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Time Management: The Achilles' Heel of Pastoral Ministry by Royal Speidel, Distinguished Evangelist in Residence, The General Board of Discipleship
"Sooner . . . Better . . . More . . . Now . . . Yesterday! Can you ever get it all done? The time we spend each day not accomplishing what we want or need to accomplish can add significant stress to our business and personal lives. But since we can't change time, we must learn how to make the most of the time we have. This training program shows how to virtually 'add' minutes to each day by forming a logical, prioritized sequence or plan of action."
These words popped up on my monitor after I had typed in the words "effective use of time" into my favorite Internet search engine. One company advertises a video titled Time Challenged, which sells for $795 or rents at $225.
I mention this ad for several reasons: First, learning how to manage time is so important that companies get this kind of money for helping people do it. Imagine paying $795 for a video or $225 for renting it!
Second, the opening paragraph of the ad links the lack of getting work done to stress. The bottom line is that people who manage time most efficiently are likely to be the least stressed. . Third, this line from the ad is very important: "But since we can't change time, we must learn how to make the most of the time we have." We all are blessed with exactly the same amount of time: twelve months in a year, roughly thirty days a month and seven days each week. We have 168 hours in a week, and twenty-four hours each day. So we are all on the same playing field in terms of time. The president of the United States doesn't have one minute more to spend than anyone else, and the busy pastor has no more time than the homeless man in the city. Time is an amazing concept. Outside the love of God in Jesus Christ, time is our most treasured gift. It is our greatest strength, but it also leads to our greatest source of weakness. My unabridged edition of the Random House Dictionary says the Achilles' heel is soft. It is a spot that is particularly vulnerable. The place most of us are most vulnerable in life is our management of time. Time management is not the same as keeping busy. All of us are very busy. There is a vast difference between time management and busyness, however. We are going to be busy whether we manage our time wisely or not. Managing our time makes sense out of our busyness. It helps us to control it and gives us the power to take the stress out of it. It is more loving to yourself and to God to manage your time conscientiously than for you to let time push you around. Pastors live enormously complex lives, trying to balance their commitment to family, to the community and to the church. Within church work, how does a pastor juggle all the responsibilities: administrator, fund raiser, pastor, counselor, preacher, teacher, supervisor, spiritual guide, property manager, and others? On which responsibility does the pastor spend the most time? How does he or she determine which of these is the most important and how much time to allocate to each responsibility? Paul wrote to the Ephesians: "Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil" (Ephesions 5:15-16, NRSV). Paul said to the to the Christians in Colossae: "Conduct yourselves wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the time" (Colossians 4:5, NRSV). Jesus said, "From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from the one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded" (Luke 12:48, NRSV). God gives us enough time to do whatever we are expected to do. We are told to use our time wisely so that the things of most importance get done. When that happens, God will be pleased with our lives. Because we are torn in many ways to get so many jobs done, time management does not add to our stress; indeed, it helps alleviate stress. I used to block out 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.. on my daily calendar for my wife, Rita. My marriage was so important that I made certain that I scheduled time for it. A schedule helps guard you, so you have more control of your life. If you have a son playing a ballgame or a daughter playing in a concert, you can tell people that you have an appointment and that you are not available for anything else during that time. Friday night was date night for Rita and me. It had to be a very, very unusual event that interfered with that wonderful night out. Setting priorities is the key. The Scriptures encourage us to bring our first fruits to God, because if we don't pay our tithe up front we will find all kinds of other ways to spend our money. Setting priorities means doing the important things first. As with money, if we don't do the important things first, they may not get done. We will find other things to do. What are we likely to do first? The tasks we are best at doing or the stuff we like to do most. Usually that means we do the easiest tasks first. It takes a lot of discipline to do the most important work first. The demon of laziness tugs at all our hearts. Do you wish to get the most done with the 168 hours you have each week? And do you want to control your stress more effectively? Creating a weekly schedule that sets priorities for your time will enhance your effectiveness and allow you to live a more relaxed life. TIME MANAGEMENT Some people will tell you they are good at managing their time. In reality, most people are lying. Being a pastor, I set my own schedule. This has numerous positives but can be extremely negative if I don’t manage my