Job of a Minister

What does a minister do?

Many people believe that a church minister works on Sundays and takes the rest of the week off! The following I hope will dispel that myth forever.  Let me take you through a typical week in the life of my ministry, stopping off on route to give you some possible scenarios that can change the carefully laid plans and arrangements that are made on Monday mornings!

MONDAY - Here in my pastorate of Christ Church, Tonbridge and Tudeley Cum Capel with Five Oak Green, Monday usually dawns with a host of problems and emails left over from Sunday. Monday is also the day that I meet with Lesley our church secretary to plan agendas for elder’s and church meetings and discuss correspondence etc.

Every month on a Monday morning between 10am and 12 noon I attend the joint pastorate meeting at Five Oak Green to discuss the work of the Local Ecumenical Partnership there and plan for future services and any pastoral issues. We are also in the process of planning for a redevelopment of the church building to build a multipurpose venue for the community in the village and surrounding area. On the same day we also usually hold a building committee meeting at Five Oak Green to discuss all aspects of the church buildings in the group. For the past year I have also tried to spend time on Mondays with our student minister as he prepares for his own ministry trying to give him experience of all the areas of ministry that he will help him in the future and supervising his final college assignments. And that is just the morning.

Monday afternoon is spent with pastoral visits and then outline planning for the next Sunday’s services. This is necessary to create an order of service that can then be passed onto the worship leader in time for band practise on Wednesday evening. All m, or any of this can change at a moments notice if the phone rings with news of a member being taken into hospital, or when a crisis of any kind develops which needs my immediate attention!

Finally, every month, our Church Meetings are held on Monday evenings which brings a busy day to an end around 9.30pm.

TUESDAY -  is usually my quietest day of the week which gives me an opportunity to catch up with the office work, start to pray about my next sermon and choose the scripture readings. Today is often when I write the letter for the church magazine and the day I try to arrange meetings with organisations or individuals who want to use our Church Centre, or want to discuss future events in Tonbridge that we as a church might want to get involved with. One project being discussed at present is the possibility of ‘Street Pastors’ starting in Tonbridge and a meeting has been arranged with the police and local authority to see if this might be a real option for the future.

I have also become a trustee of Kent Farm Line which is based at the Detling Agricultural Show Ground and the quarterly meetings for this are held on Tuesdays. This organisation is Christian based and aims to help farmers and farm workers as well as those living in rural communities when they have personal difficulties which might range from tenancy and legal problems to debt management or family issues as well as any major animal disease problems such as foot and mouth or blue tongue in cattle. Because of my background in farming and my previous experience with Farm Crisis Network in Dorset which was concerned with rural affairs, I felt it was something that I could contribute to . I also enjoy keeping in contact with the farming communities.

 WEDNESDAY - The mornings often start with meeting two Health Trainers who are NHS funded, and are using Christ Church as a base to provide one-one support to those who wish to make lifestyle changes to improve their health. This is just one of the initiatives that we are trying encourage on our premises. Another project that has recently started at Christ Church is ‘Crisis Recovery’ which offers a ten stage plan to those who are homeless and want help to put their life back on track. A team of Christians from Tunbridge Wells run the programme at present , but we hope to encourage people from the churches in Tonbridge to get involved during the coming year.

Foyer Cafe - Another exciting new project at Christ Church is the launching of a church café ’LifeSprings’ which will extend our existing work in the Foyer of the church. Being open in the afternoon on Wednesday and Saturday luntime - 3pm enable us to welcome new people onto our premises. If it is successful we hope to find volunteers to keep it open six days a week and offer a wider menu of hot and cold food as well as the new range of fresh ground coffee, tea and hot chocolate. The main object is not to just have a café or tea shop, but to welcome people onto our premises for refreshment, and refreshment that goes beyond a quick drink to being there to listen if people want to share a problem, and to offer prayer or other support when appropriate.

Thursday - Every monthlon Thursdays at 9am I host a local church leaders prayer meeting at Christ Church. This gives the leaders an opportunity to share together and pray about the issues that concern Tonbridge,. We pray and talk about the work that we are attempting to do together. Also on the same day I have a meeting with two of the organisations who use our church centre premises. They are Parents Plus+ who work with families in the Borough, and Children’s Workshop who go into every primary school in the area to take assemblies and teach RE in the classroom. We are excited about our involvement with these two organisations because their work enables them to build relationships with local families and young people and this also enables us as a church to become known to them and a real partnership can then become established.

Thursday evenings once a month we hold our elder’s meeting. This is when I as the minister, meet with my team of elders and together we can pray and discuss the whole range of work in the church and make recommendations which in turn are then taken to the church meeting for approval by the whole church. Each elder has responsibility for an area of the ministry of the church and this meeting is the time when they can report back. Ttogether we can then make decisions that will fit with the direction we believe the Lord is taking us as a church.

 Friday -  my day off. This is when my wife Sue and I try and make sure that we spend one day together and away from the phone, but if there is a crisis or serious illness etc., I'll always make sure the situation is dealt with as soon as possible.

Saturday - This is the final preparation for the coming Sunday. Not only does this mean the preaching and teaching element, but as this also tends to be the day when we put on extra events in the church that means there is extra work to do.  The events are often to raise funds for the variety of projects both here and abroad, or they are events that are purely social and fun, but which enable us to get to know each other and build relationships with neighbours and friends. It is also sometimes forgotten that ministers have families of their own and Saturday can often be the only time they can visit, or be visited.

 Sunday is worship day with the main service at 10am at Christ Church with an extended service for Holy communion on the 2nd Sunday. Then there is a 6.30pm service twice a month, the first Sunday being Holy Communion and the other on the third Sunday, and allows us to hold a variety of themed services. These can include quiet reflective services or quite the opposite when we hold celebration services.

Being a church minister is a calling by God to be a servant of the church of Jesus Christ. You are called to be a minister of Word and Sacrament which means you are ordained to preach and teach God’s Word and to preside at Holy Communion and Baptise believers and the children of believers when it is requested. But it also sends you out to be a pastor, a leader, to cast vision for the future of the church, and also to play your part in serving on the committees of the United Reformed Church according to the gifts that you have been given.

 I hope this begins to describe the work of a minister which is much more than a job and is the most privileged and can be the most exciting occupation you could imagine.