Office Work (Tyler)

My "ideal" office work situation is going to look different, because I don't really see myself in the traditional view of a local church. If I am hearing God's call correctly, I'm supposed to make my ministry a coffee shop/bakery of some sort. Because this is the case, my time spent in the "office" will look a little different. I think that mostly I will be available to pray or discuss things any time that I'm not making bread or coffee. I'll be pretty available to love and talk at all points during the day. I'm pretty excited about this fact. There have been many times where I have gone to talk to my pastor about an issue that I felt was urgent and he simply told me that I would need to come back during his "office hours". This really hurt. When did ministry begin to have "office hours"? Even our professors in the religion department don't have office hours, technically. They have an open door policy that says, if my door is open, you are welcome to come in. I love and would embrace this philosophy. If my door/building/business is open, you are welcome to come in and feel love and compassion. People that seem closed out usually are closed out. Pastors can easily shut themselves out from the world and reverse the very thing they have been called to do. In this individualistic society, it doesn't surprise me to hear of this shift in culture, but it does disappoint me. As a future pastor, I hope to be one of many people reversing this shift.