realizing and engaging a rhythm to ministry and life
Shannon Whaples shared this via his Senior Pastor, Kevin Myers. Shannon said that Kevin communicates it is important to take 2 days off a week, but work hard the 5 days you are in the office. Don’t take your work home with you. Take vacations. Realize the natural rhythms in your community and flow with those. In the summer, the NexGen Ministries slow things down (primarily because their attendance takes a dive). They are encouraged to slow things down in their lives, too. I like this idea of a rhythm of life. My wife likes the idea of a rhythm to our life. She not only likes the IDEA, she likes the idea realized!
I think over the course of my tenure @ Hayward Wesleyan Church thus far, I have realized a certain rhythm to ministry and the community. I think our ministry calendar is sustainable for our volunteers and the children, particularly. I really like that we do Followers every other week. There is an anticipation built in to that for the kids, meaning on the Mondays when we don’t meet they look forward to the next Monday that we do. They don’t realize this, but due to the fact that we only program every other week, it is keeping it fun and fresh, not semi-fun and stale!
I like the simplicity of Main Street and our curriculum. I like the consistency of our Nursery and the content and care we provide as well as our Preschool and Kindergarten class.
The one area that is lacking in simplicity and a particular rhythm are the middle school students. I have not yet realized a wise and healthy cadence to our msy YOUTH. I try each and every year, but I always seem to get thwarted. This is one area where a meeting with wise and discerning parents of some teenagers would be helpful.
Jeremy –
Love this post and the encouragement you have regarding finding-rhythm.
I’m actually preaching about ‘rhythm’ this weekend and was excited when I read your latest blog-post. I might be stealing the metronome pic for my sermon-slides, too!
that’s great, Stevan! I’m always drawn back to agrarian culture where the seasons dictate the pace of life: spring (as the days gain more light) is for prepping the soil and planting, summer (lots of working daylight) is for watering and caring for growing crops, fall (declining daylight) is for harvesting (and usually the most work!), and winter (very short days of light) is for “wintering”, resting, recooperating from the previous 3 seasons of work.
I’ve heard from those who were around at the turn of the century and the invention of the light bulb and subsequent electricity… how in no small way did that change the dynamics of daily living. Before the light bulb, everyone went to sleep when it got dark (or they burned lanterns up into the wee hours of the night). Now, darkness doesn’t get in our way anymore!
I wonder what a seasonal “rhythm” (in a year) looks like in our current non-agrarian culture and how we find that…
Jeremy