Most of my week was spent at Harker’s island at a study retreat, courtesy of the hospitality of an elder. Outside the occasional walk or run, I locked myself away indoors writing, reading, studying, praying, and planning. I’ve had the steady habit of taking a study week every year for most of my pastoral ministry. At times I felt guilty for the luxury of solitude away from daily pastoral and family demands. But I’ve come to recognize that these study retreats are some of the most important work I do in a year, if not the most difficult. After all, Jesus sets the pattern of withdrawing to a desolate place (Lk 5:16).
Coming off this week, I thought it would be helpful to debrief and give you an inside look at my pastoral work and planning.
Writing and Sermon Preparation
Due to some of the recent demands of ministry, I had fallen a bit behind in my sermon preparation and had to do some catch-up this week. I’m a bit of an anomaly compared to most pastors I know. I usually like to stay a minimum of two weeks ahead with the complete first draft of the sermon manuscript. I start preaching through the household codes of Ephesians this Sunday, and it has taken some extra time and research to get the three sermons on marriage written. Plus, I’m preaching at the Equip and Edify conference on Saturday, October 1, 2022. You should come if you are in the area! So I spent just about a whole day working on that message, which will be a biblical and historical overview of the authority of Scripture.
Sometimes I get asked how long it takes to prepare a sermon. It varies, usually taking a full work day (around 8 hours) to finish the first draft done, sometimes longer. Then, on the weekend I preach it, I pick back up the draft of the manuscript after letting it sit for a few weeks. I usually spend another 4–5 hours between Saturday evening and Sunday morning reworking it and internalizing it. So I guess I spend 10–15 hours per sermon. Due to the intensive concentration of my study leave, I was able to write three complete sermons over the last few days.
The Sermon Calendar
The sermon calendar is by far the most cumbersome but the most important task I accomplish at the study retreat. I start several weeks before the retreat by prayerfully discerning which books to preach through for the following year. Then, during the week, I study the text to discern the best places to break up the book for preaching, determining how many weeks it will take to preach the message. From there, I play calendar Tetris to figure out which text to preach each Sunday. This process includes discerning when to give opportunities to other men to minister the Word, fitting it all within the calendar and rhythms of Redemption Chruch.
The sermon calendar spreadsheet includes the sermon text, service theme, and other Scripture readings. I also include the prayer meeting preachers/passages and the Core Seminar schedule/topics. The spreadsheet is a master calendar for the public ministry of the Word at Redemption Church.
Having this master spreadsheet for the next year alleviates the weekly pressures of service planning from scratch and allows me to share it with my elders and staff for feedback and revision. What I’ve completed this week is just a first draft, which will undergo edits in the coming month. But the goal is that a plan is in place by the time the new year dawns. Occasionally it gets altered during the year, but not usually.
In addition, I also put together a draft of important dates for the 2023 church calendar (outreach events, members’ meetings, etc.). I also put together the schedule and plan for the elders’ meetings for the year. The study week is my most concentrated week of prayer and planning for the year.
I know those of you reading as Redemption Church members will be curious to know the books we will study next year. It looks like we will do 1 and 2 Samuel for most of 2023 and begin the gospel of John in the fall of 2023, carrying us over into 2024.
Solitude and Prayer
While I miss my family and the members of the church for a few days, I find the time of withdrawal and solitude refreshing to my soul. Solitude gives ample time for prayer and thinking, immersing my soul in the means of grace. It’s difficult to describe the mental and spiritual fatigue that can come from the weekly demands of pastoral ministry to those unfamiliar with them. Unlike other professions where you do excellent work with your soul out of spiritual alignment, the pastor’s job becomes cumbersome, hypocritical, and unsustainable without the proper care of one’s soul. Put simply, a man can only fake love for the Lord and his church for so long. If a pastor doesn’t regularly stoke his affections for the Lord through solitude, he won’t last. You can only grit and bear the hypocrisy for so long before you tap out or burn out.
All this means, perhaps a bit counterintuitively, that loving my people well means caring for my soul. A pastor can’t shepherd others if he has not first learned to shepherd his own wayward heart. Doing my job with excellence means devoting myself to solitude, not as a vacation from work but as a vital component of my work.
And what a joy it is to serve a congregation that so eagerly supports me in this work and elders who free me to take up the discipline of solitude.
"If a pastor doesn’t regularly stoke his affections for the Lord through solitude, he won’t last. You can only grit and bear the hypocrisy for so long before you tap out or burn out." Such wisdom God has blessed you with! As a member of Redemption Church I want to lovingly add that not only Solitude and Prayer is necessary for a Pastor and his preparation but for his sheep as well! The Holy Spirit convicted and blessed me to practice daily self-reflection years ago. It has drawn me closer to God, his Word and my church family. Praise the Lord! Thank you Justin for sharing this article with us and I pray it will speak to all who read it.