I have been asked this question a lot in my 11 years of ministry. I think this is a common question to anyone when we are not exactly sure what their “job” consist of. I have asked this question to many people in other professions when I am ignorant of what they do.
It is no different as a Worship Pastor of a church. I think most people think that I listen to music everyday and play the guitar in my office 24/7. Then on the weekends I get up and sing. Although I wish that would be true sometimes, that is not the case.
I remember as a kid always asking my dad what he did as he was a Music Pastor as well. It wasn’t until I started into ministry that I understood the complexity of ministry. So I thought I would just throw a little of what I do as well as many of my other Pastoral peers. Many of the things I do ring true for many of the other people on our team at Bridgepoint Church and other churches.
My main job description is to oversee the workings of the weekend services as well as lead and shepherd the people that are involved in that as well. This spans from the music, sound, media, creative elements, transitional elements and the ebb and flow of the services. Every element big and small falls into my jurisdiction. I work hand in hand with our Senior Pastor under the vision and direction that God has given him for our church. All of these functions require man volunteers and creative thought and help. There is no way I can do all the things we do at Bridgepoint without the teamwork of other people who are sold out to the ministry.
Because of the type of ministry we have at Bridgepoint, we have many volunteers that are involved in this ministry. Due to having 3 services a weekend, we need many volunteers so that we never burn individuals out. So instead of having just 1 electric guitarist, we need 3 or 4. Instead of having 1 sound tech, we need 4 or 5, and so on for every ministry. With all of these ministries there can easily be 100 people involved in rotations and different aspects of ministries. There are 3 seperate bands, 4 different types of vocal ministies, sound techs, media, lighting, production directors, a creative team, and other ministries that all are on a rotation schedule. This requires a lot of communication and planning. Fortunately I have a lot of good help in this area, and have many good lay leaders that help as well. So much of my time is taken up in communication and developing relationships, which is awesome, because that is what I really love. I am also blessed with some help from an administrative assistant named Brenda Fick that helps with some of the communication.
What I do love about what God has called me to do, is I get to do many different things. But what I am learning is God is calling me to first and foremost shepherd people. Yes I love music and I love the area of worshipping through music. I believe that God has gifted me in this area but even more importantly than that, I believe God has called me to Pastor people.
My main job is not to do everything as a Pastor. I am not supposed to sing all of the solos, play every instrument, make every video, make all of the cool graphics, paint every room, lead every group, and come up with all of the cool ideas on my own, and so on. My goal is to empower the people that God has placed in my path to excel in the gifts that God has given them. My main job is to build the people up and empower them to utilize their gifts to their full potential and be the light of the World. Yes there are certain things that God has gifted me as well to do, and I might be the only one to do it, but in most cases there are others that can do it way better than me, so I would be a fool to try to do it on my own. It is usually easier to do many things on my own, but it is not always best.
This is just a portion of what I do and the other Staff at Bridgepoint Church. This doesn’t include all of the leadership meetings making decisions for the church, emailing, visiting people, communications to all ministries, emailing, hanging out with people and counseling them, trying to spend time with the people in your ministry, emailing, weekend preparation, music research and selections, charting music, emailing, media research, a ton of miscellaneous things, dealing with people that are upset(sometimes with me), emailing, sharing with people’s joys and excitement, , emailing, and so on. All of these things I love(except for the upset people on occasion).
My point is that ministry is probably a lot like many of your vocations. There is always something to do. There is never enough time in the day. It is a balancing act between ministry and my home ministry with my family. Both are hugely important. I love what I am called to do. I am very blessed.
I will tell you that our Senior Pastor Jeff Love does what I do and add much more as well. I could write another entry about that some day and just fill some of you in with the enormity of his ministry. The other staff that I work with work insanely hard as well.
I love to talk about what I do, but I would also love to know what you do as well. Many times we have no clue what other people do and how hard they really work. It is very interesting. So that is some of what I do and love.
It is no different as a Worship Pastor of a church. I think most people think that I listen to music everyday and play the guitar in my office 24/7. Then on the weekends I get up and sing. Although I wish that would be true sometimes, that is not the case.
I remember as a kid always asking my dad what he did as he was a Music Pastor as well. It wasn’t until I started into ministry that I understood the complexity of ministry. So I thought I would just throw a little of what I do as well as many of my other Pastoral peers. Many of the things I do ring true for many of the other people on our team at Bridgepoint Church and other churches.
