Ministerial Hangover

Def: Ministerial hangover—how a pastor feels waking up on Monday morning after spending more than five hours in church related activity the previous day.

Symptoms include: not wanting to get out of bed, achyness, thoughts of wanting to quit your job (even though you liked it last week), and the inability to deal with large number of people on this particular day. Symptoms become more severe depending on the number of church crisis (emergency hospital visits, etc) faced by the pastor on the previous day and the number of hours spent in the presence of church people in general.

I am currently experiencing such a hangover.

I love church work and being with church people (well, most of them). I wouldn’t be in this crazy business if I didn’t get excited about seeing the people of God being together and living in community with each other. Being a community takes time, though. It takes worship events and activities that unite us in common purposes and goals. I realize that as crazy as our schedules are these days, it is not only our worship, but our auxiliary activities that occur on Sundays.

Even though our conception of church has changed a lot in over the course of the past several generations (we don’t go to church and stay all afternoon anymore), we still rely heavily on people’s willingness to give up their day off on Sunday for church related functions. There’s always an after-church luncheon, a trustee’s meetings, children’s choir, youth group and even some churches still hold services on Sunday evenings. This makes for some long days, especially if you are one of the pastors who are in charge.

In the case of my current job at a United Methodist congregation in Goldsboro, NC, I have found one of the busiest churches I have ever attended or served at. The day starts early at this place. There are worship preparations to be made around 8 am to get ready for the early bird crowd (senior adults) who are 45 minutes early for Sunday School which begins 9:45. There will be Sunday School lessons to be taught and then prayers, children sermons and sometimes the regular sermon to give in worship (as it was the case this Sunday). Then, after the 10:45 service (thank goodness we only have one) there are pastoral visits to be made over lunch. The afternoon could hold a wide variety of events. On one Sunday, we had a 3:00 service called “Dedication of the Animals.” Yes, following in the tradition of Francis of Assisi, we invited parishioners to bring their animals to the front lawn so that we could have a service of blessing for them (it was a bit strange if you ask me). Baby or wedding showers might occur in the fellowship hall. Or, it might be time for runs to the ICU at the local hospital or time to prepare for the events of the evening. At 5:00 pm, youth and children storm the education wing. Often kids play flag football on the field across the street before the meeting starts. When everyone gets gathered together, it is always great to see so many young families represented in the building during this time. Sometimes I give youth devotions or supervise their games while voices of children singing echo out of the classroom down the hall. By, 6:00 pm there are children’s hand chimes ringing out. And, at 7:00 pm, on most Sunday nights the finale comes: evening worship. A pastor might leave the building around 8:15 pm.

I love getting to know people and I realize this is only done through being with them. But, on mornings like this when I feel the hangover in an intense way I know it is time to take a time out from life (even if it is just a couple hours). I have to be ready for the next ministerial hangover next week…