When the Congregation's Away, the Pastor Will Play

It's that time of the year!

Summer is in full swing and many of you are finding that your regular duties have slowed to a crawl. The choir takes its annual month-long break, half the congregation is away on vacation, and the associate pastor is probably on sabbatical.

With the office quiet and the campus deserted, most of you have more than a little free time to get a jump on July and August's sermons, or to reorganize the office filing system, or to launch that fundraising drive for the new roof.

Yeah, right.

In reality, you might be spending more time looking busy. Restless, you find yourself engaged in all kinds of activities, things like:

• Sneaking into the toddler room with a bag of microwave popcorn to watch Veggie Tales videos.
• Disguising yourself in a cap and dark glasses to catch a baseball game at 2 p.m. on a Tuesday.
• Rigging the church's dunk tank to ensure there'll be no icy dip for you at this year's summer carnival.
• Taking over the youth group's quarters to create a low-budget, romantic dinner atmosphere for your spouse.
• Giving in to the temptation to push, pull and touch every blinking or flashing gadget in the AV booth despite your lack of expertise in this area. (You do know you could bewilder--or blind--what remains of your congregation with your random combination of blue and yellow flashing disco lights, right?)
• Wearing swimming trunks or a bathing suit under your work clothes so you can run through the sprinklers.
• Borrowing your church's supply of tables and chairs for the barbecue at your place.
• Hiding behind potted plants to avoid the one activity still happening on campus: Vacation Bible School.
• Baffling wide-eyed brides and grooms by showing up at their ceremonies wearing a shimmering gold tuxedo from the church's costume supply--then acting nonchalant.
• Blasting your secret stash of Foghat, Three Dog Night and ABBA records at the office.
• Spending your mornings at Chock Full O' Nuts and your afternoons at Hardee's.

Of course, pastors, perhaps more than most people, are entitled to blow off steam every now and then. For many of you, your average yearly compensation (including housing and auto allowances, salary and other benefits) hovers just above $38,000, according to a study by researcher George Barna. Of course, this probably doesn't cover the endless nights you spend at hospitals and the long days you put in guiding staff members in the right direction.

So, for all of you pastors who'd rather go to a car show today than do pre-marital counseling, or watch a movie instead of presiding over a wedding, or opt for boating in lieu of baptizing, fear not.

I won't tell a soul.

Julie Riddle
Managing Editor
jriddle@vpico.com