My main job description is to oversee the workings of the weekend services as well as lead and shepherd the people that are involved in that as well. This spans from the music, sound, media, creative elements, transitional elements and the ebb and flow of the services. Every element big and small falls into my jurisdiction. I work hand in hand with our Senior Pastor under the vision and direction that God has given him for our church. All of these functions require man volunteers and creative thought and help. There is no way I can do all the things we do at Bridgepoint without the teamwork of other people who are sold out to the ministry.
Because of the type of ministry we have at Bridgepoint, we have many volunteers that are involved in this ministry. Due to having 3 services a weekend, we need many volunteers so that we never burn individuals out. So instead of having just 1 electric guitarist, we need 3 or 4. Instead of having 1 sound tech, we need 4 or 5, and so on for every ministry. With all of these ministries there can easily be 100 people involved in rotations and different aspects of ministries. There are 3 seperate bands, 4 different types of vocal ministies, sound techs, media, lighting, production directors, a creative team, and other ministries that all are on a rotation schedule. This requires a lot of communication and planning. Fortunately I have a lot of good help in this area, and have many good lay leaders that help as well. So much of my time is taken up in communication and developing relationships, which is awesome, because that is what I really love. I am also blessed with some help from an administrative assistant named Brenda Fick that helps with some of the communication.
What I do love about what God has called me to do, is I get to do many different things. But what I am learning is God is calling me to first and foremost shepherd people. Yes I love music and I love the area of worshipping through music. I believe that God has gifted me in this area but even more importantly than that, I believe God has called me to Pastor people.
My main job is not to do everything as a Pastor. I am not supposed to sing all of the solos, play every instrument, make every video, make all of the cool graphics, paint every room, lead every group, and come up with all of the cool ideas on my own, and so on. My goal is to empower the people that God has placed in my path to excel in the gifts that God has given them. My main job is to build the people up and empower them to utilize their gifts to their full potential and be the light of the World. Yes there are certain things that God has gifted me as well to do, and I might be the only one to do it, but in most cases there are others that can do it way better than me, so I would be a fool to try to do it on my own. It is usually easier to do many things on my own, but it is not always best.
This is just a portion of what I do and the other Staff at Bridgepoint Church. This doesn’t include all of the leadership meetings making decisions for the church, emailing, visiting people, communications to all ministries, emailing, hanging out with people and counseling them, trying to spend time with the people in your ministry, emailing, weekend preparation, music research and selections, charting music, emailing, media research, a ton of miscellaneous things, dealing with people that are upset(sometimes with me), emailing, sharing with people’s joys and excitement, , emailing, and so on. All of these things I love(except for the upset people on occasion).
My point is that ministry is probably a lot like many of your vocations. There is always something to do. There is never enough time in the day. It is a balancing act between ministry and my home ministry with my family. Both are hugely important. I love what I am called to do. I am very blessed.
I will tell you that our Senior Pastor Jeff Love does what I do and add much more as well. I could write another entry about that some day and just fill some of you in with the enormity of his ministry. The other staff that I work with work insanely hard as well.
I love to talk about what I do, but I would also love to know what you do as well. Many times we have no clue what other people do and how hard they really work. It is very interesting. So that is some of what I do and love.
I'm so glad you posted this. People ask me every once in a while what the Pastors here at Bridgepoint Church do all day and I have such a hard time relating to them the ammount of stuff you guys do do. This is an awesome 'summary.'
And I just have to say that all you guys do so much for the church and we have one of the best staff's around!
I have to say that working along side of the Pastors of Bridgepoint for 23 years, You all do a super job. People will never understand the amount of hours you people put in and then balance that with your families, God, fun time, and responsibilities would be overwhelming to the average person. But when a person is in the ministry, I feel God gives them the extra strength to keep going on without burning out. This church is extremely blessed to have the men (and women) on our staff that serve God with passion, and in turn flows down to the people who attend Bridgepoint. Thank you so much!
First off - Thanks for all you do! You are a great leader!! Although I don't fully comprehend all that you deal with specifically @ BP - I do understand on some level the question of "what in the world do you do?"....soooo....if I don't say it often enough - thanks for dealing with everything & giving of yourself!
I just have a hard time beleiving you dislike handling the upset people you get...that doesn't happen in ministry....does it? hee hee