Meeting mania

So what do I do all week long as Sr. Pastor of Grace Church? Certainly, I study and there is a good amount of counseling. As often as I can, I also try to visit people in the hospital prior to their surgeries. But a fair portion of my time each week is taken up in meetings. Many of these meetings are sporadic and impulsive, meaning that they are not meetings that happen all of the time, but large amounts of these meetings are part of my regular schedule in order to keep up on all that is going on here at Grace. Meetings seem to be a large but necessary part of my weekly schedule. These meetings include:

WEEKLY PLANNING MEETINGS: Every Monday morning I have a 90-minute meeting with Andrew Norton, our Business Manager, to discuss all of the office and administrative areas of our ministry. This meeting is followed each Monday by a 60-minute meeting with Bryan Nelson, who is our Worship Arts Director, and Andy Brigthbill, who is our Pastor of Student Ministries, in order to evaluate the services from the previous Sunday and make sure we are all set for the upcoming Sunday services.

STAFF MEETINGS: On the first and third Tuesdays of every month I lead a meeting with our entire church staff in order to go over relevant business and ministry items as well as to do some team-building, sharing of victories and training.

MONTHLY PLANNING MEETINGS: Our Executive Staff here at the church is scheduled to meet once a month as is our Pastoral Staff. Honestly, these meetings usually get cancelled due to so much of the issues we would discuss being handled in all of the other meetings that take place week to week or in full staff meetings.

MONTHLY EDUCATION MEETINGS: Each month I meet individually with Sherry McConaghay, our Daycare Director, and with Mike Rohrer, our School Administrator to get updated on any issues that they are facing in our educational ministries. I also meet with Mike Van Belle, our Board of Education president, each month as well.

QUARTERLY ACCOUNTABILITY MEETINGS: It is my goal to try to meet with each ministry staff member once a quarter for personal accountability regarding their area of ministry. This is usually done over a breakfast or a lunch at a local restaurant.

ELDER MEETINGS: I meet with our Elder Executive Committee every second Tuesday of the month. We then meet as a full board of Elders every other month as well. I also meet once a month with Paul Steinweg, our Elder Board Chairman in order to plan the direction of our Elder meetings. On the first Wednesday morning of every month, another one of our Elders meets with me in my office. The purpose of this monthly meeting is simply to pray together. This meeting is often the oasis in my week.

WORSHIP DESIGN TEAM: I meet with our Worship Design Team every second Thursday night of the month in order to plan the worship services two months in advance.