Lesson 15. Find your weekly "release" and guard it against all else.

All working people need a release- something that allows them to get away from the frustrations and stresses of the work week and focus on something completely and totally different. A release gives every part of your body a break- your mind, your emotions, even your physical body. It also gives you something to look forward to, a "goal" that you "earn" each week after 5 days of the 9-5.

This is just as true for ministers, if not more sometimes. For ministers, our job spans multiple environments. When we're at the church, we're on the job. When we're at home we're on the job. When we're out with family or friends, or even just out by ourselves...sadly, we're "on call." There are jobs like this, too. My uncle Bobby was a claims adjuster for Union Pacific, and phone calls in the middle of the night were simply part of the job. Ministry is no different...even Youth Ministry. The flip side of really "being there" for your teenagers is that once they trust you enough, there is no time that they won't call you. And don't think I'm complaining...I'm not at all. I enjoy being there for my junior high kids, day and night. I really truly do. But you must be prepared to be on call 24/7.

THAT being said...ministers need a release each week. Some ministers I know go golfing...some fish...some simply work around the house. My release is a little different. It's a combination of two of my very favorite things: running and Seinfeld. I run each day after work, letting everything from the day work its way out of my mind. Then, each night, from 10-10:30, I set aside these special 30 minutes for the greatest TV show ever, Seinfeld. With these two things in place, I make it through my week.

Let nothing take away your release. You must guard it-pardon the pun-religiously. Your brain and your body truly need these releases to get away from the day to day trials. Let nothing, except emergencies where you are certainly needed, take these away. And if things come up that require your presence (funerals, hospital needs, etc) find time to make up for your release time. It really is that important.

When you enjoy your free time, you enjoy your job. :)

Lesson 14. Summer Camp

Greg’s Top 20 Things to Make a Great Youth Camp (after 14 years, 30+ weeks at 3 different camps, and holding every position imaginable)

1. Hand-picked staff, as opposed to a blanket sign-up sheet. Sign-up sheets are for campers, NOT staff
2. Meaningful worship times that are truly separate from the other activities (sports, crafts, etc)
3. Each director/leader/head counselor knows his or her role specifically and what they are responsible for
4. LOTS of prayer before and during camp!
5. Options during free time (pick-up sports, outdoor activities, crafts, cards and games, etc…otherwise kids will sleep or just sit in their bunks)
6. A very full schedule, but with enough time for each activity to be enjoyed and time allotted for transition between activities
7. Strong song leaders
8. Dynamic speakers (I’m available most weeks…haha, just kidding)
9. A consistently positive staff who are always pumped about camp every day (even when they’re dog tired) Tired and cranky staff bring about tired and cranky kids
10. Good weather…
11. A location that (after several years) becomes a part what camp is all about…familiar buildings, food, staff, etc. LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION…the kids will subconsciously associate location with everything about camp…smells, buildings, trails, etc. You move locations, you have start over…trust me I know
12. TRADITIONS…probably the MOST IMPORTANT…start them now. Songs, cheers…give everything a name. Familiarity gives kids something to look forward to each year. They come back to experience what they enjoyed the year before
13. ADVERTISING…posters, flyers, banners…getting the kids excited well in advance…and don’t disappoint
14. the more the merrier…we brought 184 kids and 50 staff from 10 different churches last year. Our church alone brings 75 kids
15. familiar people…give alumni and former campers-turned-counselors a chance to be at camp and talk about their memories
16. GOOD FOOD…we left our first camp in OK because the food was worse than the Harding cafeteria…kids and esp STAFF will always come back for good food. The place we’re at now has ham and cheese croissants, chicken enchiladas, and freshly grilled hamburgers (on a charcoal grill!)
17. DYNAMIC PRAISE…can’t say it enough. You MUST have strong song leaders and dynamic speakers who will leave an impact
18. Variety/Talent Show…always a plus for kids to show off their talents. But keep it clean, efficient, and select the acts before they go on
19. A leadership that gets along like old buddies…A leadership that LIKES each other will show in every aspect of camp, and the kids can tell, too
20. A camp SEPARATE FROM THE WORLD…take cell phones, mp# players, iPods, radios, computers…etc AWAY from kids for the whole week. They’ll kick and scream…too bad. Keep the worldly stuff out for a week and watch God go to work!

