Pastor's Log

The other day I began work on the Annual Report for our church. It consists of section headings: Administrative, Building & Grounds, Discipleship, Fellowship, Ministry & Missions, Outreach/Evangelism, Pastor’s Report, Worship, Finance Reports, the proposed Spending Guide for the next year, and attendance records for the past year. We go over it at our Annual Congregational Meeting, and we have copies in the foyer for those who are interested in stuff like this.

One thing I’ve found that makes this process much easier is filling out a Daily Record. This is simply a sheet of paper I keep on my desk that has each day of the week broken down in vertical columns. I either write down what I do each day while I’m doing it, or I fill it out at the end of the day. So at the end of the year, I just look through my 52 Daily Records and I can tell you what happened throughout the year and when.

Sometimes I am very brief, stating when I started, devotions, prayer, work on sermon, misc., and when I left; If I make or receive any phone calls, or if someone stops by, or if I go somewhere. Sometimes though, if I’ve had maybe a nasty/tense phone conversation, I might write down what the conversation consisted of on the back of the Daily Record. Or if something significant happened or something like that.

I also keep a 1 ½ or 2 inch three-ring binder for each year that includes: council meeting notes, minutes, monthly finance reports, minutes from other meetings, the constitution, my contract, and various other information. At the end of the year I put my Daily Records in the back of that year’s binder, then put the binder on a shelf. So I can find what I did on any given day and at any given meeting for the past seven+ years all at arms length.

I suppose there might be better ways to keep records, but this is mine, and it has come in handy on a number of occasions. I don’t really even know how I began doing this. Perhaps it was something I learned in seminary – I dunno.

I might also point out, another thing I like about keeping a Daily Record is that it keeps me accountable. You know, if I started writing down that I was doing crack and having a homosexual affair, it might make me pause to think about my behavior. And it helps in knowing that if anyone ever accuses me of doing or not doing something – I can either show them that they’re right, or I can show them exactly what I did or did not do. And believe me, it has happened. I have had people make accusations, and there have been times when I have been able to refute them, and there have also been times when I had remembered something wrong. So it’s a good idea for everyone concerned.

I realize this isn’t necessary for everyone, but I believe it’s a good idea for someone like me who doesn’t have any real direct supervision (other than God). Sometimes it’s a pain, but it’s really not all that much work, and in the long run, I am always glad I do it.