Workflow Rhythms for Pastors to Consider for the Health of their Church, Family, and their Souls

In “The Four Disciplines of Execution,” Chris McChesney, Sean Covey, and Jim Huling give a simple reason for why the most important goals don’t get done. They call this reason “the whirlwind.” 

The whirlwind is the day job. It’s the stuff that needs to get done, the tasks and line-items which need attention. For the pastor, there’s a sermon to write, phone calls to make, emails to send, and people to counsel. And then there are strategies to consider, team meetings to prepare, volunteers to recruit, and leaders to coach. The list can go on and on. This is the work IN the ministry.

The challenge of the “work IN the ministry” is that while these are all the things that need to be tended to, this whirlwind can be the very reason why one ends up not tending well to the overall health and direction of the church, to one’s family, and to one’s own soul. In the very effort to manage one’s duties, a pastor can end up being managed by them, to the detriment of the big picture.

This is why I believe pastors need to have a process, system, or workflow rhythm for how to interact with their responsibilities. A workflow doesn’t magically solve everything, but it can be a helpful tool.

In this post, I share 4 workflow rhythms (in addition to the dominant rhythm of “work IN the ministry”) to help manage the whirlwind of ministry:

1) Work ON the Ministry 

If “work IN the ministry” is the work in the trenches, this rhythm intentionally stands above the work to evaluate how things are going. This bucket is crucial for assessing how things really are but also in determining whether certain things should even be in the current whirlwind. Pastors, for example, can sometimes end up doing busy work simply for the sake of it without questioning if something should be done in the first place. This rhythm creates the space for leaders to look out the window and give their current actions and plans careful consideration.

This could be done through a SWOT analysis, crowdsourcing for information, receiving feedback from key leaders, reaching out to different leaders to get their insights, or doodling on a piece of paper.

2) Work UNDER the Ministry 

This rhythm is to intentionally lean into the invisible work under the hood of all that a pastor does: The work of prayer, fasting, and proactive dependence on God. This is the work of the invisible battle for the unseen realm. The reason I believe this needs to be a thought-through rhythm is that it is easy to do the work of God without relying on the God of the work. I would argue it’s our natural propensity to rely on ourselves. Therefore, unless we have a system in place that drives us to our knees, we will only find ourselves there when things don’t go our way.

This rhythm can be created through a scheduled prayer and fasting plan or to structure intentional prayer time with your team. I personally use a daily prayer journal that tethers me to pray daily.

3) Work AROUND the Ministry 

Depending on your life season or circumstances, there will be times when you need to be extra creative and intentional in how you operate as a pastor. For example, a pastor who has young kids will have to operate differently than a pastor who has empty nested. A pastor who’s experiencing a family crisis will need to function differently than another pastor whose family is rowing in calm waters. Andy Stanley in his book “When Family and Work Collide” essentially advises a leader to cheat one’s work rather than one’s family in moments where tension cannot be adequately held.

Practically speaking, this is just another reason why I believe multiplication is so important. When a pastor trains, develops and releases others for the work of ministry, not only is the overall health of the church improved, but capacity is created for the pastor when family and ministry collide in an irreconcilable manner. It is therefore Biblical, practical, and wise for pastors to leverage this model.

4. Work OVER the Ministry 

This rhythm invites you to stop, let go, and sabbath. This may not initially sound like work, but it is legitimate work because it takes discipline and preparation to function this way. This is a spiritual work. This is the spiritual work of believing in Jesus to sustain your church and ministry. This is the spiritual work of resting in the reality of God’s sovereignty. This is the spiritual work of taking a block of time or the whole day to enjoy his presence and delight in Him through the gift of rest and enjoyment.

The beauty of this rhythm is how it enables us to be more fruitful in the long run. It will bake into our lives a long-term plan of sustainability. But there is a great short-term gain as well. This will actually re-tailor the very week in, week out “work in the ministry” we engage in. As we work “over the ministry” we will be able to do all the other rhythms with greater fervor and joy in the immediate.

Conclusion 

Pastors need to step into all 4 rhythms for health and holistic holiness.

If a pastor works IN a ministry without working ON a ministry, things may be intense but not necessarily intentional. If a pastor works IN the ministry but not AROUND the ministry, he may believe he is being faithful, but his family may see it differently and that will not be a win for the church. If a pastor does all three rhythms but fails to work OVER the ministry, the pastor will soon lose joy one Sunday at a time. 

So how much time or energy should be allocated to each rhythm? It all depends on who you are and your current context. This is determined by assessing and weighing the myriad of things God has placed in your life - whether you’re a lead pastor or an associate, in a normal season or a stretch season, married or not, with kids or not, young kids or older kids, the life cycle of the church, etc. These things will all play a role in determining how you should be operating. There is no one-size-fits-all answer. It will take reflection, prayer, discussion, and discernment to map it out in your current season. It will also take the discipline to practice this regularly so that you can be a thoughtful leader rather than a haphazard one.

You are already operating with a certain system and workflow whether you know it or not. And how we operate matters for our church, our families, and our own souls.

Let’s choose wisely because the whirlwind will always be there.