How a pastor creates boundaries

Charles Stone Aug. 30, 2018

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Every pastor struggles with accessibility in one way or another. Should we make ourselves accessible around the clock or should we not? 

I believe that pastors who make themselves accessible 24-7 can’t do the job God has called them to do. We must proactively plan how we spend our days, making sure that we allocate time for our key responsibilities that include sermon prep, strategic planning and leadership development. Although emergencies sometimes take precedence over our planned schedules, we must manage our time to reasonably meet people’s personal needs while still fulfilling the strategic roles we must play.

On the other hand, I’ve known some pastors who simply don’t make themselves accessible at all. I knew one pastor who told me that he disappeared after a Sunday service because he didn’t want to interact with people. He didn’t last long in ministry. I’ve found that most church people will not abuse the access you give to them. We are called shepherds and we must spend time with the sheep. Otherwise, we won’t know their needs, hurts and pains and as a result, we can’t lead the church to help meet those needs.

So in my view, wisdom must dictate how accessible we allow ourselves to be. We must guard our time so that we can accomplish our strategic roles I mentioned above. At the same time, we must interact with people which requires reasonable accessibility.

Here’s what I do to try to keep a balance. I’ve certainly not arrived, but these practices have served me well.

• I use two email addresses. One I use regularly is not public. The other is available through our website that goes directly to my assistant. Often she can handle many of the requests that come via that email address. Those that I must handle, she forwards to me.

• I don’t feel obligated to immediately answer every call. Sometimes I intentionally let the call go to voicemail and answer the call later in the day when I return calls.

• I have determined who needs to have the highest priority access to me. My family, our elders and our key staff have the highest access to me. They have my cell phone number and know that in an emergency they can call or text me. I’m there for them. If they become aware of emergencies in our church, they can quickly get in touch with me. This recently happened with a sudden death in our church. Once I was alerted, I immediately met with the family.

• I guard against getting sucked into Facebook. I interact very little with Facebook. I do use Twitter and link it to other social media platforms, but I seldom communicate through Facebook. Often, though, I will interact on Twitter because it takes little of my time.

• I often float in our lobby to make myself available for people just for chit-chat.

• When I close each service, I say that I will be at our guest area in the lobby and that I’d love to meet people I’ve not yet met. One of our elders closes the service with prayer while I walk to the lobby. Visitors and regulars often come to chat with me at that time. We both enjoy it and our church people feel that I am accessible, often through simply watching me interact with others in a visible place.

• When someone tells me on a Sunday that he or she wants to meet with me, I put the responsibility on them to call the church office. I explain that my assistant schedules appointments. Only about 25 percent actually call back. I work off the premise that if someone really wants to meet with me, they will take the effort to make the call and schedule the appointment with my assistant.

It’s always a challenge to strike the right balance. But if we approach accessibility with a plan, I believe we’ll get done what needs to get done while at the same time maintain healthy accessibility.

How do you handle accessibility?

Photo source: istock 

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Charles Stone coaches and equips pastors and teams to effectively navigate the unique challenges ministry brings. By blending biblical principles with cutting-edge brain-based practices he helps them enhance their leadership abilities, elevate their preaching/ teaching skills, and prioritize self-care. A pastor for over 42 years, he has served as a lead pastor, associate pastor, and church planter. He published seven books, and over 300 of his articles have appeared on various Christian leadership websites. He holds four earned academic degrees, including a D.Min. and a Ph.D. Learn More »

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