Day 4 of 365: The Office

 

The office, why would I choose to blog about my office? What is it about an office that can make someone decompress and get a lot of work done? For me it’s having my computer, music and books (physical and Kindle) on hand in order to do sermon prep. 

Back in the day and perhaps in some churches yet today this place is called “The Pastor’s Study”. My offices have always had a bit of an “unchurchy” feel to them. While I was a youth pastor in Milwaukee my office was more of a music listening room. Sure I had my E Machine computer (remember that brand?), books and a couple of frogs in a cage in it. That office had more of an eclectic museum feel to it with wall to wall music posters from the latest and greatest Christian music artists. Not artists like Amy Grant, Sandy Patti, etc. but Tourniquet, Circle of Dust, Saviour Machine, etc. 

Fast forward many years and my office here at home does not disappoint. Inside it you will see a larger than life velvet Elvis wall hanging, old cameras, collector super hero figures, an old “big dog” stereo system and more. In fact if you have seen my live stream from my office you may have noticed some dolls on one of the shelves. Those were my moms from when she was a little girl. She hand stitched the clothes on them. I think it is very important that whether a pastor has an office inside of a church building or at home that they make it theirs. It doesn’t matter what people think when they walk in…what matters is if you can be productive while you are in it. 

It is within a pastors office that much time is spent in prayer, reading, doing sermon prep and performing pastoral care. If you are a pastor and reading this, I would challenge you to make your office yours. It doesn’t have to be something the church hands to you and says here you go. If you want it red…paint it red. If you want to display your car models then do it. Should you want a large velvet Elvis wallhanging…then go for it. It is in this place that you do your work. 

There was one time I had an office that I was completely unpleased with. While being a youth pastor in Milwaukee the church transitioned into a building WAY beyond our means. It drained the old bank account. While Tracy and I were away on our one year anniversary they made the move. When I came back into the office I noticed my desk out in the garage. They could not fit it into the room that they gave me as my office. It was located in the rectory of this old catholic barn...I mean church. When I noticed the secretary had a new desk and the pastor had his desk, I inquired about what I was going to use. The response I got was "we don't have funds for you so just go look around for a table to use." This made an already infuriated youth pastor even more upset. Tracy and I got in the car and headed out to by my own desk, bookshelves, etc. I am pretty sure that it was that scenario that made me a stickler for having a nice office these days. Ah church politics at their finest.