Do you ever feel overwhelmed with everything you have on your plate? Feel like there’s just not enough hours in a day to accomplish everything at home and church? Church planters must ask themselves how to balance ministry and home life.
It’s a tension that you must learn to manage if you want to go the distance in ministry.
In my coaching program, I ask everyone that is participating this question.
Can you go the distance with your current pace?
Often, the answer is “no.”
What about you? Can you sustain your current pace long-term? Let’s go a little deeper; can you sustain your current pace and be happy? And be a good parent? And be a good spouse?
Being fully present when you’re at work and fully present when you’re at home is not an easy task. But it can be done with the right strategy and commitment. Let’s talk about seven keys you can use to keep home and ministry balanced.
How Church Planters Can Balance Ministry and Home Life
Key #1 – Work when you are at work and then get home.
Sometimes when someone says they are always at the church working, they may be at the church, but they may not be working as much as they think they are. Take out an extended lunch, time on social media, time just chit-chatting with co-workers and time just goofing off, and those “long hours working” at church are reduced.
If you want more time to spend at home and with your family, then get your work done and go home. This doesn’t mean you can’t have fun or any relax time at work, but it does mean you are focused and not wasting time.
Key #2 – Set time for your family on your calendar just like you would for a ministry appointment.
You know what happens. You have a date night planned with your spouse. But an afternoon phone call comes in that a couple is about to divorce and want to come talk with you that evening.
What should you do? Drop the dinner with our spouse and meet with them? Not if you already have an appointment that evening with your spouse. Just kindly let them know you already have a meeting that night, but you’ll be glad to meet with them the next day.
And don’t feel “guilty” about it. How are you going to help other peoples’ marriage if you don’t have a strong marriage yourself? How will you teach a parenting class if you don’t spend time investing in your own child?
Key #3 – Know the season of life you are in.
Seasons of life can heavily influence how you do ministry. If your kids are in preschool or elementary, you will need to be home more in the evenings and block out time for them. When you become an empty-nester, you will have more time available to do things you want to do. But right now focus on your children. They will be grown and gone before you know it. You only get one chance to raise them.
“Don’t blow it by making building the church more important than building your children.”
