Seven things ministers need to know at the start of September

For many pastors in this part of the world this time of year is that start of a new term or session of work. Organisations in churches which had lain dormant over the summer months roar back into life. Volunteer leaders return with (hopefully) fresh enthusiasm and (invariably) a new roster of events they would like you to be at. Summer is already becoming a memory and winter is looming somewhere on the horizon with its threat of increasing health and loneliness problems for some of your older members. Along with this is the knowledge that the out of the blue pastoral crisis will hit you in the middle of a week when spare capacity in your schedule was already minimal. So, by way of help to my fellow pastors (and non-pastors) here are seven things to remember in September.

1. Christmas will seem an age away. At the beginning of September there is still some length to the evenings. There is the possibility or even likelihood of a late summer heatwave to kid you into thinking that autumn is not really here yet. There are multiple events, business meetings and special services standing between you and the possibility of grabbing a few days off in the post Christmas slowdown. And there is certainly plenty of time to plan for that carol service. Do not be fooled because....

2. Christmas will be on you before you know it. The autumn will disappear in the blink of an eye. No sooner will you have posted the obligatory back to school photos of your children on Facebook than they will be off for half term and you will be putting the clocks back. You will go to bed on Remembrance Sunday and wake up to realise that the Carol Service is this evening and you still have to find a new and imaginative way to get across the message of the incarnation that you have attempted to preach for the last fifteen Christmases or more.

3. This year’s summer holiday will soon feel like it never happened. That few weeks when you allowed yourself to forget about committee meetings and pastoral problems is, believe it or not a relatively recent event. You really did get time off. Your batteries were, to some extent, recharged even if you did spend the entire summer trying to entertain that most demanding audience of all, your own children. But the first pastoral crisis or difficult visit will all but wipe those sunny days by the pool from your memory. It happens to everyone. Live with it.

4. You don’t need to be at everything.  Yes, there are a tsunami of meetings arranged for the first few weeks of a new term. One event comes after another like tube trains on the District line. But here’s the thing. Your presence is not required at them all. Many of your volunteer leaders know exactly what they’re doing without your help. A lot of them have been doing it longer than you have been in ministry and are more gifted for their area of service than you will ever be. If you turn up to their meetings you may well just get in the way. Most of the time they don’t expect you to be there. If you have a good relationship with them then when they need you they’ll call. It’s ok to have a night at home while meetings go on at church without you. No, really, it is.

5. You do need to take time off BEFORE Christmas. You may think that you can power your way through to 25th December without a day off. You may think that you can preach twice on Sundays, lead a midweek Bible study, do hospital visits, attend Youth Fellowship, chair business meetings and take school assemblies every week from now until Boxing Day all on the strength of 8 coffees a day and a quick five minute quiet time at 12.30 am every third night but you can’t. You need time to read something that’s not sermon preparation. You need to walk in the fresh air without it being a journey to another appointment. You need to pray. You need to sleep. You may need to lie in. You need to exercise. You need whole days (actual periods of 24 hours) away from anything to do with church. Stop kidding yourself that you don’t. In fact, just stop.

6. The congregation will (almost certainly) still be there next September. As pastors we have a totally irrational fear that this will be the year when the congregation splits irrevocably because of something we have done or failed to do. That is highly unlikely to be the case. The weird thing is that the longer you are in ministry the more this fear grows. Remember, they have put up with your sermon illustration from Lord of the Rings for this long, so deep down they must quite like you. Don’t panic!

7. The future of the kingdom does not depend on how your ministry goes this year.  Even if there are fallouts or fights over the colour of the new carpet God’s kingdom goes on. Even if the giving goes down, God’s resources remain infinite. Even if your church closes its doors THE church will be built and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. Do your bit. Trust your Saviour. After all he’s taken the rebellious, sinful mess that was your life and turned it around, so he can certainly turn around whatever crisis blindsides you after the service this Sunday. Trust him. He is on the throne and he loves you.

There will be plenty of other things to remember this year, I’m sure. Tell me some of the ones I’ve not included here and let’s help each other to love and serve our God and his church with increasing joy and decreasing stress this winter.