Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Well, the stats are in. And I gotta tell you, I wasn't really that surprised to find out that most pastors are not getting enough vacation time. In this conversation, we're going to talk about six tips to help pastors maximize the little vacation time that they're getting. Let's do this.
You're listening to the Reach Right podcast, the show dedicated to helping your church reach more people and grow.
Hey guys, I'm Thomas.
[00:00:29] Speaker B: And I'm ian.
[00:00:30] Speaker A: And today we're talking about pastor vacation tips. And there's some new stats that are out there that show that 21% of pastors are vacationing all wrong. So we thought it'd be an important conversation for us to have. And I don't know, as someone who pastored for most of my adult life, I know that vacations were things that were I never worked in a place where I wasn't able to take vacations, but being able to actually go and do it, to take a vacation was actually a challenge for me. So I imagine that most pastors have a similar experience, that vacations can be a challenge. I think we all kind of struggle with that. And so we wanted to give some tips today on things we've picked up over the years to help pastors take vacations and get the most out of them. But yeah, it should be a good conversation.
[00:01:19] Speaker B: Pastors work hard, they need rest, they need a vacation. And I think it's one of those jobs, if you will, that often the vacation can be neglected based on what a pastor does day in and day out, helping people and people business.
[00:01:35] Speaker A: Yeah, for me, what I always ran into, and I imagine a lot of our audience can relate to this, is that in the times where I took vacations, it seemed like that that was always when the biggest catastrophes within our church would take place. So whether it be just people's marriages blowing up or major building issues or whatever there would be, I think it's probably, in my mind, it's kind of a way that I make myself feel more important. I imagine those things happen all the time, but it just seemed like when I was out of pocket or trying to vacation, it seemed like it was more pressing than it maybe would have felt if I was there in the office or doing my normal work. So I think that's how I experience it. But I know that there's probably some churches that are actually set up in a way where they don't give enough vacation time to their pastors, know that maybe a week or something like that is normal. But we actually have some stats that we just saw from Tom Rayner, right? Ian?
[00:02:31] Speaker B: Yeah, from Tom Rayner himself. And he's obviously put out a lot of great stats, church specific stats, over the years. And I know we've gleamed from a lot of his stuff. So I'll just rattle these off. So basically these revealing stats showed that 21% and this is the main one we'll focus on here today, but had no vacation or only a week's vacation.
And this is within a year, right? Thomas within a year, calendar year, yeah, that's right. And then 28% had just two weeks vacation. 14%, three weeks vacation and then 25% good for these four weeks vacation. And then five or more weeks was 12% of pastors that they got a vacation in a given year. So, yeah, really telling.
[00:03:20] Speaker A: Yeah, I don't know if those churches are hiring those five week vacation churches.
We'll put the link in the description so you can find those churches, I guess there that are offering that kind of vacation.
And I think what these stats seem to show that we did have that four week one, which I was actually surprised to see that many pastors getting four weeks of vacation. But I think the thing to be concerned with was, like you said, that bottom number, that 21% of pastors anecdotally I feel like these numbers are closer to what churches give to their pastors, maybe not so much what they're actually taking.
And I think that in reality, a lot of times when people are given five weeks or four weeks of vacation, just being able to take two of the weeks can be a real challenge. And I know that I felt that way. And a lot of times when you are especially, I've planted churches and I've led young churches where you don't really have policies in place at your church. A lot of times that a board has decided exactly how much vacation time you get. And as the church leader, you kind of decide this yourself a little bit. And I typically would err on the side of putting more pressure on myself to take less vacation. But I don't know, I can't say that I was surprised by these numbers. Maybe a few of the ones that were up, like the four and five weeks, that was a little bit surprising to me. But 21% of pastors taking no vacation or maybe as much as one week, you're getting yourself into some dangerous territory when you're doing that, I think. And we wanted to spend this episode kind of unpacking some of the reasons why and then, I don't know, kind of give some tips on things we've picked up on how you can get better in these areas here. So I don't know. Any thoughts on that, Ian, about the 21%?
