Schedules

In response to posts seen here and here, and since it is on my mind today anyway, here is how my weekly schedule works out:

~Monday is one of my days off, and usually it's a good day to be off. Sunday is generally an intense day in terms of being "on" and for an introvert like me, having Monday off is nice. And since it's early in the week I don't usually feel like I have a lot hanging over my head.

~Tuesdays start with small groups early in the morning. Every other week I meet with the men's group for Eucharist, breakfast and a book discussion beginning at 7:00 am. I really enjoy this--they are a group of mostly older men and very interesting. Later those mornings I meet with an intercessory prayer group and another book discussion. On the opposite Tuesdays I am teaching/leading a bible study--it's a lot like teaching a college class, and it's fun, but it requires prep work. This is a new group and I'm realizing that the prep works has a high probability of cutting into my Monday time off.

Unlike Coffeepastor and Cheesehead, I don't have set office hours. I tend to be in the office all day on work days unless I have hospital calls or meetings elsewhere. So I work on newsletters and bulletins and plan programs and schedule acolytes and so on.

~Wednesdays are busy days. I don't go in until around 9:30, but I have a mid week service at 10:00. Then I meet with the rector and the music minster for about 30 minutes. Then I meet with the rector. Then at 1:00 we have a staff meeting that includes everyone and lasts at least an hour. By then I'm fried, but sometimes I have more meetings, and once a month, vestry is on Wednesday night.

~Thursdays I go in voluntarily to attend an early morning Eucharist, breakfast and book discussion. This is just for me--I'm not technically working unless the rector is away. Thursday mornings I try to review the bulletins and write the prayers of the people. Thursday afternoons I finish up with that and work on whatever else is going on. Sometimes there are late afternoon or early evening committee meetings--lately there's been one every Thursday. At least one.

~Fridays are my other day off. Except once a month I have to go in for the Altar Guild meeting. I try not to work on Fridays other than that, but if it's my preaching week, I am thinking about my sermon, and if there's something going on on Saturday, then I have to write on Friday.

~Saturday morning is my writing time if it's my preaching week. I like to allow myself from 9:00 to 2:00 to write and edit. Then I have a service at 5:00 pm. If it's not my preaching week (and I preach every other week) and there are no other meetings or funerals or anything special going on, then I am off.

~Sundays when I am preaching I go down to the church about 7:20 and get everything ready for the 8:00 am service where I preach and celebrate. Between 9:00 and 10:00 I make sure everything is set for the 10:00 service, check up on the acolytes, go over my sermon if need be. Then at 10:00 I take the deacon role in the liturgy (which means that I read the gospel and set the table for Eucharist) and preach. Often after church there are meetings, and once a month there is an adult forum. After that, again barring anything extra going on, I'm off. On the weeks when I'm not the preacher, I arrive around nine to check on things, and then I'm the celebrant at the 10:00 service.

~That's how it works theoretically. But there are times when it is really, really hard to actually get the time off that is in the schedule and now is one of those times. Between Diocesan Convention and funerals and the newsletter my days off have been pretty irregular. I worked all day today to the newsletter done, and we have FOUR funerals in the next week--Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Monday. While I'm not officiating at any of them, I probably still need to be at three of the four.

~Note that I'm the assistant here. The rector does most of the pastoral visiting. And he is much better than I am at taking his days off (Monday and Tuesday). And he's rarely in the office past 2:00 pm. And his sermons are written by Friday afternoon. What's wrong with this picture? (Also note that he encourages me to take all my time off. I just don't see how to get everything done and not work on my days off).

~I was in academia before I went to seminary, and so I'm used to just working until everything is done--a state that is ephemeral at that. And I'm a bit of a perfectionist about work things which probably contributes to how much time I spend in the office.

~In seminary the importance of having a regular support group and scheduled study time were stressed. Note the absence of these in my schedule.

~Yeah, I'm feeling a little frustrated tonight (and very tired); I don't mean to be whiny but this was clearly a timely topic for me today.

~Now I have reading to do for my bible study in the morning--at least for as long as I can stay awake.