or may not be aware of, answering the question, “What does my pastor do all day?”
Rachel Ringenberg Miller serves as denominational minister for ministerial leadership for Mennonite Church USA. She focuses on engaging conferences and congregations, providing resources and services to meet the diverse demands facing congregations today. She graduated from Goshen (Indiana) College and Eastern Mennonite Seminary, in Harrisonburg, Virginia, with an MDiv. She served as associate pastor for Portland (Oregon) Mennonite Church and as pastor of Shalom Mennonite Church in Newton, Kansas. Rachel attends Eighth Street Mennonite Church in Goshen, Indiana, a Central District Conference congregation.
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Once, during my congregational ministry days, a regular attendee and former board chair of the congregation came up to me and said, “I don’t know what you do all day. I’m guessing some of what you do involves sermons. Beyond that, I have no idea. But it seems like you are doing a good job.” My response was “… thank you?” Was this a complement? A critique? A combination thereof? To this day, I have no idea. His comment, though, is not an unusual one.
People aren’t always sure what is happening behind the pastor’s office door.
Church goers know something is happening in the church office but are often foggy with the details. Is the pastor reading the Bible? Praying? Scrolling through social media? Looking at job openings? Preparing for a meeting? This not knowing isn’t really a problem, until it is. It’s not a problem, until there is a conflict in the congregation or until there is a budget shortfall, or until attendance drops. You get the idea.
In light of the question, “What does my pastor do all day?” I was intrigued when I came across the following survey result from Barna Group’s 2020 survey and study on the State of Pastor, volume 2. Their survey revealed that, on any given week, Protestant pastors spend 15 hours in sermon prep, seven hours meeting with congregants, 6.5 hours in email or correspondence, four hours meeting with staff, another 6.5 hours leading services and events, and about five hours in some sort of personal development.[1]
From my personal experience, this feels about right. I’ll note if you add up these weekly averages, the result is a 44-hour work week. MC USA’s Pastoral Salary Guidelines list the pastor’s work week as 40 hours. This four-hour difference tells me that pastors are dedicated to their ministry and, on average, go beyond the 40-hour work week.
How a pastor spends their work week depends on what is happening in the congregation and the community. Generally speaking, the pastor’s work week is guided an up-to-date job description. Best practice dictates that the job description should be reviewed by the pastor and congregational leadership on a yearly basis. If your pastor is working without a job description, stop reading and contact your conference minister to help you get started on writing one.
A job description is a basic agreement of pastoral priorities. It is appropriate for the leadership board to ask the pastor about how they spend the work week and what they are prioritizing. I would suggest against asking your pastor to record their hours. Because of the varied work of a pastor, a record of hours doesn’t provide a good sense of the vibrancy of the pastor or your congregation. Instead, ask for one page report from the pastor, to be reviewed at regularly scheduled leadership meetings. The written report provides more details and context than a listing of where hours were spent.
The pastor will find themselves, like all employees, doing things that are not in their job description. Some of these are menial tasks, like arranging chairs for the Ash Wednesday service. Sometimes the pastor’s gifts move them to participate in ministry beyond the congregation. Your pastor might accept a position on a denominational board or be a member of a group advocating for Americans with Disabilities Act compliant playground equipment for children in the community.
If opportunities come up to serve the wider church or community, the pastor and church leadership should discuss whether this new thing fits with the mission and values of the congregation and whether it matches the pastor’s gifts. For example, during my time in pastoral ministry, I have written columns and articles for MC USA publications, served on conference boards, sat on community boards, was an elected official, and partnered with nonprofits. These outside experiences enriched my ministry life and impacted how the congregation saw itself within the varied relationships.
Much of what the pastor does all day also depends on the lifecycle of the congregation, community at large and the church year. Some of the things the pastor does the congregation will be privy to, like the worship service, and other things they may not know about, like the ecumenical bible study.
The crucial piece is that the pastor and congregation communicate expectations, while at the same time allowing for the flexible that comes with living in community.
If you are a congregational member, try asking your pastor something like this on Sunday: “What happened this week that surprised you?” If you are a pastor, don’t be afraid to talk about your workflow with the congregation, whether it’s in Sunday morning conversations, meetings or even during a sermon. Let’s dispel the enigma of what a pastor does all day. It’s not meant to be a mystery.
[1] The Resilient Pastor, Glen Packiam, p. 49.
The views and opinions expressed in this blog belong to the author and are not intended to represent the views of the MC USA Executive Board or staff.
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