John Markum

Unplanned Day Off

This week in the Quad Cities, almost everyone was graciously given a free day off of work, school, etc. courtesy of the snow. But for myself, many of our readers, and perhaps yourself, taking an extra day off just puts you behind. And some things must get done every week regardless of what the weather did, who got sick, or what kind of family crisis broke out. I couldn’t show up this Saturday for The Awakening and apologize for not having a message to preach since I couldn’t get into my office because of the snow. That’s just not good enough, and chances are that you have your own high demands that don’t take vacation days, sick days, or snow days. So to stay on target, you and I must have a plan for these unplanned days off. Most likely, your plan will consist of answering a few of the following questions:

  • What can I do from home? Obviously this depends on your resources since you’re not in your typical work place. You also have to manage distractions, and the fact that you should take some of the time to recuperate (especially if your unplanned day off is because you’re sick).
  • What can wait? Maybe some things can get postponed this week.
  • When can I make it up? Perhaps you go in early the next day. Or stay late. Or both.
  • Where can I cram? Maybe you take 2 hours preparing a certain report. This week you can get it done in 1 hour. Maybe not your most careful work, but it will pass this week.
  • What can I delegate? Your friend covers your shift this week and you get him back next time.
  • What can get skipped? Some things may be possible and necessary to skip altogether. If that’s the case though, you kind of have to ask, “Why do I do this any week?!?”

Hope you had a fun snow day and that no one got hurt out on the roads.

Blessings,

John

Pastors: Ministry jobs

I think that the church should be the most dynamic, creative, well-planned organization in the world with the highest standards of excellence. In the American culture today, that means that there are huge opportunities for individuals to pursue full-time ministry careers outside of standing up every week to preach. And these jobs are just as responsible in the overall kingdom of God as the man called “The Pastor”. Many of you who follow this blog want to serve God with your life, and even want to know how you could give your career to that cause. But you don’t feel like God is calling you to preach or got to Bible college. So what should you do? What options are there for others equally passionate to serve in ministry? The following is by no means an exhaustive list, but may very well help you think outside normal definitions of working in full time ministry. Anything including the title of “pastor” would benefit from a bible degree although not necessarily essential, depending case to case:

  • Executive/Administrative Pastor: Requires skills in organization, management, and administration. A business degree could be extremely helpful.
  • Small Groups Pastor: Requires skills in organization, planning, teaching, and administration. A business degree could also be beneficial here.
  • Graphic Designer: Creation and production of graphics for worship guides, series graphics, handouts, powerpoint, websites, logos, signage, banners, etc. Proficiency in Photoshop, Illustrator, and Flash.
  • Videographer: This could easily be multiple jobs which would include, camera work, scripting, directing, and editing.
  • Children’s Director: Skills in teaching, leading, administration, and (obviously) working with kids. Degree in Elementary Education would be highly valued.
  • Worship leader: Proficient with one or multiple instruments, singing, and working with staging and sound systems. Also skilled at teaching others musically, leading people to worship.
  • Producer: I lack a better term, so sorry. But this is someone responsible for putting worship experiences together. They would require multiple abilities including, sound, lighting, camera, video, and program planning. Also possess skills at leading others (no one could possibly do all of these jobs in one service), and troubleshooting on the fly. Degree in almost anything technical could help.
  • Web Developer: Designs, updates, and maintains websites. A church like Edgewood has approximately 12 different sites at once, all with multiple pages.
  • IT Tech: Maintains a church’s computer network and information system.
  • Finance Director: Tracks budget, income, expense, etc. Degree in Accounting.
  • Ministries Pastor/Director: Oversees volunteers, gets people connected to serving, and meets needs of church functions (greeters, ushers, parking volunteers, setup, tear down, staging, community ministries, etc…)
  • Outreach Director: Responsible for getting the message of the church to it’s intended audience. Uses all means of advertising available, and finds creative ways to communicate (TV, internet, theater ads, literature, etc…)

The list could easily go longer, and some church have one person to do multiple jobs. At Edgewood, our Administrative Pastor is also our IT guy, and leads the our Married Adult ministries. I lead the Saturday night service, but I’m also the Small Groups Pastor, Singles Pastor, and graphic designer. The size and budget of a church may dictate how necessary a full time graphic designer is to communicating the Gospel powerfully. In all fairness, most church do not have alot of these positions. But many churches are also starting to realize their needs in today’s culture as well. I can’t tell you how many times in staff meetings we’ve said, “If we just had a staff member who only did… ______!”

God gave you the passions that you possess to fit in some capacity in the body of Christ. God may have shaped you for a career in ministry other than preaching or being a pastor. Pursue the possibility!

Blessings,

John

P.S. ~ If you work for a church in any function, post a comment and share how God is using you to advance His kingdom!

The phrase no pain, no gain has been a mantra for athletes and fitness junkies for years. And what they understand about physical pain needs to be broadened to a much more general use in all of our lives. Pain hurts. That's the whole problem. No one enjoys it, and if someone does, we rightfully

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