[00:05:05] Speaker B: No, I'm not surprised because I talk with so many pastors, as you know thomas day in and day out and I talk to so many that I build relationship with. We love every pastor that comes our way and we love helping the local church and yeah, just over the years, that 20%. I mean, I guess it's surprising, but it's not to me. As someone who has consulted with pastors for years, I do hear of so many pastors that are just they're overworked not taking a vacation tell me they need a vacation. And so, yeah, it is definitely an issue that needs to be addressed.
[00:05:44] Speaker A: I'd love to know our audience, like just to do our own kind of little poll. So let us know now down in the description if you're watching this on YouTube, where I think most of you probably engage with our content now is YouTube. But let us know down in the description how much vacation time do you get and how much vacation time do you take in a given year on average. And be honest about it, we'd love to hear kind of what you take and which way you'd like to see that go. So let's dig into some of the tips though, ian, I'll go ahead and kick it off. The first one is that we think it's really important that you prioritize ties, duration and quality of vacation. And by that I think what that means is, yes, you need to take the time. And even if you only get, let's say, two weeks a year, you can have two very refreshing weeks. But what I see a lot of church leaders do is use those two weeks as a time to catch up on all the other family stuff that they have to do. So if you're taking your vacation time and what that's actually doing is it's you kind of tackling all those house projects that you've been meaning to get to and installing ceiling fans and fixing rotting trim and that kind of stuff. Let's just put that out there. That's not a vacation work, right? That's not worth and I think you have to know yourself. Maybe there are people where that is something that is really restful for you. I know lately I've been doing finding some joy and doing a little bit of like woodworking work that I do around the house. And it's not like repair projects, but I'm making picture frames is something that I've really had a lot of fun. Yeah, it's more of a hobby type thing. Exactly. So maybe that's the case. I'm not saying don't do your Hobies in vacation time, but if it just looks like doing work and it looks the same as just as what you would normally want to do on your Saturdays because you have a honeydew list or things that have to get taken care of, that's not a vacation. So don't count that in your time there and actually plan time where you can do things that are restful and relaxing to both you and to your family. That's really what it comes down to. I know so often we try to save some bucks and maybe drive to something that's local and you have to do those kinds of things, but we all know that driving is stressful. I know you drove a lot this last weekend, right? Ian, you told me about car issues that you guys were having. It just adds to your stress in a lot of ways. So make sure when you're talking about vacation time that it's actually time that you get to spend doing things that give you peace and are relaxing for you. That's the point.
[00:08:13] Speaker B: Yeah, that's funny. Before the next one reminded me, I mentioned that I talk to a lot of pastors that don't take enough vacations, while I also have had pastors who are on vacation that schedule consultations with me. And I'm like, hey, you're on vacation here and no, this is something I have to do. And I'm like, are you sure we can reschedule? So it goes both ways, right? Just like you said. Totally get actual rest. Okay, so here's another effective way to do this and plan is plan around the church calendar. Timing is everything, as they say, and plan your vacation periods around maybe more laid back times of the year within church and ministry life. So it reminded me of actually kind of what we do at our company here, where we all now, we take different vacations at different times, but we do try to plan those accordingly. And our team kind of shuts down in between Christmas and New Year's as we know that we work with churches and we know that most churches are not active as well during that time with things that we provide. And so, same thing for your church. Be thinking of, okay, what times in the year are we not doing big outreach stuff or sermon series or key times? Every church kind of knows the events and the things they do. So plan accordingly around the church calendar or seasonal church calendar.