Lesson 13. Seeing the inner workings of a church on a daily basis can be frustrating, eye-opening, and just downright scary.

Most people see their church with rose-tinted glasses. Everyone gets along, we're growing in numbers, the youth group is baptizing teens left and right, the money is good, the preaching is good, we're set for the future...that's how most people see the church they attend. And for the most part, that's a good thing. I'm good with that. The inner workings and "behind the scenes" should not worry or concern them. We pay people to worry about all of the stresses and crises and to attend frustrating meetings and see the true state of the church and wear a smile on Sunday.

They're called ministers.

Now, before I go on, let me say the above is a little blunt and stretched on purpose. Let me also say that I still love going to work (almost) every day; I love my church, my congregation, my fellow ministers all very much. (and this post has a happy ending, too) It's just that, let's face it, when you work FOR a church, instead of simply attending a church, you get to see all the scary details behind the happy=g0-lucky exterior. Kind of like seeing someone without their make-up on for the first time.

Yeesh.

There a lot of things at any church that are in need of repair, of fixing, of being thrown out and started over. You can never fix them all, but if you're going to grow, like my church is currently doing at a blessedly rapid rate, you need to have some good solid systems in place to accomodate that. Let's just say...

We need some work. As does any church. I guess today it just really came to my attention all the pressing and urgent needs of our congregation that MUST be addressed if we want to continue to grow successfully.

I say all of that to say this...one of the biggest lessons you will learn (and you hear it in class all the time but you MUST realize you can't really prepare for it) is that you need to GET READY to see a side of your church you didn't know existed. And no, I don't mean that everyone is a two-faced evil monster and the church is really out to steal and plunder...I simply mean that the "business" and "day to day" side of a church is never as pretty as what everyone sees on Sundays. Churches deal with people...and that means it can't be pretty and happy all the time. There are hurts and wants and needs and finances and budgets and compromises and meetings and tough decisions and hurt feelings and the realities of God's Kingdom in a world that must still pay taxes, pay a mortgage, water and electricity bills, and all of the eccentrities that come with it.

But when it's all said and done...what really matters most, more than buildings or meetings or budgets or frustrating office work...is PEOPLE. God's people. And when you're a minister...you get to work with and for God's people, every day.

You share in their struggles and rejoice in their successes. You're there for weddings, funerals, birthdays, youth events, births, life-changing events...everything that really MATTERS, you are privileged to be present. To stand up and proclaim the Word of God to His people. To sing songs with young people every Sunday night as you minister to them by simply being their for them. To go on trip after trip in the summer and make an impact on others as well as yourself. That's what you get to do, as a job, a career...

Because God has called you to it. And there's no better job in the world than to be a minister.

One minister's opinion, anyway :-)

Lesson 12. There are those days...and then there are those other days.

Maybe it was because I had coffee at my breakfast meeting that morning. Maybe it was because I hadn't gotten much sleep the night before. Whatever it was, Wednesday morning in the office was, for me, incredibly slow. I couldn't seem to focus on anything, my hands were shaky, my mind (and probably my heart) were racing...I was fidgety, couldn't sit still, and I could only see negatives. My office wasn't organized, other churches had better websites, we need more ministry staff, and I wasn't getting enough people-interaction in my job. I love being around people and interacting, talking with them...but here I was, day after day, sitting in my office, doing...busy work? Had I chosen the right job? Should I be a teacher? Was I stuck here?

Thankfully, a sandwich from Quizno's calmed me down and I actually got some work done that afternoon, before meeting with one of our teenagers who had some relationship issues on his mind, grabbing a bite to eat, and then facing twenty-something 7th and 8th graders to discuss "Where did evil come from?" in our Wednesday night discussion class (which is probably the best part of my week). The difference before lunch and after lunch in terms of my demeanor is staggering.

I say all that to say this: Just because you have days where you think you've completely chosen the wrong job...doesn't mean you've completely chosen the wrong job. In fact, it means you're probably pretty normal. There are part of all jobs you won't like...even in ministry. No job is perfect, every day has its ups and downs, and there will always, ALWAYS be experiences that snap you out of it and remind you why you answered God's call to ministry in the first place. Trust me. And when those things happen...it's really good. :)

So, for goodness sake...don't drink coffee on an empty stomach in the morning, go to bed at a reasonable hour, and if all else fails...grab a Chicken Carbonara sandwich from Quizno's. They're pretty much fantastic.

