Daves Rave

Breaks

Planning Family Holidays: There are three lengths of family holidays all of which have differing benefits depending on the situation.

1 Week: Really this is the least valuable. There is nearly as much work that goes into preparing to be away for one week as there is for being away for three and it hardly ever delivers clear head space; all too soon next week is coming round. If you are taking a week off don’t spend it at home unless your agenda is painting the house etc. If you want any sort of break then away from the phone/computer etc is the best way to go.

2 Weeks: In my opinion the two week holiday is good but not great. It provides a long enough break to catch up on some sleep, unwind and spend time with the family. However once your through the first week your mind begins turning all too quickly to work again. In my opinion the best option is the …

3 weeks: Three weeks is a long holiday. You are able to strike a balance between activity and rest. Going back to work is so far away in the first week you can completely relax and that feeds well into the second and third week. It also takes about the same amount of work to organise in terms of someone covering your preaching etc. One way of securing the three week break without taking three weeks off is for one of the weeks to be a study break.

Planning Get-a-Ways with your wife: It’s worth planning a couple of Get-a-Ways a year. A Get-a-Way is when you leave around lunch spend two nights away and you are back by lunch on the third day. This is a great opportunity to reconnect without the kids.

For Young families before School Age: Have a week-end. Go to a caravan park etc for Friday and Saturday. Make sure there’s plenty for the family to do and kick back.

Brainstorming and Retreat Days or half-days: I’m trying to have a brainstorming day at the beginning of every month to look at what coming up in church and to think about issues concerned with church so as to deal with them in a reflective and pro-active way instead of being reactive. The Retreat Days are more a matter of reflecting of where I am with God, family and church. Retreat half or full days should not be task oriented. Put that off to the brainstorming session.

Weeks off preaching: Part of our job should be raising up others to preach (2 Tim 2.2). Having some weeks interspersed throughout the year where this can take place offers the possibility of having some clear brain time.

Long Service Leave: The reason for Long Service Leave is so you can have a break from the pattern of work spend time away and be more effective in ministry when you return. I’ve found that while I don’t necessarily do a lot of thinking about church while I’m a way I’m better able to see church with fresh eyes when I return. I’m not so committed to the way things have been.

Spacing of Breaks The big issue that goes with having breaks is the spacing. I think the best way to do this is to work on a period of 6-7 weeks between breaks. The big idea is this, by managing yourself well you will have more energy and enthusiasm in between.

When Planning your breaks goes hand in hand with planning your work year and so needs to begin sooner rather than later. October/November might seem a long way away but the better planning the better the anxiety that comes from trying to do things the last minute. So put in your breaks in a year planner first in pencil and then begin to fill out the year. Church Camp, Training Days, Church meals etc. Then you need to be thinking about your preaching programme. What issues need to be raised? Which books of the Bible fit that need? Do you need to do a Topical series this year? How long will the series be? There is no reason why you can’t begin breaking a book up into preachable sections and fitting them into a term programme or playing around with the series title or sermon titles or big ideas. You will need to set some time aside for this, but any work done here will save an enormous amount of time then and mean that you will be able to help many others align their ministries with yours.

Developing Healthy Patterns

If you’re going to develop healthy patterns in Ministry you need to develop a healthy weekly pattern and a healthy monthly pattern and a healthy term pattern. This all helps to develop a balanced yearly pattern.

So here are some issues to consider: If you don’t have some margins in your week when the unplanned happens you will stress yourself out. If you develop a weekly programme with no space what happens when there is a death or crisis in the congregation? If you have no space in your week what will happen if there is a brilliant opportunity that comes your way? You need to have margins in your week so as to be flexible while still being organised. Ministry needs to be both flexible and structured, too much of one and ministry suffers.

Here are some things you need to slot into your week.

• A date with your wife.
• Time with the kids.
• When will you do family devotions? Which meal is best?
• When will you pray with your wife? (This all changes as the kids grow up)
• When will you spend time with God?
• Reading time – one of the worst tendencies in ministry is to finish college and stop reading. You need to develop some sort of reading programme.
• Sermon Preparation – I think it is best to develop a pattern of Sermon preparation where the talk is done by at least Friday. Remember, if you have spent significant time working out the preaching programme the year before and if you have written Bible studies for that term you have already done significant work on the text. Developing the pattern of finishing the sermon early in the week frees up the rest of the week in really significant ways. It also means that you have Saturday free to spend with your family. This is especially and issue when the kids are at school. I just don’t get guys spending Saturday for preparation for Sunday.
• Bible Study group – you should be leading or in at least one. One important issue with all Bible Study groups is that they should break for school holidays. This gives everyone a break and means that when your kids are home from school you have some free time for them.
• Visiting/mentoring/Training Administration – At this point it would be appropriate to put in a plug for Dave Allen’s Getting Things Done. Lots of guys are fairly weak when it comes to admin so a book like GTD is really healpful. My only qualification is that there is a spiritual danger in getting things done, you feel like you are in control and you can become inflexible. Having said that there is a lot to be said for being on top of things. GTD really is a must read.

How many nights out a week or a month? There is value in having one night that you put the regular church meetings on – Session, Committee of Management etc. If that can be co-ordinated with Presbytery as well it means you have simplified your diary.

Planning around a term also helps you break the year into blocks that are manageable. If you’re writing the Bible studies for the church working that into the term programme so that you are free from preaching that week will make life a lot more bearable. If you’ve done the work of planning out the year then you will need to review the plan for the term ahead.

Planning requires time especially if you’re going to involve other people in the task so being clear about what needs to happen and when it needs to happen will distress your life.

Let me once more put in a plug for GTD and particularly the section that deals with projects. This process is outlined in an attachment at the back.

Stay tuned for part 2: planning your breaks.

Last night about 50 of the family at Abbotsford got together and had lamb kebabs. Then we listened to Mark 14-16.8 and the Lord’s Supper. Somehow the messiness works – kids everywhere, food on the table etc. God in Christ meets us right where we are, rather than when we’ve had a chance to clean our life and make them presentable and controlled.

Today at scripture I read the 4th class the section from The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe that dealt with Aslan’s dying and rising from the dead. They sat and listened with rapt attention and then we talked about Jesus’ death and resurrection. A half hour lesson isn’t long after you’ve settled them down but this one went well.

Yesterday the two congregations that meet together at Abbotsford Five Dock voted to amalgamate. Six months ago we weren’t even thinking about moving but in six months the Lord has taken us to a new place and is building a new congregation. For Central Sydney I think it has stretched us in wonderful ways. I’m looking forward to what will happen next.

This is Dave’s blog and even though he hasn’t written any posts yet I have written some for him!