The Morning After Ministry Show

We are back from spring break and Easter is rapidly approaching. Lakeview had half of their staff take the same Sunday off. Safety Harbor had their annual meeting (cause doesn’t every church have an annual meeting in March)and has now flipped their space for tomorrow’s elections. Tim went out of town with his family. Andrew’s wife went out of town without the family

Lakeview had a legit emergency in the middle of service. Andrew’s wife thought a bomb went off while he was preaching. Tim’s new youth pastor is better than he was. Safety Harbor is hosting an election and it is not going well.

Few things make for longer weekends than an unofficial national holiday. Tim and Andrew had very different plans for watching the game. Lakeview hosted a giant watch party. Safety Harbor was a ghost town all week. Andrew had a not so fun ministry first, and Tim made quite a few house calls.

Andrew is all alone in the office this week and doesn’t really know what to do with himself. Tim hosted a birthday party and executed the perfect side hug. Both Lakeview and Safety Harbor began talking through Easter prep and have two vastly different strategies. Andrew started a new series, and somehow lost the entire church email list. Tim formally welcomed a new staff member and continued telli...

The Gremlins attacked the soundboard at Safety Harbor yesterday at 9:59 and again at 11:02, the second time it almost seemed on purpose. Lakeview had their first-ever new members' breakfast and back-to-back baptism Sundays. Timmy returned to form as chapel speaker and Andrew got to actually experience his kid competing for a highly contested prize.

Andrew and one of his sons traveled to VA this week, but got back just in time for church on Sunday. Lakeview kicked off a new teaching series. Tim attended a camp meeting that he did not have to lead for the first time in 15 years and Safety Harbor had to implement their cold weather Sunday protocol.

We’re both the tech guys at our church, which makes Sundays with tech issues especially frustrating…both Lakeview and Safety Harbor had Sundays like that yesterday. We’re recapping the past few weeks of limited office hours and lots of family time.

It is our final show of the year, and we are doing all the Christmas things and talking about all the festivities that have already been enjoyed. Both of us had some Disney time, and the Larsens celebrated an anniversary.

We took an unintended break last week, as Tim was having his heart broken on live TV. We are in the thick of our Advent programming at both Lakeview and Safety Harbor. Tim had to reschedule an event due to weather. Andrew is attending school programs that his kids are not even in at this point (and skipping the one his firstborn is in.) We both went to Disney, and have had WAY more meetings than u...

It was Thanksgiving, now it is Christmas. Both of our churches decorated the worship spaces for Christmas. Safety Harbor finished their Philippians series, and Lakeview started chapter 2. Andrew nearly died (his grandpa did), Tim did a wedding and played football.

It has been a week! Between dad duty and holiday ministry season gearing up, we’re exhausted. Andrew tried an experimental medical treatment on his kids and almost died performing “other duties as assigned.” Tim had back to back to back ministry nights out. Lakeview is interviewing candidates for their worship leader position, and Safety Harbor had their annual pre-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving feast.

It was Halloween, or Fall Fest, and some churches went all out, but does it even matter? We’ve had a death in the congregation at both of our churches this week, and even though the circumstances were vastly different, they have both been hard. Andrews’s church is gearing up for the pre-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving. Tim’s church got a jump on Christmas. Both Safety Harbor and Lakeview kicked off new...

We’re gonna come out and say it. Biblegateway is a bad website. Safety Harbor finished their Habakkuk series and Lakeview wrapped up their stewardship series. We both spent time pulling dad duty with sick kids and “other duties as assigned”. Tim is continuing his worship director search.

Some weeks in ministry are heavier than others, and this was certainly a heavy week. Lakeview dealt with a tragedy and is in the process of witnessing a miracle. Safety Harbor had a church-wide workday, that the pastor did not bother showing up for. Andrew was reminded of how good we were at being youth pastors, and Tim preached someone else’s sermon.

Sometimes you get little surprises at church, Andrew certainly got one yesterday. Tim had a rough sports week, that was punctuated by a happy Sunday…which he missed. Lakeview hosted their third annual missions weekend. Safety Harbor started a new sermon series in Habakkuk, and the timing was a bit awkward.

Both Lakeview and Safety Harbor wrapped up a sermon series and started looking ahead toward the end of the year. Tim preached his last youth group message for the foreseeable future. Andrew had a new members class and almost had a Sunday morning disaster. We’re talking schedules, meetings, sermon prep, and all the grown-up things we have to do as pastors.

We both had Disney time this weekend, and neither of us is quite recovered yet. Andrew successfully defended his doctoral research and had the title “Dr” bestowed on him for the first time (un-ironically). Lakeview keeps growing, and Tim can’t figure out why. There was a medical issue at Safety Harbor, and the elders handled it beautifully.

Both Lakeview and Safety Harbor welcomed new staff members yesterday. We are talking through some social media issues, including the dreaded “ick.” Both Tim and Andrew are balancing being pastors with being involved Christian school dads.

Tim is fresh from a weekend away with the men of Lakeview. Safety Harbor needs a new roof. We’re talking through capital campaigns and necessary expenditures. We’re trying to figure out non-baggy ways to talk about our churches growing.

Turns out that people love baptisms and baby dedications. Lakeview had both on Sunday. Safety Harbor had an elder’s meeting and made some preemptive decisions. Tim’s family is adjusting to having kids at different schools for the first time ever. Andrew’s family took a post-church trip to Disney.

We’re talking through congregants leaving and how it’s very rarely the way we’d like. Andrew got a weird manifesto in the mail. Tim had a marathon Sunday. We’re very grateful for our wives and all clergy spouses who get the fam to church.

It is back-to-school week for Andrew’s family, and for the first time in a long time, it is only back-to-school season for Tim’s kids. We are talking about working wives, and the boosts and drops in attendance during this time of year. Also, is the secret to our “success” just not being cool?

We’ve got some things figured out, but not all of them. Lakeview had a members’ meeting. Safety Harbor added some kids ministry signage just in time. Andrew’s son broke his arm at VBS, Timmy got to celebrate a long term volunteer.

We’re back with the real pastors of Practical(ly) Pastoring. We’re driving into what it’s like to return after several weeks of absence. Andrew literally fell off the stage at church yesterday. Timmy had a missionary preacher, and Jeff Simpson is here!

Timmy is back from camp, while Andrew is on his way to the annual family retreat in Arkansas. We are both in the thick of balancing family time with summer ministry obligations while trying to find and recruit some new staff members. Both Lakeview and Safety Harbor held unique holiday weekend worship services that were more popular than anyone was expecting.