Easter Sunday and even Doubting Thomas are wrapped up for another year.
Good job, well done, and “Yay, Team!”
Now we’re back at the usual grind.
How’s your calendar look? How filled is it?
How about your to-do lists?
How long are they?
Why are you doing them?
How did these tasks end up on your list and on your schedule?
What didn’t make it on your list?
What’s on the list you wish weren’t?
What’s not on the list that you wish were?
We Confess
“We confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed.
We have done those things we ought not to have done, and we have not done those things we ought to have done.
We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.
For the sake of your mercy, lead us and guide us.”
I know, that’s a very Lenten thing to say during the second week of Easter.
Those are a few lines from Episcopalians’ “General Confession” and don’t sound very “alleluia-ish.”
But as I write this, I am concluding one of my quarterly planning weeks when I look back on the last quarter to see what worked to served you well: our content, processes, and the ways I’m tending my spiritual life.
I note what didn’t work too: the things I should not have done, and the things I wish I had.
With those mistakes in mind, I look ahead to the next quarter with intention so I don’t repeat those mistakes.
In addition, I plan those things that I hope I will have done by the time I get to my next planning week. What “oughts” and “ought-nots” do I hope I’m not “confessing” in three months’ time?
Working on vs. in the ministry: the power of dedicated planning time
These planning weeks help me step out of the day-to-day to work on my ministry so I have a clearer vision of what to work on in it.
It’s what helps me sing—more often and more often wholeheartedly—“alleluia” for the gift of serving in Christ’s name. And it helps me sing fewer notes of lament.
This kind of perspective isn’t possible without stepping outside of the routine to ask the Big Picture questions on a regular basis.
Yes, it takes time and preparation, but the time and effort I put in are well-rewarded by saving me time the other twelve weeks.
Decisions are made now so I don’t have to make them when I'm up against deadlines.
The mission of BsP is set alongside those decisions which makes it easier to know which decisions get a yes, and which a no.
In other words, I’m able to throw wheat and chaff in the air so I can let the chaff—the extraneous, the distractions, and the “shiny new objects” that so easily enthrall me—blow away, leaving me with the wheat: the ministry I’m called to engage.
As I said, I do this for a week every quarter, but even an hour spent looking ahead is better than none.
Here are ways you could use a planning week, day, or hour, but I’ll use a day as an example below.
How to Prepare
Get it on your calendar now.
Don’t add any appointments, no matter how it inconveniences others to work around you.
Keep a running list of what you most want to focus on that day (suggestions below).
Have someone who can be available for pastoral emergencies.
Get out of the office.
Plan a great lunch so it feels like a reward.
Turn off notifications.
Walk, stretch, breathe.
Pray. A calm mind and heart are your biggest asset so you can focus and hear the Spirit.
How to Make the Most of the Day
1) Review your mission
Review your ministry’s mission.
Review your ordination vows.
Review your sense of call.
How are these three aligned? What can be realigned?
2) Review the last period of time
Now look back on the last stretch of time: a month or a quarter.
What tasks aligned with the above? What didn’t?
What brought you joy and alleluia’s?
What brought you lament or regret?
3) Plan ahead
Plan your calendar.
Get your next planning day down first.
Add the standing meetings.
Make a list of gatherings that need to be scheduled.
Look ahead at the liturgical or seasonal cycle.
4) Work backwards
What deadlines need to be met? What are those tasks? Who needs to be involved?
Set aside preaching prep.
Make time to pray and hang out with God.
Have Companions on the Journey Who Hold Your Feet to the Fire
Just because I’ve now got a map of the next quarter doesn’t mean I won’t be tempted—or actually need—to make some detours along the way.
I know once I’m back in the thick of it how easy and tempting it is to deviate, and truly, how hard it is to discern between competing goods.
The needs of the urgent always feel more important in the moment when adrenaline is spiking.
I rely on my spiritual director and the mentors here at Backstory Preaching to help me discern where to focus my energies—for the benefit of both the ministry and my own personal well-being.
Wouldn’t it be nice to have someone outside your ministry to help you discern?
Someone dispassionate about the results, but who has your best interest at heart?
Someone who can ask questions to help you discern the answer?
That’s what our Backstory Preaching mentors do.
They listen with empathy.
They ask questions, and sometimes they’re uncomfortable questions you’d rather not face. But they care enough about you to ask anyway.
They pray with and for you.
After all, they’re also active or retired clergy, so they know what goes into the relentless, competing demands you face.
Not only are they available to help you decide whether or not a project belongs on your calendar, they can help you discern the consequences either way.
And care about and pray for you just the same.
Members of The Collective/+ will have an opportunity to work through this process Over the summer.
In June, July, and August, Lisa will host three workshops in The Collective/+ to help you reflect on the past year, establish priorities for next year, and work out the details of scheduling, accountability, and maintenance before programming begins in the fall.