time well. Time management is crucial and we all need to work on it. My dad (a pastor of 40 years) always tells me, “If you don’t manage your time well, someone will do it for you.” There are several things you can do to get the most out of your day. Stop procrastinating and get things done! • Filter Information – In the ministry we are under the information attack. The massive amount of information we give and receive is mind boggling. In a message driven generation, we live and die by text and e-mails. The real secret here is asking yourself, “How well am I managing my incoming information?” One thing I work extremely hard at is keeping church and my family completely separated. Start by separating church and personal e-mail accounts. Respond to your church related material at the office and family related material at home. We think that in the ministry we are at work 24/7. This is a true statement but there are things we can do to minimalize the stress of being “on call”. This is so hard in ministry but if you can master this, you are on your way to a peace. • Organize Everything - Organization is crucial in ministry. If you’re bad at organization, go find someone right now to get you organized. You must develop a organization system for everything. The goal is to reduce the amount of clutter on your desk, in your office, at your house, and in your head. The more organized you are, the more you can work efficiently. Organize everything and keep it that way. Make sure everything functions for you, not you functioning for everything else. • Take Time Out – Whenever you are in your office cranking away at that new idea, digging into that message for Sunday, or working with people, you’re concentrating. It’s good to remove yourself from people and go to a quiet place for a few moments to clear you head. Jesus retreated all the time to a quiet place to reflect on God and to make sure He was hearing the voice of His father clearly. People will always be there when you get back. Sometimes we become so focused on getting things done that we forget to give ourselves a break. Walk around, go outside, and remember to breathe. When you take a break, your able to stay on task better and you don’t feel as fatigued. This will help making your goals and vision easier to accomplish. • One Thing at a Time – As new projects and people continue to pour into your life, take one at a time. We all can multi task but giving your full attention means giving your best. So often we feel compelled to be there for everyone all the time. Your human, people will understand when you tell them you want to focus all your attention on one person or project at a time. Unless it is an absolute emergency, avoid handling everything at once. • Understand the Importance of Scheduling – If you don’t have a blackberry, pocket calendar, PDA, or some sort of personal calendar, get one. Scheduling is a staple to time management. Write everything down with an starting and stopping time. Allow enough time to accomplish your goals and meet the needs of your people. Allow time to be flexible so that you don’t feel overwhelmed (remember, it’s good to take a break). When you managing your time, you manage your schedule. Schedule your important phone calls, meetings, and events ahead of time and stick with it. One of the greatest rewards of time management in ministry is the ability to spend more time for God. The whole point of filtering, organization, and scheduling is the reward of having more time to spend with Christ and my family. Archive for the 'Time Management' Category 20 Tips for Reducing Stress Accept the size of your plate and fill it. Exercise. Do not allow technology to be your Lord. Have two cell phones. Have two email accounts. Have someone schedule appointments and screen all email. Consider getting rid of your voicemail. Delete emails quickly. Have an assistant send you a daily items email. Use an out-of-office autoreply as needed. Sabbath hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annually. Schedule your vacations first and block them out on your calendar. Pick an acceptable release valve. Appoint someone other than your wife as your lightning rod. Spend most of your time training leaders. Pay attention to what God is saying through your body and emotions. Feel your emotions but do not allow them to drive you in a bad direction. Do not worry yourself into a frenzy. Work from conviction, not guilt. Get a coach or a counselor. Have a study and an office. Schedule meetings rarely. Say no, and keep saying no. Get a wedding coordinator. Carry a notebook at all times to jot thoughts and notes. See your days as buckets to fill. Consider regular medical massage. Many church members see their pastor for only one hour a week. They might be shocked to discover that pastors live in a 24/7 career. While legitimate and urgent needs do occur at all times, some people feel they can call on a pastor at any time for any need. To make matters even worse, some pastors feel the need to be "indispensable," and over-schedule their lives to minister in any and every situation. Some people seem to thrive on chaos, but the truth is that an unplanned, overly-responsive schedule often leads to unmanaged stress, health problems, and burn out. While it is difficult to say "no" to seemingly valid requests, pastors owe themselves and their congregations an effective and efficient ministry. And the key to an effective and efficient ministry is time management. Time management is a discipline—one that is rarely addressed in ministry preparation. That the pastor's schedule should be based upon the needs of