Tuesday's Child: Planning Ahead
I don't know what it's like for other people, but I sometimes find myself so caught up in the day to day stuff of the church that I find myself suddenly realizing an important day in the life of the church is next week and I haven't planned anything special for it. I wanted to find a way to do more work in advance but there never seemed to be any time to do that. Then I heard two other pastors talking about how they get together to plan worship several times I year and thought I'd give that a try.
For the last two years I have been meeting with Pastor Mary Jo Bradshaw several times a year to plan all the worship services for the upcoming liturgical season. We usually get a room in a reasonably priced hotel, set out our snacks, Bibles, commentaries, lectionaries, hymnals, CDs, iPods and other important resources and settle down to work. We don't choose the same scripture readings, worship themes, hymns or prayers for our respective congregation, but we do manage to keep each other on task to plan these things for a few months in advance. This tends to make our choir directors and church secretaries happy as they no longer have to chase us down to get the information they need to do their work.
I'm sure either of us could find a way to carve out time or even go off on our own to do the planning that needs to get done. But we find that going together not only gives us someone to hold us accountable to get the work done, it also gives us someone to bounce ideas around with. It gives us an opportunity to share each others' burdens and joys. In the middle of searching for just the right song in the Chalice Hymnal one of us will suddenly start talking about something of particular concern and then we'll pray. And I do believe that is the most important part of our retreats, because each of us needs some person/people with whom we can work companionably and share our pains and fears, joys and celebrations.
Mary Jo and I are on a retreat right now. The first evening is drawing to a close, we've accomplished about as much as we usually do on the first day and it's time to rest. In the morning we'll pick up our laptops where we left off and finish at least through Epiphany. In the afternoon we'll head back home, work done and souls unburdened, until the next time.
Comment
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Comment by Diana Tyler on November 14, 2010 at 7:53pm -
Great idea! It sounds like a wonderful way to combine work, friend-fun and spirituality.
Several years ago, our congregation took to planning out the year in a one-day retreat in early January. It helped us look toward the future and set goals for the year ahead (hoped-for new activities, etc.), but also enabled the various committees/teams to be more aware of each others' special events, which fostered collaboration and appreciation for what others in the church were doing.
Thanks for sharing your planning strategy tip!
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Comment by David Cobb on October 10, 2010 at 7:24am -
What a wonderful model! I've taken worship planning retreats before, but have struggled to keep myself accountable. Doing this in community is so much better on all sorts of fronts! Sure, there's the accountability--you get it done. But the prayer you describe is not possible when going it alone. The spirit moves in that mutual space created when two or three are gathered. Here's wishing you inspired preaching for the upcoming year!
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