After having some discussion at a recent Deacons meeting, it’s come to my attention that some in the church feel that I am not accessible enough. Some have even shared the concern that they “do not feel pastored” by me. I think this is understandable and there are a couple of reasons why people may feel this way.
One reason for this is the model of house church. In the house church model, we consider shepherds to be the pastors of their house church. That means, if someone were to come to me with a particular issue, my first inclination is to see if I can redirect them back to their shepherd. These situations are growing opportunities for our shepherds. It is by trying to help people with real life problems that they will learn to depend on God more and how to serve others. Therefore, if someone does not feel pastored by me, in my mind this is also a sign of success. I would respond by asking “do they feel pastored by their shepherd?” If yes, then I’d say this is a sign that our model is working. In house church ministry my main priority is to pastor the shepherds, so that they can pastor their house churches.
The other reason is my own schedule restraints. Although we are not a huge church I have regular commitments during weeknights that make it difficult to meet with others.
- M/TH/Sat — 3 nights a week I intentionally stay home to protect my time with family. I believe one of my main responsibilities as a pastor and as a Christian in general is to care for my family well (1 Tim 3:4–5). I heard the principle from Bill Hybels that he sets a boundary on his time to stay home 4 nights a week. This boundary protects him from overworking and neglecting his family. I also take in to consideration that my kids are still young (age 10 and 7). As they get older I think it’d be fair to adjust that time where they need me less also.
- T/W/F/S — I have standing commitments the other 4 nights a week. Tuesday nights are either Shepherds meetings or Deacon meetings. Once a month Wed I have house of prayer and once a month Thurs I have a zoom meeting with house church pastors. The Wednesdays I have HOP then I also stay home on Thurs night to have family time. The Thursdays I have the hc pastors zoom, then I stay home Wed night with the family. That means I’m only available on a Wed/Thurs twice a month. Friday of course is house church. Sunday night is Living Life Bible Study.
- With my current schedule, I could only meet people one more time per week in the evenings (some wed/thurs and some saturdays). However, I am much more flexible in the lunchtime or afternoon hours. It’s the evenings that are most busy for me.
What’s My Solution?
Even though it’s difficult to find time, I don’t want to use that as an excuse. I still want to try to find a way to be more accessible to all our members. That’s why I’ve decided to use calendly to open up a channel where people could easily schedule 1 on 1 time with me. I think of it as a type of office hours where any members could meet with me. This could be used as a time to ask me any questions/concerns they may have. It could become an informal mentoring time, especially if we met several times. Or it could just be a time to get to know each other better and catch up. I don’t know how many people would actually use take advantage of this. But at the very least it’s an attempt to make myself more accessible. Everyone will know how they could easily get in touch with me if needed.
So to schedule a time to meet just use the link below!
