The Workweek of a Part-Time Pastor in Three Charts

Rachel McDonald is the part-time pastor of South Haven UCC in Bedford, OH. She also teaches piano and acts as the communication director for the Center for Parish Development. She writes a weekly newsletter about living joyfully with multiple vocations at www.myotherjob.org. 

The following is an expanded version of a post originally published in the author’s substack.

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There’s this pervasive idea that no one can keep part-time work to just 20 hours a week. As a part-time pastor myself I get it. It can be very difficult to prioritize and keep things within what is a fairly compact amount of time. Yet it is possible to have limited work hours and still thrive. An important note: these are models that work in conversation between me and a very lovely and supportive congregation. There are many situations in which both boundaries and congregational expectations are out of line–this is not the case for me.

I created three visuals to show how my weeks are most typically configured. My ministry setting is a small congregation. This impacts how many team meetings I have, for example, as well as the amount of time needed to manage staff, run programming, and other ministry tasks that scale with size. You’ll see that reflected in the charts below. 

These generalizations come from periodic time tracking I do where I notate, often physically on a piece of paper, what tasks I’m doing throughout the week. I also utilize time tracking apps to help me more honestly assess time I spend actively working. I’ll go into a bit more detail with each, but I want you to know these are truthfully how I am able to organize my week. It also does require the ability to notice things that need to get done and just not do them sometimes.

First up, outreach.

Outreach first is one of my favorite configurations that comes from a congregation that’s okay with simple worship. You’ll notice the worship preparation is down to a mere five hours for the week. This happens through reusing liturgy, having a four-minute sermon, and allowing weekly communion to be the bulk of our worship together. The benefit of this model is all that extra connection with folks outside of the congregation. Community engagement is a broad umbrella but has included for me meetings at our local school district, participating in community holiday events, shared ecumenical services with neighbor churches, and time spent with our partner mission organizations. As for what I’ve categorized as Regional Meeting, this is more church specific and includes time working on Association and Conference projects.

This is more of my typical week. Worship takes up more time and much of this comes in the sermon writing category. Full disclosure, for me the writing part is still minimal, but this prioritizes time to study, listen to commentaries, and even go on long walks. Visitation is also a fairly dispersed category as this includes texting and calling congregation members. Compared to the Outreach First configuration, this one takes more time for congregational care. In an Outreach First week my congregants might only hear from me on Sunday and that’s okay.

This is my rarest configuration, but truly would work well for a congregation that is seeking a preacher above all else. Ten hours a week on sermon writing looks like a lot in a twenty hour work week, but isn’t unusual in the broader church world. This additionally has more time under leading worship which for me, often means preparing and coordinating on special music beyond familiar hymns. You’ll notice that a piece that can’t ever entirely go away is administration. This is my catch all for emails, building concerns, minor wider church obligations, and more.

All of these options are just reminders that for me twenty hours of work can be just that—twenty hours. I have to say no to nice church people on occasion, but I don’t have to work full-time for part-time pay. I promise. Pastoral ministry is a broad category of work. Understanding how the time is actually spent will only help us better create part-time positions that are mutually fulfilling for congregations and pastors alike.