From Joel Greenwood: Youth Pastor, Fairview Missionary Church

THE IMPORTANCE OF DOWN TIME

A "normal" day in the life of a youth pastor is hardly normal! On any given day, my schedule can be changed multiple times and I never quite know what to expect. 

I try to plan out my calendar for the whole week on Monday mornings so that I can remember everything that I have to do. We are all aware of the emergency phone calls we receive that seem to throw off our planning. Although, I don't believe this is an excuse to not plan.

I do my best to plan my week, leaving some down time, for those unexpected situations. I try to work on an average of 45-55 hours a week at the church and doing things related to my job. Some weeks I spend 40 hous in the office and other weeks I spend only 20 hours in the office, depending on the time of year. 

I have been at Fairview for over seven years now and I am glad that I read two books by Doug Fields before I even started (Purpose Driven Youth Ministry & My First Two Years of Youth Ministry). I don't think it is ever too late to read these books. They helped me see the importance of having a purpose and being scheduled.

I always wanted to go against the common generalization that "youth pastors are lazy and just hang with teens and eat pizza"! I wanted to do my job to the best of my ability to serve the LORD and have a reason for everything the youth ministry did. I found out very early how important my "down time" was. 

I call "down time" anything that is NOT youth related. This does not mean going to a football or basketball game or a play at the local high school. This is time that I specifically block out of my calendar for either "me" time or my family.

I do a lot of things in my "down time" such as; hang out with friends (and not talk about church or ministry), golf, run, do yard work, spend time with my wife, spend time with my son, spend time as a family, and read non-youth related books.

I realized when I first started working at the church that my job is never done. There is always one more thing that I can do. Since I was never done, I had to learn to walk away and leave the rest up to God (really it is all up to him)!

Make sure you are incorporating "down time" into your schedule so that you can be refreshed and stay strong to lead the ministry that God has put you in charge of!