“The initial locus and primary focus of [pastors] work is in their offices. Time-management studies again and again have confirmed that pastors invest a large percentage of their time in their offices – in meetings, in doing administrative work, and in taking care of administrative details…Pastors continue to spend so much time their offices because it is a familiar and habitual behavior pattern that has been nurtured and reinforced for many, many years. And the foundation underlying that behavior pattern is an understanding of the nature of leadership that is no longer helpful.”
- Kennon Callahan, Effective Church Leadership
Of course. I wrote this post from my office (which is actually a starbucks).
Ryan said...
1What’s the alternative? I spend probably 30-40% of my week in 1-to-1 conversations with people (church people, community people, etc) but sometimes those evil “meetings” are also opportunities to explore God’s life at work in our communities.
There is another image of “pastor” that I am drawn to and that is pastor as theologian. That requires time reading and thinking and writing. I know of no better place than our “offices”, whether traditional or public places like cafes (I cannot utter the “S” word in public).
I try to evaluate my weeks by seeing if I am balancing time reading, thinking and writing, with time in community with people. I’d like to avoid idealizing either reality.
05/23/09 11:12 AM | Comment Link
Todd said...
2Ryan,
I hear what you are saying but I don’t think you are the kind of person being addressed in this quote. The premise of this is that our pastors have failed to understand that we live in a post-christian world where the role of pastor needs to move from inward focused to a outward focused. Of course, i believe that a pastor needs to do work inside his church, but that work strengthens the church’s witness to those outside of it.
I know you well enough to know that you do a TON of work outside your “office” in the neighborhood with the good of your neighborhood in mind. Some of that outside work might happen from the confines of your office. Again, the larger issue one of mission, not one of location that one works.
This isn’t a call for the pastor to abandon his office totally. An office definitely has its place. And, honestly, i don’t think it really makes one “mission focused” if your office is a room in a church building as opposed to a Starbucks or another cool coffee shop (which we dont have in Bucks County!). That might be a move in the right direction, sure. but i can be just as inward focused in starbucks as i can in my office in my church building.
05/23/09 11:52 AM | Comment Link
Ryan said...
3Good stuff! I’m with you!
05/23/09 12:43 PM | Comment Link