What Do Pastors Even Do?

This question is often asked of chaplains as well. And it would have the potential to be highly offensive (imagine working 60-80 hours a week and being asked what it is you even do), but part of the pastor/chaplain's role is to not let such things be offensive, but to be patient and gentle in response. Though, in line with a recent blog post, it does make the ears of my pet, Peeves, perk up.

Let's start with the average pastor's sermon preparation. The rule of thumb is that a sermon should take 20-40 hours to prepare. I think 20 hours is probably closer to the mark, as 40 hours, especially if utilized for two-sermon weeks, would crush the rest of the pastor's workload (not to mention his family). For me--not counting prayer, which can ultimately be several hours over the course of the week--sermon prep entails five parts: Translation, Outline, Research, Draft, Rehearsal.

Translating the passage from the original language (and taking a few notes on grammar and construction along the way) will often take 1-3 hours, depending on the length of the passage. An initially outline will also take at least an hour. Then the research block begins, using lots of commentaries, with various theological dictionaries, grammars, and systematic works mixed in. In my experience, this work takes 4-8 hours. The draft work, which tries to bring together the narrative flow of the passage and its systematic understanding, show how the passage points to Christ, as well as making that all clear, convicting, and comforting for the hearers, often takes another 4-8 hours (with ample revisions). The rehearsal(s) will add another 2-3 hours, not to mention additional time in the car or shower puzzling over various pieces.

You can immediately double all of that if the pastor is preaching twice on a Sunday.

There is also the teaching part of the pastor's public ministry. Is the pastor teaching Sunday School for adults or children? That will often take about 3-4 hours of research time and 1-2 hours of putting together an outline. Same thing if he's leading a Bible study or book study, depending on the material.

For this coming week, I will be preaching, teaching our Inquirer's Class, and leading a book study. That will probably mean about 25-30 hours of prep work for the public ministry portion of my work.

There is also the less tangible, but no less vital private ministry portion of the pastor's work. Often time, we call this work "shepherding." It includes visiting people in their homes (or at the hospital, school, place of work), mentoring/counseling individuals, and having families into our home. We probably have 2-3 families over to our home each week, for a couple of hours a piece, and I probably go out to mentor/counsel 2-3 individuals, each for an hour or two.

This sort of private ministry work then usually involves about 8-12 hours a week if there are no crises.

While our senior pastor handles more of the teaching load, I focus more on outreach and youth. I cultivate relationships with mercy ministries outside of the Church, and I find venues in which groups and individuals from the Church can engage unbelieving friends and/or strangers. Right now, this is 3-4 hours a week (though many of the people we invite over for dinner are unbelieving friends and neighbors). In the summer, when we start a weekly "pub night," this will double.

While I am easing back into my role with youth more gradually, the bi-weekly gatherings usually require the 3-4 hours of prep time necessitated by other teaching times. Likewise, a retreat will require 1-2 hours a week of prep in the months prior and 3-4 hours a week of prep in the weeks prior. It becomes all-consuming in the days prior.

In addition, there are Presbytery responsibilities. I probably spend 1-3 hours on this each week (manning the calendar and absorbing a good deal of event planning for the retreat operating committee). Our senior pastor probably spends 5-10 hours doing Presbytery-related work each week.

Don't forget crises and special events (many overlap). There may be a car crash, a looming divorce, or the death of a parent. On occasion, there is the wedding or funeral to oversee. You can't plan for the former category. For both categories, you can add 10-20 hours of intensive (and often heart-wrenching) labor.

And Sundays aren't nearly as restful for the pastor as the congregant. This is where most of the public ministry prep comes to bear, resulting in about 5 hours of pouring yourself out in the preaching of the Word, conducting public worship, and being pulled in a dozen different directions. We are supposed to take a Saturday or Monday off to compensate, but that rarely happens. You'll often find "semi-work-related" books in a pastor's luggage on his family vacation.

In addition, you work hard to carve out several blocks of time each week for family time and work to fight off any other commitments during those times. But inevitably, crises work their way into those times as well. We don't have nights off, or weekends. The cell phone is never turned off.

The general work week of the pastor, then, will likely consist of at least 50 hours of work, but often more like 60, and on crisis/special event weeks, more like 70-80. The irony is that the lack of structure in my schedule (not 9-5's) means that I can often jump in my car if someone needs to talk, but that in turn reinforces the impression that I must not have much work.

And this doesn't include the reading we try to do (like any scholar in his field) to stay fresh in our studies and ministry work. Our field is also tied to every other field. I need to keep up to date in philosophy, psychology, cultural analysis, and theology. I try to create time for this, but instead, it often becomes my "fun" reading time, and my fiction books grow ever more dusty.

I don't write all of this to complain. In fact, I love this work. The only way you don't wash out in the ministry (and a large number of ministers do wash out within a couple of years) is if you love the work. I love digging through the Greek or Hebrew, reading the insights of past generations of believers, considering how to bring the precious Word to bear upon broken hearts like my own, visit and building up broken buddies, and share the Gospel with the lost. The same work that robs me of family or recreation time may very well add more substance and meaning to whatever family or recreation time I do have.

The ministry is a horrible, wonderful calling. And for those who are called, equipped, and patiently sustained by Christ through His Word and Spirit for this work, we wouldn't have it any other way.