church leaders and members is a myth. The pastor's schedule should be based on four key priorities—two that are personal, and two that are public. Priorities—Personal and Public The pastor's first personal priority is his specific, personal call to ministry. He must use time as a tool to pursue God's specific purpose for his life. His second personal priority is to schedule time based on his own personality and spiritual giftedness. He must avoid filling his schedule with tasks that can be assigned to others who are more capable of performing them. The first public priority for a pastor is the church's or ministry's vision and mission. Time must be reserved for activities that advance these public ministries. The second public priority is the church's or ministry's corporate schedule. The pastor must be responsive to the expectations of others in the church or ministry who are also charged with leadership responsibilities. After all, there is work to be done, and the pastor is part of a team. These personal and public priorities must be clearly defined and understood by the pastor and the church, or else the parties will spend time in unhealthy ways. Time traps that pastors can fall into include: • Pastors feel the need to satisfy every ministry need, neglecting their personal priorities. • Pastors spend too much time pursuing their personal priorities. • Pastors think only short term, ignoring both personal and public long-term goals. • Pastors spend too much time "majoring in the minors," such as checking the furnace or monitoring office e-mail—things that others could do just as well. Likewise, without clear definition of priorities, church leaders and members can put too much pressure on a pastor to spend time in areas that might not be priorities in advancing the ministry, such as: • Church members emphasize having access to the pastor at all times. • Church leaders think only of their own convenience when scheduling church meetings. • Church leaders judge a pastor by how busy he appears because that demonstrates indispensability. Manage time backwards. Covey says we must begin with the end in mind. A church and a pastor need to have a sense of vision, mission, and strategy—a map of progress and development to influence and change people's lives. To achieve the larger goals and objectives, time management starts with at least an annual perspective. Then it shifts to a set of quarterly tasks, which translate to monthly, weekly, and daily activities—in that order. The problem is that most people manage time forward, which gets them into trouble. They begin with what has to happen today, or this week, or this month, always reacting to other people's agendas, expectations, and schedules—lurching from crisis to crisis. Essential things get delayed, or never reach satisfactory completion. The best time management happens by planning long term and managing backwards. Deal with what is important. Covey teaches that a schedule should be divided into four quadrants: routine tasks, relational issues, important work, and the urgent. When the first three are addressed properly and proactively, the fourth (the urgent) becomes less of a factor, and demands less of our time. When we neglect the first three, we become captive to the tyranny of the urgent. For example, if finances are not managed well, then a crisis can develop. If the needs of a person or group are not addressed, then major problems can occur. If key long-term issues are not addressed, then an opportunity can be lost. When managing time, a pastor needs to think through what is truly significant in light of personal and public priorities. To stay on track, pastors must develop a calendar that lists the important work to be done, and provide deadlines for progress points and completion. Electronic calendaring systems are excellent tools that can flag important activities or steps that require specific amounts of time—together with everything else that needs to be done in a day, week, or month. Factor in the entire work process. It's one thing to say, "We need to embark on a church growth program in the next year," and another thing to map out a plan to make it happen. Ambitious goals can be set. People can be called into the goal. But the growth program may fail because specific steps were not defined. As a result, six months may pass before it occurs to those with important responsibilities, "What is it we're supposed to do?" One critical element of time management, then, is to think through all the steps. What has to be done? Who will do it? How long will it take? What additional resources are needed? Pastors need to hold others accountable for their responsibilities, just as they hold the pastor accountable for key steps. The pastor and leaders must avoid the time management trap of allowing the pastor to be held responsible for the entire project and its success. Plan for three key components of time management. Any complex goal will involve tasks, training, and relationship building. It's a mistake to schedule time only for tasks, neglecting the other two areas. Remember, it's people that do the work. It's important to plan sufficient time for relationship building so people feel valued, and training so they feel ready and competent to carry out the Lord's work. Include margin in the schedule. Margin is time reserved for unexpected challenges and opportunities. This component is very often left out of schedules. Activities, even important ones, sometimes need to be placed on hold to deal with a sudden crisis. Tasks can take longer than planned. On the positive side, pastors and churches might be presented