"There can be but one response to your questions.
It's not as easy as you make it out to be!!!
I have work, family and other interests that all take place along with church life. I don't have the priveleged position of being paid to do church work all day so that I can engage with other things outside of church like you.
You place so much guilt upon people like me because of the choices I make and this is extremely unfair. I think you need to be more realistic and loving towards others."
I have work, family and other interests that all take place along with church life. I don't have the priveleged position of being paid to do church work all day so that I can engage with other things outside of church like you.
You place so much guilt upon people like me because of the choices I make and this is extremely unfair. I think you need to be more realistic and loving towards others."
God and I were discussing the issue of what being Church means and during our conversation I found myself reflecting on the plight of God's people and their brick-making efforts whilst they were living in Egypt. The task just got harder and harder as the constituent materials were withheld - all because they'd asked Pharaoh for a bit of time off to worship the LORD. Seems that whenever we set out to serve the LORD we find ourselves up against it.
Of course the bricks and straw story (Exodus 5) ends up with Moses complaining to God about having got them into trouble and chapter six takes us to a place where God tells Moses that by the time he's finished, the Egyptians will be ordering them to leave - captivity over man!
A minister recently described being in ministry as being like making bricks without straw. The bemoaned the fact that they were expected to keep up production (just like the Israelites) without the people and opportunities to make it happen. "If only we had more people involved," they cried, "We could really be effective for Christ!" Picking up the baton, another started talking about how they had decided to drop a project they'd started last year because the help had dropped of to such an extent that it was only the wardens and the minister's own family who were doing and coming!
The response to yesterday's blog and the comments from ministers leads us back into one of the most contentious issues that consistently faces Church life (and ministry), namely the:
Church - Life - Work Balance
and this is something we need to consider as we seek 'more straw' for the living bricks that make Church a reality. There are many thoughts on this, for instance having asked five people what priorities they have, I was given:
1. God - Self - Family - Work - Church - Everything Else
2. Family - Work - God - Church - Everything Else
3. God - Work - Family - Everything Else
4. God - Church - Family - Work - Everything Else, and
5. God - Family - Work - Church - Everything Else
Over the next few days we will be looking at the work/life balance and I'd welcome any suggestions for the order you have decided on (and why).
Pax
1. God - Self - Family - Work - Church - Everything Else
2. Family - Work - God - Church - Everything Else
3. God - Work - Family - Everything Else
4. God - Church - Family - Work - Everything Else, and
5. God - Family - Work - Church - Everything Else
Over the next few days we will be looking at the work/life balance and I'd welcome any suggestions for the order you have decided on (and why).
Pax
4 comments:
Your list of work life balance comparisons puts God first? I am just wondering in fact, how many actually put God first. I suspect that he can sometimes come just after 'everything else' in some peoples lives.
It's easy for me, I am retired so, readily available to help out, often at short notice - and I do, along with other tasks, ministry or admin that the Vicar chooses to delegate. This, for me is a privilege, which I hadn't expected, had not anticipated or truthfully, until 4 years ago, had not wanted.
In the TA we used to brief our recruits (and sometimes senior officers) that we would always expect people to make choices:
Family - Work - TA.
Work - Family - TA
Never:
TA - Work - Family
TA - Family - Work.
Our issue was those who seemed to have the priorities out of order, much like many of us in our normal lives. Which caused inevitable conflicts when they wanted to do TA stuff and expected us to intervene with their employer (in the main) to help them out.
Canterbury Diocese held a Study Day a couple of weekends ago. 'Gathered for Growth' which was extremely well attended, in fact, oversubscribed. For the first time ever, they Got Clergy together with Lay Ministry Teams to really good effect.
The sharing was so positive as was the content of the whole day. This sort of initiative is needed for team building, and one thing that they related is being able to let go and recognising when a particular ministry is ending, while another might be coming through.
http://www.canterburydiocese.org/gatheredforgrowth/resources.htm
There was lots more, but it highlighted to me that people who volunteer in church need to take a realistic view of what they are able to do safely, not what they want to do. Because that 'want' might lead to neglect of their families or work or other stuff, important to their relationships in one form or another.
I suspect that the same might be true for many Clergy.
But, if we take God as the start, middle and end part of any thing we do, we can't go far wrong. Does he ask us to service sacrificially to the neglect of our other responsibilities? I don't think so. We just need to be realistic to prevent such conflicts arising.
Thanks - food for thought indeed :-)
V
'I have work, family and other interests that all take place along with church life. I don't have the priveleged position of being paid to do church work all day so that I can engage with other things outside of church like you."
What this comment fails to realise is that clergy also have family and other interests to fit in - and even though 'church life' constitutes work, it often takes up more hours than a regular 9-5 job.
Clergy are not immune from the pressures of modern life, but are quite often expected to keep 'church life' running for the benefit of members, with little help or support from the same.
As a clergy spouse, I have experienced the unrealistic expectations that go with vicarage life, and I can assure the poster that they have nothing to complain about!
I saw this on Facebook recently:
If something is important to you, you will find a way.
If it is not, you will find an excuse.
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