Avizandum. In Scots law, this term describes the careful consideration given by the judge before an important decision. Join me each week as we explore various topics from a spiritual perspective and take matters avizandum. Fairly frequently, people jokingly say that I only work an hour a week. They're referring to the hour when I preach.
From time to time, people also ask me what I do all week.
So I thought it would be helpful to outline a week in the life of a pastor.
So I'm going to take a recent past week. When I came to Calvary Church, I stated my overall calling as a preacher of grace and a shepherd of souls.
Now that's a lofty goal and requires considerable time in prayer, study, counsel, visitation, and so on. I have a very supportive wife in Goodney who never complains about my busy schedule, as well as encouraging and praying for me. She works quietly behind the scenes, encouraging women, having single, widowed, and divorced women into her home. I'm also grateful for my executive assistant. It's difficult to think how I could serve at the pace I do without her.
Let me rehearse my schedule this past week. I seek to do all in the power of the Spirit, looking for strength and wisdom from our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.
So on Monday, I came to the office at six thirty a.m. for a time of quiet prayer and study. I also went over my schedule for the coming week. In the morning, I met with her coordinator of media to encourage her and to get an overall idea of her schedule. She reports directly to our executive pastor, as do many of her staff.
In the afternoon, I first met with one of her members at Calvary, who has a very complex and difficult family situation. I sought to guide her from Scripture, pray with her, and counsel her. She seemed very grateful and left saying she now had a path forward. Later that afternoon, I met with a widow and two of her children. Her husband died that week, and she and her family met with me to prepare for the coming funeral service and discuss all of the components of that.
Once a month, the deacons, elders, and pastors of Calvary meet for a time of concentrated prayer. Before the prayer meeting that evening, I met with one of her elders to discuss the coming nomination process. Tuesdays are meant to be my day off when I try not to make any appointments. With my mornings usually free, I prepare for the coming message. I'm going through Luke's gospel consecutively.
Later that day, I went into the office and met with our pastor of worship to discuss the coming worship service on Sunday. But also to look forward to her Christmas concert, which is one of her outreaches at Calvary. It's always a joy to meet with her pastor of worship, whom I have known and served with for almost 30 years. On Wednesday, I was responsible for the weekly staff devotions. We're consecutively going through Galatians, and the passage that morning was Galatians 1, verses 6 through 9.
It's a passage where Paul warns the Galatians not to depart from the gospel, and I took the opportunity to remind our staff of the centrality of the gospel and encourage them to study it and communicate it. We have a Torah in the prayer room. Once a month, we roll it so that the same portions are not shown all of the time. This is good for the. Preservation of the Torah, so we have to treat it gently.
And with an app, I'm able to discover in English what the passage of scripture in Hebrews is. After that, I had meetings with staff, and also an opportunity to catch up on my numerous emails. They seem never to stop. I receive all kinds of questions and concerns. And I counted a privilege to answer quickly all of the emails.
Later that day, still on Wednesday, I met with a couple who are getting married next year. It was a Zoom call. I listened to their testimonies and then explained the process of going through marital counseling. They responded well. I emphasized that for the next sessions, I wanted to meet them in person.
At the moment, I'm teaching a Wednesday elective on communication of the Word of God. This is the first time I've taught it, and I ask some of the attenders to give a short message, no more than three minutes. There's been a great response. We have about sixty people attending the class.
Next day, on that Thursday morning, I met with the child development staff, divided into two sections. The first session was 7:45 to 8:15 a.m. Then I met with another group from 8:15 to 8:45. The CDC staff were very attentive as I encouraged them from a passage of Scripture. Then a few of them prayed.
This keeps the spiritual vitality in our child development center at Calvary, which is led by a very competent and godly director. This was followed that Thursday by preparation for verdict, and my podcast I was ending. The first week I write a script and then record it at Calvary. That Thursday, this was followed by lunch appointment with one of our members. Unlike most, he didn't have an agenda other than wanting to get to know me and talking about the various ministries of Calvary.
Later that day, that Thursday, we had a tremendous shock at Calvary. One of our valued members of staff had a sudden heart attack, and was taken to hospital, and died the next day. There were tears, and a sense of shock by our staff. I had asked one of our pastors to go to the hospital and to keep us informed, and also to minister to the family. That afternoon, I called the staff for prayer, and we met in their office.
On Friday at seven a.m., I met with our executive committee. We have a monthly meeting on the Fridays before the session meeting on the Monday. There are three elders on the executive committee plus myself. We have a time in the Word of God, eat breakfast, and that Friday we considered. First Thessalonians five verses one through eleven.
We read the passage, made a few comments, and a discussion followed. We focused on verse eleven, where we are instructed to encourage and build up one another. One of the members of the executive committee has contracted COVID, and he joined us on the telephone. Thereafter, I met with my executive assistant, the executive pastor, and some other staff. Then I was able to get some time to study, and prepare for the coming funeral, and for preaching on Sunday.
That Friday afternoon, I had a Zoom interview with Disciple Radio in Oregon. They broadcast verdict, a radio program, and wanted to know some background about me. I enjoyed the interview, and then I continued to prepare for the funeral and preaching later in the day. Our grandson plays football for Lancaster High School. He goes to a Christian school in Lancaster, but because the school does not have a football program, he's allowed to play for the local high school.
That evening, Goody and I travelled to Lancaster for the game. It was their homecoming, so the parking lots were packed. I must confess, this was the first homecoming I've ever been to. It was kind of interesting that here in America they call someone a king and someone a queen.
Well, back to the game. I'm glad to say, Lancaster won, and then we drove back home, arriving about ten o'clock. On the Saturday morning, I again worked on my message for the funeral, and for preaching on the Sunday. Later that Saturday, I joined the grieving family at Calvary, for what we call the Martha Ministry meal. Our sisters at Calvary prepare a meal for the family.
Thereafter, I officiated at the funeral service of our highly esteemed brother. This took place in the sanctuary of Calvary. Afterwards, there was a graveside service in our cemetery, which I conducted. Going home that Saturday, trying to relax a little bit, a couple at Calvary had invited Goodney and myself into their home for dinner. We arranged to go there at five p.m., so I wasn't too late to prepare for Sunday.
I had a wonderful time of fellowship. On the Sunday, prior to the morning service, I met with families who were dedicating their children at Calvary. Then I preached. The Lord helped, and I knew the spirits helped as I preached. After this, I conducted the first session of our membership class.
About eighty people attended the first session in our chapel. That afternoon, I relaxed a bit and then began preparing for next Sunday's message. Getting time to pray and study for preaching is always on my mind, and usually I don't have enough time. On the Sunday evening, Goodney had invited some people in for dinner, so that occupied the evening. After the dinner, I began to pray about the coming week and, in particular, my preaching.
Now, each week of my life is different. I didn't mention that during the week I had several difficult pastoral situations. In a large church like Calvary, there are constant difficult situations, and while the Lord is shared by my fellow pastors, it seems that many of them come to me. I must say I am greatly helped by our executive pastor, who oversees the administration and also the support staff.
So. That is some of my week in the life of a preacher of grace and shepherd of souls. I'm privileged to serve at Calvary as a senior pastor. Yes, life is busy, so I covet your prayers, Avizandum. You're listening to the weekly Avizandum podcast from The Verdict, featuring Pastor John Monroe.
John is senior pastor at Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. Listen to John's daily program, The Verdict, on broadcast radio or major podcast platforms. For more information about The Verdict Ministry, visit us online at calvarychurch.com/slash-the-verdict.