with an immediate opportunity that, although helpful and beneficial, will delay current plans if pursued. Richard Swenson, author of Margin: Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives, notes that when pastors do not build margin into both their professional and personal lives, tremendous damage can occur. For a pastor, annual planning must anticipate time for vacation, continuing education, conferences, and training activities. It's important that margin be built into the schedule in every quarter, month, week, and day for a pastor to be able to work from his strength. Order Brings Freedom Time management is a tool for bringing greater balance to a pastor's life. Some pastors embrace concepts of time management. They like the orderliness and direction of a planned schedule, but can sometimes be too rigid. For them, the freedom to plan unstructured time allows greater flexibility to engage in important or urgent issues as they arise. Other pastors find time management distasteful. They thrive on spontaneity and personal interaction, but sometimes neglect routine or necessary items. For them, the order and direction of effective time management results in a more consistent ministry, while preserving time for unstructured activity. God created days, nights, and seasons. We created calendars and clocks. Good time management for pastors (and all of us) recognizes that time is a wonderful gift from God and needs good management and stewardship. Let us make the best use of time while we have time to use. Managing the Pastor’s/ Leader’s Time Manage your time to maximize results With the principles in mind from How to Lead and Manage the Church, and what we discuss below, the Pastor and Leader need a system to keep them on track to manage the church effectively. To do this effectively they need to have a schedule! Why? Just to see all that is on your plate in ministry as well as personal life and how to juggle it, control it, and do the best for His glory! There must be a system of time management. This is part of stewardship. Our time is precious and God given, so, we need to find a way to be our best at using it. We must make the most of our opportunities and relationships, so we do not ignore anyone or any opportunities in our rush to accomplish something that was not thought through or planned well! Focus on doing the Will of God. You can find Scriptures and questions to ask yourself from our channel on God’s Will. Here are three things to keep as a mindset whenever plans and action occur: 1. The key to success is to find out what God wants you to do, and then do it. This can be done through knowing His Word and with prayer! “Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.” (Ephesians 5: 15- 17) 2. Look at how Jesus prioritized and managed His time. “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” (Mark 1:35) “I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.” (John 17:4) 3. Remember, there is always enough time to do God's Will, there is never enough time to do yours. WWJD was very popular a few years back. What would Jesus do? We may not know the mind of God, nor can we ever second-guess Him. However, we can know what direction He would have us go by focusing on Him and His character. Let this be your guide! 4. With the above principles in mind, evaluate how you spend your time. 5. Develop and keep yourself to a schedule! Good management is “Proactive Scheduling,” which produces results. “Crisis Management” does not! Proactive Scheduling is being well organized and making plans by budgeting the time so daily pastoral crises and realities of life that come up can be dealt with, while still maintaining your call and goals. By setting priorities and keeping a calendar of your appointments and activities, you will be able to stay focused on the goals and mission of the church, while still being available to pastor and shepherd the people. To accomplish this you need three very import items: a calendar, a “to do” list, and a phone list. Experience has shown that it is best to have all three in one, and have a back up with an assistant in case you lose it. If you use a PDA or other electronic devise, back it up!! Although those things are fun to use, they are very unreliable and are often stolen! In order for you to be an effective Christian leader, your calendar and “to do” list should reflect those priorities discussed above. Effectively organizing all the details of your life and ministry will allow you to relax and keep focused on Christ and the call He gave you, while still having the time to be a pastor and a Shepherd. Details and responsibilities will be accomplished and not “fall through the cracks” of disorganization! Here are some ideas: • Have a well-organized Appointment Book to keep a time log of activities. This is an overview of the year, month, week, and day. Go over it once a week to see how time is spent. What needs to increase? What needs to decrease? Observe which “time wasters” can be eliminated. Use this procedure to evaluate your own spiritual condition. How much time are you in prayer and in the Word? Make sure to develop a system of follow-up on meetings, appointments, and commitments made. Do not count on remembering everything, because you will not! • Use the appointment book to keep track of places to go, people to see, and main things that need to be done during the day. In addition, this calendar can be used to block off time for the family and your personal spiritual growth time! Keep track of planning time, personal and family time, study and sermon preparation, pastoral care and