Pastoring Without Preaching

I find myself with a week ahead of me that does not contain within it the expectation of a sermon at the end of it. Rev. Melissa Dodd is preaching Sunday morning, and I will be serving as the worship leader.

And may I just say, "Ahh."

It feels really good to have this week in which maybe 12 - 15 hours of time is freed up by what would have been sermon prep. And now it can be ... well, it can be whatever I want it to be, can't it? Visits, reading, writing, planning, working on Ministers' School, preparing for the PLD class I'm co-teaching, taking communion to some of our homebound folks ... pretty much sky's the limit!

I would not feel this way if not for the presence of my gifted colleague in ministry, Melissa Dodd. I am free to have a week like this because I know that I do not have to worry about this Sunday at all. She is an excellent preacher, engaging and challenging, and I can't wait to hear her preach.

(As an aside, I would be remiss if I did not take this opportunity to wish Melissa a wonderful birthday today. Out of respect for her privacy, I will not share with you all exactly which birthday this is, but there is a zero at the end of it and it is not thirty.)

The other thing that having a week like this does for me is make my own preaching better. I think that he key to better sermons is to preach less often. I heard that years ago at a Ministers' School, and I've never forgotten it. It gives me more time and energy to focus on the sermons I preach, the weekly preparations become less of a grind and the sense of joy is renewed. Plus I have a chance to listen to a good sermon, which fills my soul and stretches me spiritually.

And so ... "ahh" ... I'm ready for a wonderful week of pastoring without preaching.

Thirty Seven

Today I turned thirty-seven.
I have been married for almost fifteen years.
My daughter is ten.
My son is seven.

I have been in ministry for fifteen years.
Pastoral ministry for eight years.
Ordained for almost one.

I have one Bachelor's
and two Master's
degrees.

I have conducted a performance of
Mozart's Requiem.

I have been in 18 countries
and 43 states.

I have played Harold Hill.

I have had singing.

The thirty-six to thirty-seven birthday
is not a "biggie."
I don't qualify for anything new.
I don't gain a privilege.
It doesn't end in zero.

But it is nonetheless a good day.

Today I ate breakfast with my son at church.
I helped my daughter set up her new soccer goal.
Then it started snowing and so she went inside.
So I helped some friends haul brush.
(Yep, it was still snowing.)

Then my family took me out to lunch
at Lulu's Noodles downtown.

There were presents and cards
and phone calls.

I played
Trivial Pursuit: Star Wars Edition
with my son.
He let me go first, since it was my birthday.

There was Saturday night worship
with cake.

When you are a thirty-seven year old
pastor,
people in the congregation think
one of two things:
You are young.
or
You are old.

When I ask,
How old do you think I am?
older people guess too young
and younger people guess too old.

I can still run up stairs
two at a time.

And I enjoy an occasional
afternoon nap.

I am thirty-seven years old.
And it's all good.

Jacob Lawrence

John recently art-blogged Jacob Lawrence. Thanks, John.

I had emailed to ask him to do so because for our daughter's birthday, Erin and I took her to a performance of the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, who presented a powerful recital based on Lawrence's paintings.