Lesson 11. The hardest and most out-of-nowhere calls will always come when you are the only one in the office!

Somehow, everyone in the office conspired to be gone at the same one-hour block of time today...just so I could take an unexpected phone call. I think it was a planned event. Our secretary was buying office supplies, our Senior Minister was picking up his parents, and our other Associate Minister was out to lunch. Which left...me...to answer the phone and hear a very pleasant but frazzled lady explain that she needed someone to babysit for her and her husband. They both work 2:30-11:30 M-W, she as a 911 Dispatcher and he as a Sheriff's Deputy. Public servants, indeed! They had visited our church before, and her parents were members of a church of Christ in a nearby city.

What do I say? I certainly wasn'y going to say "No, can't help you. Feel free to come by anytime on Sunday for one of our worship services..." yeah right. That would be blatant hypocrisy! I told her I'd see what I could do and get back to her. I plan to bring it before our elders at our meeting tomorrow night to see what their recommendations are. I really want this opportunity to reach out to this woman and her family...but I'm not sure exactly how to go about doing that. I realized instantly that I was the first voice she heard from this church...I was the frontman, the first line...I was, in essence, Jesus answering the phone. Her impressions and views of our church all hung in the balance starting the instant I picked up that phone.

Looking back, I'm a little overwhelmed. I pray God will guide me, and our ministry staff, as we try to help this woman. I wish I knew more of what to say, more ways to answer her question without having to "get back to her"...because I'm sure she gets that a lot. I just pray our church can be a help to her burdens.

So remember...when everyone leaves, be prepared to answer that phone!

Lesson 10. THY, not my, will be done...and especially on Sunday!

This past Sunday was a frustrating day for me...and I truly brought it upon myself. It was sort of the first Sunday that really felt like a "work day" instead of "the Lord's Day." Those of you involved in full-time ministry work can probably relate to this. I slept in a little too late that morning and stayed out a little too late the night before. Thus, I arrived to church a little later than I like. I didn't as much prep time in before teaching the class that morning, and I felt rushed and stressed during worship. What should have been time devoted solely and completely to God was spent, instead, going over all the things I still had to do that afternoon. Meetings, things to type, people to call...and, namely, the youth-led worship service for that evening we still had yet to plan, including my half of the sermon!

I spent most of Sunday fretting, feverishly putting together a rather sloppy lesson outline discussing how children should honor their parents (like they've never heard that before), and thinking mean thoughts about our young men who were helping with the evening service as the clock ticked past 6:00 pm and they had yet to show up. All in all, I did a pretty lousy job of being not just a minister, but a Christian...and on the Lord's Day of all days!

Instead, the worrisome day I had envisioned in my mind turned out to be wonderful in terms of what was done on God's behalf. While I was worried about things being done the way I wanted them and on my schedule, God was busy helping our young men lead our congregation in a beautiful evening worship service filled with songs, prayer, and Scripture. My hastily-compiled lesson (while I never condone under-preparedness...after all, God loves a prepared speaker) went smoothly and easily (so it was obviously not me doing the talking!), and at the end of the day I looked back on a day that, in essence, sums up what is probably a normal day for most of us Christians out there:

While we're busy worrying, fretting, stressing, and ____-ing (you fill in the blank), God is busy in the background, forming things to His blessed will, and quite frankly not really paying attention to what we're worrying about...which is probably a good thing. If only we could learn from the Master, think how much more we could accomplish for Him on a daily basis!

So, lesson this Sunday...let go, and let God.

Lesson 9. Elders' Meetings are intense, encouraging, funny, and long...all at the same time.

I attended my first elders' meeting last night as a minister. I've sat in on parts of other meetings, but this was the first one I stayed in for the whole time...over 3 hours! It was a time of fellowship, encouragement, prayer and intense discussion. After listening to the things going on within our church family (hurts, praises, concerns, sickness, etc) I felt better informed and empowered as a minister to encourage and really do the ACT of "ministry" to our congregation. I'm blessed with my job position to work not just with the Junior High, but with the church as a whole really, through Involvement and Children's Ministries as well.

I'm blessed to work under a terrific eldership, men who care deeply about our church family, reaching the lost, and abiding by God's Word. Praise God!