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Many church members see their pastor for only one hour a week. They might be shocked to discover that pastors live in a 24/7 career. While legitimate and urgent needs do occur at all times, some people feel they can call on a pastor at any time for any need. To make matters even worse, some pastors feel the need to be "indispensable," and over-schedule their lives to minister in any and every situation.

Some people seem to thrive on chaos, but the truth is that an unplanned, overly-responsive schedule often leads to unmanaged stress, health problems, and burn out. While it is difficult to say "no" to seemingly valid requests, pastors owe themselves and their congregations an effective and efficient ministry. And the key to an effective and efficient ministry is time management.

Time management is a discipline—one that is rarely addressed in ministry preparation. That the pastor's schedule should be based upon the needs of church leaders and members is a myth. The pastor's schedule should be based on four key priorities—two that are personal, and two that are public.

The pastor's first personal priority is his specific, personal call to ministry. He must use time as a tool to pursue God's specific purpose for his life. His second personal priority is to schedule time based on his own personality and spiritual giftedness. He must avoid filling his schedule with tasks that can be assigned to others who are more capable of performing them.

The first public priority for a pastor is the church's or ministry's vision and mission. Time must be reserved for activities that advance these public ministries. The second public priority is the church's or ministry's corporate schedule. The pastor must be responsive to the expectations of others in the church or ministry who are also charged with leadership responsibilities. After all, there is work to be done, and the pastor is part of a team.

These personal and public priorities must be clearly defined and understood by the pastor and the church, or else the parties will spend time in unhealthy ways. Time traps that pastors can fall into include:

• Pastors feel the need to satisfy every ministry need, neglecting their personal priorities.
• Pastors spend too much time pursuing their personal priorities.
• Pastors think only short term, ignoring both personal and public long-term goals.
• Pastors spend too much time "majoring in the minors," such as checking the furnace or monitoring office e-mail—things that others could do just as well.

Likewise, without clear definition of priorities, church leaders and members can put too much pressure on a pastor to spend time in areas that might not be priorities in advancing the ministry, such as:

• Church members emphasize having access to the pastor at all times.
• Church leaders think only of their own convenience when scheduling church meetings.
• Church leaders judge a pastor by how busy he appears because that demonstrates indispensability.

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