Creating an Environment for Good Ideas and Insights for Ministry

A remarkable thing happened to me a few days ago: I had several good ideas and insights that related to my ministry in various ways.  Not one, but two clear ideas for future sermon series.  An insight about some personal study I've been doing on race and the church.  And, if it's not too strong of a word, an epiphany about the challenges of church finance in this climate.

Each of these insights and ideas seemed to be of a higher caliber than most of my day-to-day work.  And it was noteworthy that there were so many good ideas on a single day, which only happens a few times a year.

As a pastor, I frequently find my self focused on two basic types of work.  One, I fulfill the basic weekly and monthly duties of my job, as related to worship planning and execution, writing and preparing items for the newsletters and bulletins, dealing with regular administrative work, and seeing to ongoing pastoral care.  Second, I "put out fires" and respond to the work that others give to me, returning phone calls, keeping up with email and social media, making emergency visits, and so on. 

Sometimes, time for planning and reflection gets pushed off the calendar, especially if I'm not careful.  I know that I cannot effectively pastor without such time.  However, I also know that many of my best ideas arrive on their own schedule.

Even so, I think there was a confluence of events that led to my recent day of good ideas and insights that prepared me to have/receive them.

1. Prayer - Like many people, my prayer life ebbs and flows.  However, in the days leading up to and including the the day of ideas and insights, I had been intentional about my prayer time, as I usually am in the closing days of Lent.  I've learned that my worship leadership and preaching are better during Holy Week and on Easter Sunday if I've been diligent about protecting specific (and sometimes longer) times of prayer.  Such prayer practice allows for some extra breathing space, reminds me what I need to focus on, and often allows God to whisper -- or drop breadcrumbs -- to guide me.  In other words, these prayers makes me more open to God.
2. Sabbath Days - I do not think that it was a coincidence that the day of good ideas and insights occurred on a Tuesday, after I had enjoyed a sabbath day on that Monday.  From the beginning, God has frequently reminded people of the need and benefit of rest, but often we get so focused on all we have to do and want to do that we shortchange such rest.  Like a field that lays uncultivated for a season, sometimes the break increases our productivity.  
3. Vacation/Leave Time - The day of ideas and insights came just a few days after I ended paternity leave.  Not every minister has the opportunity for parental or sabbatical leave each year, but all of us have vacation time, which we need to take.  Some pastors think it is a sign of faithfulness when they don't take all of their vacation time; so do some congregations.  But we all need extended breaks to refresh our spirits and recharge our batteries.  Vacations often create a heavier workload immediately before and after, as we "get ahead" and "catch up."  They also allow space for relaxation, for distraction, for reflection, and for a different daily schedule.  Like a regular sabbath day, these times prepare us for greater productivity by creating space for new ideas and better openness to good ideas from others.
4. Fulfilling Personal Habits - Over the years, I've discovered that I'm a happier person and a better all-around minister when I regularly do certain things.  The two that immediately come to mind for the recent day of ideas and insights were exercise and reading, which I sometimes do at the same time.  For whatever reasons, I have seen negative impacts in my life when I don't exercise regularly and when I don't read enough (or read broadly enough).  But, partially because of time on sabbath days and paternity leave, I had fully kept up on both, even going to the gym that morning, where I had the first of the really good ideas.  Perhaps these two won't work for everyone, but I am convinced that we each have things we regularly need to do for ourselves -- keep up with certain relationships, feed our artistic itches, volunteer in certain ways, journal/write, etc.  We just need to be honest about which ones seem to make a noticeable difference and carefully make sure we make them into regular habits in our lives.
5. Doing Other Things - It was the Tuesday before Palm Sunday.  I was finalizing all of the details for our five distinct Holy Week and Easter worship services.  I was finalizing worship planning for the Easter season (which I was late in getting to our music directors).  I was answering questions in person and by email and going to meetings and activities I'd promised to attend.  And the ideas just kept coming.  Briefly, I just wished that I'd have a flash of genius about what I was focused on that day.  Still, I imagine that the work I was doing that day was the final catalyst in bringing about these new ideas and insights.  Sometimes I can take a retreat or a long walk to try to hash out certain things or plan and see good results, but mostly, my best ideas come when I'm engaged and working on other things.

I'm not promising that if you focus on these five things this week, you'll suddenly have epiphany after epiphany.  As I've written, I try to make them common habits in my life, and I don't notice such good ideas weekly.  Plus, I'm sure there were other factors that I don't realize, or have just downplayed, that were essential to my recent day of good ideas and insights.  

Over time, though, these are five ways of approaching my ministry and my life that have created space for my best ideas and insights.  Or, to put it in more churchy language, these are five things I do to more intentionally create space in my life for God, especially for God's whispers and breadcrumbs of guidance and encouragement.