counseling, appointments, meetings, projects, staff management, time with your leadership team, fellowship activities, telephone calls, email and other correspondence, and errands. Also, schedule interruptions and break times. • Pastors and church leaders should keep a list in the appointment book of the leaders, people and volunteers for whom they are responsible. Have a system to “flag” them for when and what you are going to do, to pray, encourage, check up on, and so forth! • Use your calendar to develop a "Standard Week" with when meetings, and family time are, etc. Thus, you can be prepared to take on more responsibility, or to say “no” when your book is too full! • Have a well organized “to do” list. These are the details of the appointment book. Make a list with three columns: 1. What needs to be done (give this the most space, and allow room for notes. When you make notes, use another color of ink; this will keep you from missing something!). 2. Time needed to get it done. 3. Priority of tasks. • Check out a stationary store to find a good system that will incorporate these two together. Find one that works for you. • Group similar activities together, such as email, phone calls and a meeting all on the same subject. Then, you can make notes about them for your follow-up. • Have a portable telephone directory of important numbers to keep with you. • There is always ways to improve oneself in time and spiritual management! • Concentrate on the priorities listed above. • Consider that your planning is a spiritual process because you are seeking to serve Him. He is your prime directive. Make sure you discern God's Will for your life and ministry. Take the time to plan and establish faith goals and priorities. In addition, do not forget or neglect your family! • The top management consultants teach that the successful executive needs to be responsible with his time by organizing it, and then delegating it and/or disposing of what is unnecessary. This is also a great idea for church leaders as long as the focus is on a listening ear and a heart for God! • Do the first priorities first, and do not procrastinate. • Do one thing at a time! • Publicize your main schedule in a church publication so people know when to reach you and when to leave you alone. Make sure if you are unavailable, someone else is taking pastoral care calls! Never leave the sheep unattended, but do not be the only one attending them! • Have a system to highlight priority activities and appointments in advance. • Have someone watch your calendar if you are not good at it. • Make sure you regularly schedule, at the very least, one afternoon a week to meet with church members on a regular basis. If at all possible, and depending on the size of the church, visit each family once a year. Make sure each leader contacts the families under his care once a month, by visit, letter, email, or fellowship gathering! • Get involved in a pastor’s fellowship. This will give opportunity to vent, to bounce ideas around, to be refueled, and encouraged by others who will listen to you! • The secret of good time management is concentration. Keep your desk neat and organized. File things right away, and do not allow them to pile up. Other ideas for time management • Develop a good file system by subject. • File your letters and correspondence by subject, not by title or whom it was for or from. This will enable you to retrieve it more easily! • Try to handle papers once. When papers, magazines, or mail comes in or anything else that comes for you to handle, do not just put it in your in-box. Deal with it as soon as possible. Do not put it aside unless you are waiting for something. In this case, put a “post it” note on it and use the in-box! • Before you make phone calls or email, think about what you need to say first. This will save you a lot of time. • Go through your files every year and get rid of what you do not need. If in doubt, place it in a file box and store it. If you do not get into it during the year, you can safely throw it out. • Deal with hate mail, even if it is anonymous! Most pastors throw it out, but consider that it gives you a sense of what might be wrong in the church. Do not let it bring you down. Do not respond out of anger. Pray, and wait before you respond! You can copy it with your reply and then post it in the church somewhere! That way, the anonymous mail will stop, and the people will know that you are not afraid to deal with their issues. (Luke 12:3) Manage your teaching schedule too! • Come up with a general teaching/sermon plan for the year, such as Bible books and topics you will teach and cover throughout the year. Divide the year by weeks, and then give a very rough outline for as many as you can. At least, write out the verse, read the passage, give it a title and main theme/ topic sentence, and your first impressions and thoughts. Then, set up a file for each category. For example, if you are teaching in the book of John and in Colossians, you will have two main files. Set up a file for each lesson. Throughout the year, keep your “radar” out for illustrations, ideas, references, and anything else you can think of that comes to you from prayer and devotions. Then file them in those categories. • This system also works for meetings and other projects! • Try to get your church to give you a paid week or two off a year just to work on this! Write out all teaching outlines for the year. You will find preparation much faster and more efficient, because you can have your entire year of sermons and teaching outlines in advance! For ideas, use our “Into Thy Word” method. This will greatly liberate