A Reflection on Ministry at the End of Clergy Appreciation Month

I recently found myself with an assignment related to the technical and administrative aspects of the immigration process for clergy serving in the Virginia Conference, a process that is managed through the work of the episcopal office here in Glen Allen. The assignment was to write a document describing a “typical day in the life of the pastor serving in VAUMC.” I had a template to work with, and the first blank said “9:00 a.m.______________.”

What is a typical day of ministry in a vocation where the saying goes, “You never have the same day twice”? Indeed, in my 11,095 days of ordained ministry, I cannot remember much duplication. Even in seasons of life when I was most hyper-organized, when I began each day armed with an ambitious (yet unrealistic) to-do list and a calendar, with my eyes set squarely on organizing and completing all of the things, the phone would ring, a visitor would drop by unannounced, something would suddenly locate itself in the Urgent/Important square on my Eisenhower Matrix, and the oasis of control would prove to be but a mirage upon the sand.

At some point, I had to learn that the entreaty in Proverbs to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight” has as much to do with time as anything else.

Having said that, this assignment gave me an opportunity to imagine the document I wish I could have written and submitted, where I could have shared so many typical days of pastoral ministry I have had over these last thirty years. Here are a few.