"How will you manage your time and work load come November 15th when you step into the interim pastor role at Highview?"
Great question.
Some context before I get to any kind of response.
In May of 2018 I stepped away from the full time pastoral role in which I had been thoroughly immersed for the past twenty years, give or take. The time was right by so many indicators, and it aligned perfectly with what was happening with our partnership in Thailand.
So for the past two years my full time attention has been given to being the Canadian Representative for New Family Foundation, overlapping this with a continued role at Highview as Missionary In Residence. This has been plenty enough to keep anyone busy in a full time capacity, however you might count hours per week in all the comings and goings between homes. I have been lovingly supported by several generous souls who believe in the mission and trust me enough to help carry the travel and living expenses required for international work.
In accepting Highview's invitation to serve as pastor during our Senior Pastor Erin's mat leave from November 15, 2020 to August 15, 2021, I am not putting the ministry in Thailand on hold. Which leads to the very good question about how I'm thinking I'm going to pull this off.
The Reality of Travel Bans
First and most obviously, I'm not going to Thailand any time soon. And I'll just say here, this breaks my heart. Oh so much more I could write/have written/will write about that. But for right now, in the pragmatics of things, let's just acknowledge the time and energy that is now available because of the travel bans.
Every trip is a pretty big deal, truth be told. If I'm going with a Team there's lots of preparation to get us there and back safely, plus all the arrangements while we're there. Even if I'm going by myself, there's still sermons to prepare (some translated into Thai) and a month's worth of Bible and ESL lessons to get ready. Getting there takes a full 24 hours or more, plus some recovery time once I arrive. And then getting back takes another full 24 hours or more, plus even more recovery time on that end of things, as jet lag is definitely more of a thing coming back to Canada. All that times two or three times a year. It adds up.
And this is time now freed up for other things.
The Wonders of Technological Connection
There are still important responsibilities to carry out as NFF's Canadian Representative. Fundraising, oversight of operations, movement forward on the property development, connecting Sponsors and children, and encouraging our partners and staff all remain significant matters that occupy my time any given week.
For all of this, I am so grateful for the kind of communication technology that allows for video conferencing, translation of official documents, minutes and reports, and even the chance to occasionally lead in evening worship time and teaching with the kids.
The Gift of Forward Planning
It was the end of July when I accepted the invitation to serve as interim pastor at Highview. That gave me three and a half months to get ready. Having spent most of February through June working on sermons and lessons for the next trip to Thailand (whenever that may be), I turned my focus to praying over and mapping out how Highview could enter a Christmas and winter season, and beyond, staying strong and connected.
Gathering resources and writing sermons, laying out connection points for the holiday season, reaching out to folks to find out what they're thinking and how they're feeling, good hand off conversations with Pastor Erin, and attending a fair share of meetings in advance, have happily resulted in a working plan that will even out the work load for weeks to come. It also enables me to stay out ahead on sermon prep, a fundamental element to keep the 'crunch work' of pastoral life to a minimum.
The Sheer Beauty of Team
Helen Keller said, "Alone we can do so little. Together we can do so much."
No pastor does this on their own. Highview has always operated within a mindset of a multitude of ministers all serving together according to giftedness, passion and season of life. Some of our ministry teams have been put on hold due to Covid, but folks are eager to serve anyways, and we are forging innovative ways to reroute our energies in all the new ways of being church together that the pandemic has forced/allowed us to imagine.
I am truly honoured to serve alongside such committed, competent people. I know that I will be carried and supported by them just as I seek to carry and support them. See how that works?
I'm not naïve. I'm pretty sure I know what's required of me in these next nine months, and I know there are new things about pastoral work during a pandemic that I'm still getting my head around. But I'm confident with all the contingencies in place that my time is indeed in the hands of a God who knows all things, and gives us strength in it all.
"Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." Psalm 90:12