[00:09:35] Speaker A: Yeah, I think that's good. I think we see that in our business as well when it comes to summertime, right? So generally we have a slower summer here when we're helping churches because a lot of pastors get it that that's the right time to take vacations. And it's natural, you have kids and they're in school and that's the time that they're out. And usually it seems like it's planned around some of those holiday weekends. So 4 July week, Labor Day, Memorial Day, those kinds of times there, you kind of schedule it around that because generally speaking, a lot of people in your church will be out of town at that time. It just kind of makes sense that you would do it in those seasons there. So, yeah, I think act accordingly. Don't take that week before Easter off. That's not a good time for it. And you're right before Christmas Eve services, it's probably not the best time for a vacation. So, yeah, plan it accordingly. It'll serve you well in the long run. Good. Next one is make sure you get a handle and delegate the responsibilities that you have to delegate. This is something that I think is a big mistake that I see a lot of church leaders make is that you're going on vacation but you don't have a game plan for all of those things that will inevitably happen while you're gone because these things still need to happen in your church. There's just messages have to be preached and people have to be counseled and people will call. And so if all those things fall on you, just make sure that you have people that are ready to man the battle stations when these kinds of things happen. I've made this mistake many times is that I would go out and I just really didn't go over all the details and think through the exact action plan. So your vacation quality will be directly dictated by the work that you put in ahead of time to really prepare the ground so that you can actually rest. And it's not just so that the things will get done. It's just so that when you're on your trip or you're doing whatever you got to do, even if you're at home and it's a staycation that you're not constantly thinking about oh no, I forgot to do this, or oh no, how is this going to get taken place? And that's going to just weigh on you the entire time that you're trying to rest if you don't think through those things. So that's really important.
[00:11:35] Speaker B: That's good. The next one is communicate clearly about your vacation. So make sure you're informing other leadership about when you're gone and your congregation as well, just so that expectations are set and there's transparency in the communication and it also just helps hopefully your congregation value your vacation time and appreciate the hard work that you're doing as a pastor. So communication is always key and I think everything but of course I think the main thing was here is just it sets expectations and everyone can get around it and understand why.
[00:12:13] Speaker A: Yeah, I think this is something we need to understand is that your church doesn't want to bother you on vacation if you're out and you've gone overseas or you're out of state or something and you're actually trying to rest. People in your church would rather not. They know you need that and so you want to just I think the main issue is not so much that they don't care that you're on vacation, it's just that they don't remember or they hadn't heard that. And so I think it really is a communication issue nine times out of ten when these things kind of pop up and steal away your vacation time because generally speaking, I think people want to let you do it. And I know if you have a church that has a staff, which remember when I was leading a church last, we had a staff of four other people. They really wanted to handle everything without having to give me a call. And it was only in the biggest of emergencies that they knew to call me. There so, yeah, it's about communication. That's the route to this. Communicating about what needs to get done and just the fact that I am going to be doing this and I want to have vacation time and want to be not bothered unless it's an absolute emergency on this trip here. So anyway, that's important. Number five, engage in spiritual renewal. So I think a lot of times, and I've fallen into this too, is that we will go and set up vacation time and often kind of I know this might sound not spiritual to say as a pastor, but I'm tempted to take a break from everything, right, like all of my routines. And sometimes that looks like taking a break from some of my normal quiet time rhythms. But this is the exact time that we really need to press into those kinds of things. And especially I find that it's challenging as a father. I have three kids and I've done many vacations with young kids. Let's just face it, having your own spiritual growth time and being able to do that with kids running around who need to eat and life happening and all the things that go with that, it can be challenging. So part of what you need to plan out is how am I going to set aside time in my vacation? Time to spend time with the Lord, to listen to him, to get into the Word, to pray to? Hear from him about what he wants for me in my life and not even so much for our church. But just what is he doing in me personally taking the time to do that. So I know a lot of pastors look at opportunities to go to pastoral retreat centers for their vacation. There are many of them, actually, our blog team is actually writing one right now that kind of highlights the best retreat centers in the country. So take a look for that in the near future. Maybe by the time this video goes live, it'll be up. But yeah, there's lots of resources out there for you. But really think through how you can turn your vacation into a time of really spiritual growth and spiritual renewal. I think that goes a long way.
