Take Your Pastor To Work Day

Justin David Buzzard is a pastor in the San Francisco Bay Area. He wrote an interesting post about how he has built his ministry by doing to the places where the men of his church work.

He calls it “the most important thing he has done in his ministry.”

“It showed them that I care about their callings, how they spend 50+ hours of their week, and the people they work with,” he writes.

Pastor Buzzard admits that it he saw a world bigger than the church and gave him different priorities.

God bless the professional, full-time ministers among us. Their job is at the same time eternally rewarding and thankless, fulfilling and frustrating, rich and poor.

But many pastors seem to be disconnected to the workplace. This is where we spend the majority of our lives. Within the workplace a daily drama plays out and our faith needs to be part of it. We need help.

While teaching series on the gifts of the Spirit, how to raise a family, finances and relationships are all important, why does there seem to be a vacuum when it comes to the workplace.

My pastor has been to my workplace and it was a blessing. He honors my labor and understands the challenges. But many others don’t get it.

Buzzard has some suggestions for pastors visiting men in the workplace. This doesn’t discount women in the workplace, but men are his focus. Here’s a few of them:

– Schedule a visit with a man in your church at his workplace. Ask lots of questions. Learn about his world.

– Introduce yourself to his co-workers. Don’t tell people you’re a pastor, unless asked or introduced that way. They will find out eventually and they’ll be incredibly surprised that a pastor looks and talks like a normal person

– Let the man talk to you at length about his work. You’ll quickly discover how you can best encourage and empower the man in his calling.

Some of the workplaces Pastor Buzzard has visited include a Secret Service office, a flower shop, an architectural firm, a trucking office, Google headquarters, a venture capital office, and others.

So, what do you think? Should your pastor come to your workplace? What would he learn?

Comment here.

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