I recently did a workshop for College Ministers in the Northeast. After doing four sessions, one person told me the most helpful thing I shared was something I said in the Q and A time. Someone asked me to share what my weekly schedule was like when I was College Minister at Arkansas State, rather than now just being someone that talks about college ministry. I share this not to say, this is the perfect way to do it, or even a good way.....it was just my way. In conversations with two pastor friends recently at two different times, both have told me they have young staffers who have great ability, but don't work well due to not seeming to know how to use their time to the best advantage.
Do you have a plan for your work week? Are you using your time to be the best advantage????
Obviously, without every detail and with gaps for things that were not every day or every week tasks, here was my normal weekly schedule as Baptist Collegiate Minister at Arkansas State University.
Monday
8:30 Get ready for staff meeting
9-11 Staff meeting
12:00 Lunch in ASU Cafeteria with students
1:00-5:00 Primarily individual meetings with Team Leaders (1 hour each)
5:00 Details for and getting ready to visit with leaders and freshmen arriving.
6:15 Freshmen Night Bible Studies
7:15 Visit with students following groups
7:30 Set up for Wednesday Lunch Program
8:00 Home for supper
Tuesday
8:30 -12:00 Administrative tasks/Primarily looking at larger picture, deal with finances, alums, etc.
12:00 Lunch
1:00 Individual meetings. Walk thru the ASU Student Center.
3:00 Finish prep to lead Freshmen Leadership Team meeting.
5:00 Freshmen Leadership Team Meeting
6:15 Home for Supper
My rule was we had nothing on Tuesday night and I was at home. When my girls were younger, I would take Tuesday afternoons off to pick them up from school and spend some extra time with them.
Wednesday
7:30 Help put signs out on campus and visit with students headed to classes.
8:45 Walk the campus main walkways visiting with students/inviting & reminding about Lunch.
9:45 Walk the campus main walkways again.
10:00-11:30 Help Church bringing the food to get in, set up, visit with them, etc.
11:30 Begin greeting, visiting with students arriving for Lunch Program.
12-12:45 Lunch Program
1:00 Visit, connect and begin to clean up, take down and help church folks get out and gone. Set-up would begin for our Thursday night program
2:00 Send messages or make contact somehow with first timers to the Lunch program.
5:00 Head out to church for supper, Committee meetings, Bible study
Thursday
8:30-11 Final Prep for speaking that night at our Worship event. I laid out all my topic, scripture and outlines prior to the semester.
12:00 Sometime lunch away from campus with my wife/sometimes lunch in ASU Cafeteria
1:00-3:30 Individual meetings/Odds and ends/Any Prep for Leadership meeting/walk the campus.
3:30 Visit with students arriving for weekly leadership meeting
4:00 Weekly Leadership Team meeting
5:15 Re-look my Bible study notes/Double check details for Worship event
5:45 Students begin to arrive for worship event.
6:15-7:30 Weekly Worship Event
7:30 Visit or After event fellowship
8:00 Home for supper
Friday
9:00 - 12 Make contact, send message to first timers from last night/Have a couple of meetings.
12:00 Lunch away from campus
1:00 - 5:00 Usually VERY quiet...did much of my thinking, planning, alumni work, write thank you notes, etc. Friday was clean up day for me. The last thing of the day was to get my desk clean for the coming week.
Sunday - I taught a Sunday School class of my peers after learning by my wife's caution that I did not have many peer friends and only knew how to talk to college students. Plus, I wanted to expect churchmanship from my students and not demonstrate it in my own life.
OR: If we had a Retreat or other special event that weekend, that would be my focus of the afternoon.
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