Do You Know What I Did Last Summer?

Probably not. So I’m going to fill you in. And while I do so I hope to give you a bit of insight into the yearly schedule I keep and why I do things the way I do.

Pastoral ministry involves a lot of responsibilities; this probably comes as a shock to no one. A pastor wears multiple hats and is involved in a lot of very different things -- what you see on Sunday morning or when I am teaching in other areas of church life are only a small part of what a pastor does with his time. As a result, pastoral ministry can get overwhelming very quickly. There is always something to do, something to think about, someone to talk to, something to plan, something to oversee, plus the mental weight that comes with leading a church and the people within it. Not to mention that a pastor is a pastor 24/7; every single day in every place and situation he finds himself. I’m not complaining, I count it a privilege that God has called me to minister as the pastor of CRC. I wouldn’t want to do anything else, and I plan on doing it until the members of CRC tire of me or the elders throw me out. Hopefully that day never comes. But I digress.

Since pastoral ministry on a weekly and daily basis is so busy, I like to stay ahead of as many things as I possibly can. One of the things I can stay on top of, or at least try to, is my preaching and teaching schedule. I typically plan my sermon / CLD / Podcast / Men’s Theology schedule at least a year in advance. This time around, with Judges and John coming up, I’ve got a preaching schedule laid out until around Easter of 2027. The other stuff I try to get as far ahead of as I possibly can. I like to be prepared.

Another thing that I can stay on top of is planning my time of rest. As I mentioned, pastoral ministry is a state of mind, something that you carry with you even when you are not actively doing pastoral ministry. I’ve learned over 20+ years of being a pastor that if I don’t plan for rest, I will burn myself out. I’ve come all too close to doing so in the past, and I don’t want to find out where the burnout line is ever again. Thankfully the elders recognize my propensity to just put my head down and get after things so they have told me, mandated for me, that I take Sunday’s off from preaching once every 6-8 weeks or so, as well as take chunks of time to disconnect from the weekly and daily stuff so I can dedicate myself to big-picture preparation, and to take a bit of holiday time as well.

This is why my yearly schedule looks like it does. I preach for 6-8 weeks at a time then hand over the pulpit to one of the more than capable men who willingly preach in my stead. I do this from September to January then hand over the pulpit for the month February. I jump back in the pulpit again from March to July and let the other guys preach for the month of August. Men’s theology, CLD, and Sunday School are all mixed in there as well. It’s busy, but I love it.

Maintaining this schedule has worked well for me over the past several years. It gives me the small windows I need throughout the year to turn my attention to other things than preparing sermons, and two larger windows to really dig into bigger stuff that gets pushed back because I simply don’t have time for it on a regular basis. Doing things this way allows me to step back, do some preparation for future teaching, reflect on the church and its ministries, as well as get in some much-needed holiday/rest time.

This brings me to what I did last summer, and last February. Now that you know why my schedule looks like it does, I want to share what I did during those months. I share it with you so you can have a better understanding of what I’m doing, you do pay my salary after all, and help guide you in how to pray for me throughout the year.

As I mentioned, when I am not preaching, I am not always ‘off’ so to speak. Sometimes, yes, but most times, no. I use my weeks off from preaching throughout the year to do a number of things -- meet with people, write podcasts and blogs, work on any other projects I might have, and prepare upcoming sermons. It is very nice during those weeks to unplug from the grind of sermon preparation -- I do love it, but even the things you love can become a grind. What I teach is the result of many, many hours of reading, research, thinking, prayer, and writing. Having a week off from time to time allows for these things to happen with a little bit more deliberation and focus.

During the months of August and February I am able to do these things with an even greater level of intensity. Let me start with what I did in February of this past year.

During these few weeks off I had the opportunity to go to Florida with my parents and my son. It was awesome. I struggle a lot, if I’m honest, during the winter months. I hate the cold and the grey of February and March get to me mentally. It is nice to head out to a warm state, see the sun, and enjoy different sights and sounds for a few days. I think I would become a very grumpy and angry preacher during the latter part of winter if I didn’t get this break. I’m looking forward to doing it again in 2026. But I digress once more.

Also, during the month of February I got to some reading that had been sitting on my desk for a very long time. As most of you know I have a mantra -- You cannot say “I disagree” before you say, “I understand.” So, I took about 2 ½ weeks to read some Arminian works. I read Arminian Theology: Myths and Realities by Roger Olson; 40 Questions about Arminianism by J. Matthew Pinson; as well as poked around in Grace, Faith, Free Will: Contrasting Views of Salvation: Calvinism and Arminianism by Robert Picirilli, and other journal articles.

Let’s jump forward to August. This is a month of reflection on the church year that was and the year that will be. I try to speak with our ministry leaders for their take on the way things went and what they are doing for the upcoming year. As elders we think in the same way. ‘Reflect and plan’ is the theme of August.

August is also a time of rest and preparation. I took 2 weeks off with Tanya. Then I spent a week reading commentaries on Judges; another week doing the same for John; then another week preparing for upcoming podcasts, Sunday School lessons, and the 6-week CLD course. August doesn’t have enough weeks. I also finished editing pastoral commentary manuscripts on Ruth and Jonah for upcoming publication. (Details to come), prepared to appear as a guest on an upcoming podcast, and I finished reading some philosophy stuff that I had started a few months earlier -- Charles Taylor’s magisterial work, The Secular Age and a few smaller books which comment on his tome.

All in all, it was a good summer. I just wished it lasted longer.

So here we sit in September staring at another church year and I’m excited for it! I love what God has done in the church in the past and I can’t wait to see what he will do in the next 12 months and beyond.

One last thing, if you have any questions about what I do throughout the year, or anything related to pastoral ministry please don’t hesitate to ask.

Soli Deo Gloria