Comments on: Transitions

By: jinnis

jinnis — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 14:05:47 +0000

I am giving thanks for this year now that the Board meetings are on a weeknight and not after services on Sunday. It wasn’t good for any of us, never mind me.

My approach to the things that come up in the 5-10 minutes before service came from having such things arise week after week for a while in my first ministry. If the questions weren’t pastoral, I developed the practice of asking whether this question needed to be addressed before service. Usually they could wait. If the concern was pastoral, I let the people know I heard their concern and asked if I could better focus on them after the service. Showing that respect for them seemed to work too. It did not take long before most of the church realized the service was the priority in those minutes beforehand and supported my focus on it. This is not to say things don’t come up, but I have the practice now to figure out what needs to be addressed and what can wait.

By: Jess

Jess — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 13:35:46 +0000

Those who schedule board meetings on Sundays are destined for the “special hell” shared with those who talk in the theatre, to paraphrase a favorite tv character.

By: PeaceBang

PeaceBang — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 13:04:41 +0000

@ KQ, glad you wrote in. Take care of yourself.

@God Guuuurll, wishing you a restful day off. It’s very tough when something distressing happens before worship or a meeting. I think taking a few moments to pray can help. I like to say, “Dear God, I have something that I have to do now, and I can’t be in two places at once. I know that You are everywhere. Please be with __________ as a healing presence and forgive me for being such an egotistic control freak to think I can do all this alone. Thanks, Love Vicki”

Then again, is that “upsetting thing” someone’s failure to realize that it’s like 10 minutes before the worship service and expecting you to do something like fix the copier or start a new church program right then and there? In that case my prayer is “Dear God, please handle So-and-So right now, because if I try to it won’t come out well at all.” Instant serenity!

By: God Guurrll

God Guurrll — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 12:52:20 +0000

I am still learning the fine art of self care. I have had a really rough week. The storm seems to have passed but I am so exhausted. Thank god today is my day off. I am taking myself out for a day trip.

What I have trouble with in the transition department is this, what do you do when something distressing happens just before worship or just before a meeting and you have to put it aside in order to do the task in front of you.

By: KQ

KQ — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 06:35:18 +0000

this is probably going to be a bit disjointed ~ I am very tired and seem to be ignoring my own seasons and rhythms ~ but I just have to say Thank You.
As a lay person, I do not spend a lot of time thinking about the extraordinary twists and turns and unique way of being in the world that a pastor must navigate. I work in the medical field, and I’ve come to understand about the “superheroes” of my profession, but I’ve rarely contemplated what goes on when the robes and stole come off in the clerical life.
You don’t whine about it, you just state simply the realities of your complex and complicated world. You have brought me to a much finer appreciation of the clergy around me. Thank you.

By: Earthbound Spirit

Earthbound Spirit — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 02:59:00 +0000

I’ll offer an “amen.” There were three of us women, roughly the same age, in my CPE group. Two of us figured out quickly that we couldn’t make the transitions well if we went from room to room without at least a “walk down the hall to the nurses’ station and back” break. The third started taking that little break during the last third of our rotation, and found she was more focused and able to respond.

We cheat ourselves and those we minister to if we don’t do at least some basic breathing and mental/physical stretching between settings.

And seasonally - a dear friend of mine basically hibernates in the winter. She continues to work her full-time job, and volunteer and have a social life - but she does her best to be at home when it’s dark, where she can curl up with her cats and write, or enjoy an old movie with her spouse, or just go to bed early if that’s what her body is telling her she needs. She’s one of the wisest and most balanced people I know.