I have been out of seminary for 12 years now, and have served 2 great churches. These churches like all of us as individuals, have their unique traits that can be celebrated, along with the things we wish could be done differently. But they both have one thing in common. They are institutions take work. More on that in a moment.
As a seminary student I was bombarded day in and day out with the task of thinking critically and theologically. It surrounded everything we did which of course was important. I think I have forgotten more about theologians such Moltmann, Niebuhr(Both of them), Schliermacher, and other theologians and Biblical scholars, than I thought I would ever know. But in my educational work to become a pastor, this was the world we lived in. The assumption was when it came to the other stuff, you would learn that in your field placements. However, those placements usually gave you a chance to visit folks, run the church youth group, and preach every now and then. Again all fine things but not the nitty-gritty of life in the church. I am grateful for all I learned (even what I forgotten) but there was something missing.
All the theology in the world does not help you run a building campaign, deal with people who think the custodian isn't doing their job, deal with the leaky faucet in the kitchen, or deal with the kitchen licensing inspector. Theology has no regard for meeting with an engineer along with your board of trustees to go over plans for a new parking lot project. All the theology in the world won't help you find a creative approach to getting more money to keep from reducing the rest of your staff.
The great secret that nobody tells you in seminary or as you prepare to go to seminary is that about half of your pastoral work will be occupied with administration. As I say to some of my folks when they ask me a budget question or a statistical question that calls me to crunch numbers quickly: "I went in to ministry thinking their would be very little math. Yeah that wasn't true." The danger for us is it can be easy to administer our life away and not focus on the real reason we went into this vocation, which is our relationship with God. So what do we do?
First: Prayer is vital. Without prayer, however you do it, (my best prayer times are usually as I'm getting ready in the morning) our focus for our work is incomplete at best, and unfounded at worst. Be in prayer every day even about the small stuff. Prayer reminds us that we are still developing our relationship with God, even as we try to help others do the same.
Second: Know your Mission. Ask yourself and for that matter your board chairs and staff how in everything that we do are we fulfilling our mission of the church. Even letting an employee go can be a mission fulfilling experience. Not a pleasant one but if it is necessary to move forward with the mission, it counts. I ask everyday, how does our parking lot project, fixing the broken doors, dealing with issues regarding a parishioners last will, filing court documents for said will, and filing reports,meet the mission of the church. There needs to be a way for them to fulfill the mission of your church. If not then look at how and why you are doing what your doing.
Third: Stay connected. Jesus withdrew for rest and renewal, but his ministry mattered because he stayed connected. He connected with his disciples, those he taught, the miracles he demonstrated kept them connected to him and ultimately through him, connected to God. Seek the counsel of colleagues and friends, but also stay connected with the people God has called you to serve. Any church meeting can be a spiritual fulfilling event if we all stay connected to one another.
I'm sure there are others that one could add to the list, but those are the 3 things I do to stay grounded with my theological training amidst the seemingly mundane work in the church. Take what you learned and use it. It's all about God in the end.
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