Thursday #4: People

Administrative duties...not the favorite aspect of many pastors' jobs, but a very necessary one.  But how do we as ministers complete our administrative duties while still interacting with the members of our body?  I see a couple of options, though the reality is that there are simply things that we must do on our own and simply get them done.  

The first thing that comes to my mind when looking at incorporating people into my administrative tasks is having people help me with them.  This summer I had an internship working with high school youth, and often times I could convince some of the students to come and help me with my copies and other such tasks.  I'm sure this is much easier to do with students, because working a copier is still somewhat exciting when you're sixteen.  As our office was a very public space this was also a cool way to form relationships with the girls in the group without worrying about being in a place where questionable things could happen.

My practicum supervisor has offered some great advice into this topic as well.  He takes a day and sets up shop at McConn.  He brings his laptop, and spends a few hours knocking out correspondence that need to be taken care of.  During this time, he is available to students who would like to talk.  I feel like this is an awesome blend of sharing time between the two places we are pulled, and if possible would like to incorporate something like this into my ministry in the future.