you for other management and pastoral duties, so you are not working on your sermon on Saturday evening or, worse, on Sunday morning! More Pastoral Management Ideas 1. Make sure the Pastor is encouraged and equipped to do the work he is called to do. 2. Pastors should, on a regular basis, a. Realize that he or she, (the senior pastor) is the “pace car.” He has the power of the pulpit to significantly promote, and endorse programming, and equip the church! b. Know how to lead himself, and others, to bring the church deeper into the heart of God, so to worship and glorify Him! c. Go to seminars, conferences, and other group training sessions for ideas, refreshment, and edification! Be open to new ideas and at the same time be able to discern what is “hogwash” and what is Biblical. d. Take other leaders to your seminars and events so they may be edified, too. e. Allow time to do your own research and study. f. Allow people in the congregation to bring you sermon, curriculum, staffing, facilities, yearly planning, vision casting, planning, and teaching ideas! g. Spend time planning mentoring, and equipping the board and leaders. h. Be aware of the shifts, and trends in ministry, but only use what you need and what is Biblical! That way, when people want to move in a new direction that may be hazardous or unbiblical, you can educate them. i. Make sure that people with broken relationships and special needs are included in the church. j. Emphasize family but do not leave out others in the church, such as singles. k. Do not allow some leaders to maintain the perception that their ministry corner is more important, or that it needs more attention than the other ministries. Every season of life is important, and needs to be met by ministerial programs filled with love and care! We are all parts of the Body. Be aware of “turf,” and political agendas. l. Both the senior pastor and the rest of the pastoral staff must support the church and its programs publicly as well as privately. If there is a disagreement, take it to the boardroom! m. The training, discipling, recognition, and encouragement of the church are critical roles for the pastor. If the senior pastor feels he does not have the gifts and abilities to equip and train others to do ministry, then he needs to build a team around him that does! If this is ignored, the church will fail! Some pastors are great teachers, but cannot do anything else. A pastor cannot be expected to do everything, for he is not the sole part of the body of Christ. He is the shepherd for it! A pastor must operate in his gifted area, and build others around him to compensate for the other areas where he is weak and do his best to still give support and the rest of these bullet points (see The Four Hats the Pastor Wears in, A Primer on How to Lead and Manage the Church: The Big Picture and Overview! (Romans 7:4-6; 1 Corinthians 10:14-16; 12; Ephesians 4:9-16) 3. To be able to make his support public, the pastor must be convinced that the concept and purpose of the program/ ministry is necessary and real. 4. Pastors cannot do everything but must be a good model of Christ’s character wherever possible! 5. The pastor should be plugged into the main fellowship and community events for support. “Work the room” in people contacts! 6. The pastor should lead the church in a celebration of serving Christ outside of worship as the progress and growth of the ministry is recognized, and the volunteers are thanked publicly. 7. When the “chips are down,” the pastor must support the team leader, find out the cause and motivations for personal attacks, be in prayer, and be wise. The other leaders need to do the same with the pastor(s)! 8. If misconduct allegations are made against a leader with someone under 18, that leader needs to step down immediately and temporarily, and the allegation investigated, even if no wrong was done. Most of the time, such allegations end up being false. However, you have to protect the children and the leader from further allegations, and seek the truth! Afterward, restore the person to leadership and publicly clear the air! If there is misconduct, the authorities must be involved as well as your denominational leaders, since there are strict procedures and insurance guidelines that must be followed, such a person should never be allowed in leadership or around people under 18!! 9. The pastor needs to be sensitive to the gifts and abilities of leaders, so he can equip and encourage them to work as a team. They can “cover” each other, those who are not gifted in certain areas with those who are. Ministry and the Body of Christ is all made up of different parts, thus we have to work as a team to be effective. 10. The senior pastors and leaders should regularly exercise “random acts of encouragement.” A personal note in the church or home mailbox, or well-chosen words at a public meeting and/or in a private conversation would be good ways to accomplish this! 11. Very important: Have a system of pastoral care to train your staff and leaders so when they hear of a church member, or of another leader, (many churches neglect their leaders, thinking they are OK, and do not need anything!) or someone in their family with a pastoral need or emergency, that they get immediate response to that need! Assign a key person to be in change of it in 24-hour shifts, with a contact list and trained deacons or care workers to be on stand-by. No one is self-maintaining. We all need support and care! Make sure there are caring people able to get there in a timely manner! (I Corinthians 13:1-8; Colossians 4:5; 1 Timothy 3:14-15; Hebrews 12:14-15)