I recently wrote a post based on a survey I did on a pastor’s work week. I also included better research and more accurate information from five-year-old data from LifeWay Research.
In this post, I want to approach the issue from a slightly different perspective. I want to ask the question: How many hours must a pastor work each week to satisfy the congregation?
Ultimately, I prefer to hear from pastors and church members and get their perspective.
An experiment I tried several years ago, though, might prove instructive. When I was a pastor in St. Petersburg, Fla., I gave a survey to the 12 deacons in the church (I jokingly said we had 11 good deacons and one Judas!). I listed several congregational responsibilities and asked them to share the minimum amount of time I should average in each area each week. I listed about 20 areas; but they were free to add other responsibilities to the blank lines.
I’m not sure exactly what I was anticipating. I just know that I was shocked when I tallied the results.
In order to meet those 12 deacons’ minimum expectations, I had to fulfill the following responsibilities each week:
Prayer at the church: 14 hours
Sermon preparation: 18 hours
Outreach and evangelism: 10 hours
Counseling: 10 hours
Hospital and home visits: 15 hours
Administrative functions: 18 hours
Community involvement: five hours
Denominational involvement: five hours
Church meetings: five hours
Worship services/preaching: four hours
Other: 10 hours
Total: 114 hours/week
If I met just the minimum expectations of 12 deacons, I would have to work more than 16 hours a day for seven days a week. Or I could take one day off of work each week, and work 19 hours a day for six days a week.
And remember, I still would only meet the minimum expectations of 12 people in the church, not the entire membership.
Clearly, a pastor will sense the tension of so many factors competing for the limited hours in a week. And clearly, no one can ever humanly meet all those expectations.
Do these numbers surprise you?
If you are a layperson, what are your workweek expectations of a pastor?
If you are a pastor, how do you handle such expectations?
