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Got a Moment, Pastor?
Do you approve the minutes of the meetings God arranges for you?
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A day at the office for Richard almost always started the same way. Parking in the space marked "Pastor Richard Wolf," he would enter the administrative suite through a limited-access back door, head for the desk of his assistant and place his Palm Pilot in a hot sync cradle cabled to her computer. A beep confirmed that the latest version of his schedule was downloading. With a cup of coffee, he would walk swiftly to his office and shut the door. He'd learned that if you moved fast, kept your eyes down as if deep in thought, people would leave you alone. This "I'm carrying the weight of the world; don't interrupt me" posture had lately become a trademark. At his desk Wolf would examine the freshened PDA for the contours of his day. One Monday morning he muttered a bad word when he studied the Palm Pilot and saw that every hour had been crammed with administrative meetings and staff appointments. He said the same word again when he realized that every other day of the week was similarly crowded. His over-the-top reaction (for him anyway) reflected promises he'd made to his wife and son at breakfast. He committed himself to an afternoon with her to see the fall foliage. He'd assured his middle-school son that he'd be at a Thursday afternoon soccer game. But the Pilot had laid claim to these hours, and the family things weren't going to happen after all. Everyone owns a piece of me, he mused that morning. When did this stop being fun? Anyone reading his thoughts would know there's trouble building in Richard Wolf's soul. But with whom do senior pastors share such thoughts? Seven years earlier, a younger Richard Wolf had preached his first sermon to a congregation of a couple hundred. His manner had been appealing, and before long, the congregation had begun to grow. With growth had come building programs, an enlarging staff of ministry specialists, and a multi-layered organization of ministries and programs. Along came invitations for Richard to speak at schools and conferences. Once upon a time, Richard had been accessible; his home phone number had been listed in the bulletin. He was approachable, visible at most church functions. In those days, the church literature designated him "Pastor." But now, years later, the literature called him Senior Pastor. Someone noting this had said—kidding, of course—"You can see a pastor any time, but you have to make an appointment to see a senior pastor: on his time and on his turf." The schedule for the Monday that elicited the wicked words, for example, included a strategic planning meeting, a budget session, an appearance at a staff training function, and 15 minutes ("tops!") with the head of the personnel committee. And that was the morning. In the afternoon, he was scheduled to meet with the executive minister on organizational restructure and visit with a furloughed missionary family the church supported. Then, two hours (one hour each) had been set aside for two staff pastors who were upset about a proposed revision in the reporting structure. Or was it really their spouses that were upset by what smelled like a demotion? |
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