[00:14:59] Speaker B: Yeah, it reminds me, as a matter of fact, yeah, we're putting that blog together like you mentioned our team, but we actually have a client that has their ministry is called the Pastor's Refuge. And this client of ours has land out in, I believe it's in Texas and they have hunting, fishing, and all of these other activities and lodges. But it's also a time where they have some spiritual renewal breakout sessions. But yeah, you got to find what's right for you. But we're privileged to serve one of these that are called the Pastor's Refuge.
[00:15:33] Speaker A: Actually, I know a lot of denominations have these kinds of resources too. I pastored four square churches and there were a couple of different places that pastors can go basically free of charge. You got to get yourself there, but you could go there free of charge. Meals are provided in a lot of circumstances just to get away from it all and actually process some of this stuff here. So, yeah, really important.
[00:15:53] Speaker B: That's good. This last one here is also very important. Refrain from overworking before and after your vacation. How many times do we do that? We're out. And naturally there are things to get to and get caught up with when you get back. But if you're grinding it out and stressing yourself out before your vacation, how enjoyable is the first couple of days of that vacation going to be and then off the same thing when you get back.
You want to come back rested and sure, it's time to get back to work, but maybe kind of what's the right word for it, but just kind of segue in.
[00:16:32] Speaker A: Pace yourself a little slower.
[00:16:33] Speaker B: Pace yourself and ease your way back in. That's the word I was looking for when you get back. So don't erase all of the rest and relaxation you had.
[00:16:44] Speaker A: Yeah, I think that this is back to the planning side of things, right? I think that's the key to this because you can't just say, okay, I'm just not going to work hard going into my vacation because stuff has to get done right. Or I can't say, I'm just not going to work hard when I get back. You need to actually plan for that. So what it looks like, I know this, I'm leaving for a 20th anniversary trip in a week and a half here. And so we've been thinking about it for weeks. We're planning for it now. We're starting our packing process. We've bought all the things we need for the trip and we're really starting to think through it a lot. And part of that is I'm leaving Reach. Right. And the things that we're doing here for eleven days and there's a lot of stuff that has to get done. That's why Ian, you and I are filming multiple podcast episodes this week and planning ahead of time. And so it's not a matter of you will have to work more, you have to figure out how to accomplish everything needs to get done on that time that you're out of office. It's just a matter of giving yourself lots of lead time on the beginning and then really giving yourself some time on the back end as well too, to overcome any of the backlog of work that has to happen. So we're fooling ourselves if we think we could just kind of ignore it, but it's more just a matter of planning. And that's how you avoid kind of that overworked feeling on the front and the back end there.
[00:17:57] Speaker B: That's it. That's it exactly.
[00:17:59] Speaker A: Any other, any parting thoughts, parting wisdom at the same time?
[00:18:02] Speaker B: Jinx?
No pastors out there. Ministry leaders, you're doing great work in the Lord, you deserve refreshment. We understand it, as I mentioned at the beginning of this, we know pastors are in the people business and people need attention, right? And that people are time consuming, rightfully so. But you really, to be effective, need that rest. You need that rest to rejuvenate and to be even more effective when you are working hard. So don't put this off, make sure you plan for it is what I would say.
[00:18:36] Speaker A: Yeah, here at Retrieve we do this because we love pastors, we love churches, we love Jesus and we love the mission of the church. And so we're on your side and yeah, that's our encouragement for you today is get vacation, take time off, get that renewal that you need, be with your family.
As important as the work that you're doing is the church is you have the most important assignment that there is, is really leading God's chosen bride and the tool that he will use to evangelize the entire world. We don't want to minimize how important what we're doing is at the local church. But in the end you are more effective and you'll be a better church leader if you get this stuff right. So get out of that 21% camp, be in one of the other camps, take that vacation, get your rest. Thanks guys for being a part of the Reachwrite family. If this has meant something to you, it would mean a lot to us if you would hit that subscribe button down below. Hit the like button. Let us know in the comments if you have any other ideas for things you'd like us to cover here in the Retrieve Pod podcast. Most of these episodes now are listener generated and watcher generated. So if you have any comments, drop them down in the description below and we'll catch you next time. See you.
