The Post Without A Name
Posted on September 3, 2008
I haven’t written much lately and I’m trying to get back in the game here. I have been extremely busy and things are starting to fall into place. I have been busy at church lately but also getting tired and kinda burned out. So, I have slowed down there and I have taken time to think through what I really want. I have also considered if serving in the church in this way is worth it. I do this every once in awhile and from what I hear, people that serve in tech ministry and probably any ministry, find themselves wondering from time to time if what they are doing is worth it.
Being a volunteer, I have the luxury of picking and choosing what I do and when I do it, so lately, I haven’t done much and it’s been nice. I’ve also drawn some conclusions and in the end, I have no idea what it all means.
A little over a year ago, I was tasked with being responsible for everything tech in the church. As Kirk Longhofer says, “if it plugs in to a wall, I’m responsible for it.” (except the typewriter, that’s where I draw the line!) That has been my role and it has brought some interesting opportunities.
For a long time, church was my outlet because my job wasn’t fullfilling me, then the prospect of a new job came along. Now that I’m in a new job, it challenges me and it pushes me in ways that I haven’t been pushed in a long time, plus it requires a lot of my time.
Now that I’m getting settled into my job, I’m re-assessing my other priorities. Family comes first, of course, then after that comes the job and several other things, church is in their somewhere too. As I consider my role in my church, I realize that it is draining me and that’s not good. Things I know I need to do are slipping and things I don’t really want to do are kind of halfway getting done, and draining me. It’s draining me because I’m not focused in the right way and doing things that God has gifted me to do.
Over the last couple of weeks, I have had the opportunity to hand off some of my responsibilities and that is a huge relief. I have also considered why I am doing this and what’s my role in the church tech world.
To me, there’s my role in my local church and there is also my role through this blog and among my peers from all over the U.S. and beyond. My role in my local church is my decision to make, I can decide how to serve in the best way God has gifted me and even seek His leading to the church He wants me to attend.
Then there’s the role of me with this blog and with other like minded servants in churches a lot like mine, some larger, some smaller, some with better equipment, some with worse equipment, some with more volunteers, some with fewer volunteers. That’s one thing I have never had a problem with is volunteers, I generally have plenty of volunteers. Of course, I would always like a few more but things are pretty well covered in the areas I’m responsible for. God has been good to me in that area. I don’t over complicate things, I just talk to people, invite them to give it a try.
I guess what I’m saying is, it’s up to me to decide how God wants me to serve in my own church, but the other element is my role in the church IT world as a whole. There are a lot of times that I truly wonder how I fit into this larger church IT world and I wonder what business I have being associated with these people. A lot of them are so smart and know so much and I stand to learn a ton from them but I can also look around and see people that think I know what I’m talking about and at times others learn from me. It’s a great community, very friendly and one that I am honored to be part of. It’s time for me to step up and continue following God, even to places that are beyond me.
Enough rambling, here is what I have concluded. I think this blog is an extension of who I am and what I am doing. Lately, I haven’t really been doing much that seems to fullfill me and apparently that’s why I’m not writing. The reason I got into all this in the first place was church I.T. and that means computers, networks, servers, users, troubleshooting, wi-fi, including teaching and training and supporting ministry leaders and pastors. In other words, equipping the church to effectively use technology to reach people for Christ. That’s why I do this, both locally and globally. That statement has been my driving force since the beginning of this blog and generally lives in the sidebar. (I don’t know if it’s there now, I should look, I guess.)
After taking quite of bit of time off from everything church related, I have determined that is what I need to get back to. That’s what gets me going, that’s what charges me up is church I.T. and that’s what I need to do. Tonight I went to church to reboot the server and ended up spending a couple of hours troubleshooting a couple of pressing issues and I also sent in the order for our new SonicWall firewall, switch and additional access point. That is very much needed for many reasons and I am looking forward to getting that in place.
Going forward, something I’m going to try to make a priority is to join the church I.T. roundtable weekly podcast that happens every Thursday evening. Now that it’s in the evening, I don’t have as much of an excuse not to take part. If I don’t do it, it’s on me now.
Finally, I don’t think I have mentioned that I was at Saddleback Church last week. I’ve been meaning to write about it and will soon. I even got to hang out in the soundbooth for one of the services. Check back soon and I’ll share about that, it was very cool!
Finally, (again) I know good bloggers include links to people and churches and things they mention but I’m not doing that this time and I know that. Easing back into this writing thing, plus it’s very late and I’ve got to be on the road in 6 hours.
It’s good to be back, I think.
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5 Responses to “The Post Without A Name”
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Welcome back, Jim. I think it’s safe to say that you struggle in the same way as many of us in volunteer roles. Maybe you just needed a sabbath time from that role and now that it’s over, you’re called back to it. From what I know, re-evaluating your position, service, etc. periodically is pretty normal, especially if you’re heavily involved. It’s probably also healthy just to step back and get some focus and clarification.
I enjoy your writings and find a lot of them helpful for me as I’m in a similar position of being a tech volunteer, though not in charge of everything that plugs in. I kind of got dropped in the webmaster role because nobody else could (or would or had time to) do it. I enjoy it and am trying to be effective, though that’s kind of hard as I’m not the “lead” techie and don’t make most of the decisions. With those of us on the tech team already busy outside of church, it’s hard to prioritize the many small tasks at church. Even harder if we don’t have a budget for them.
Looking forward to your future posts.
Jim,
Thanks for sharing what you have been thinking. I was relieve to hear your conclusion! Stick with the local church. Definitely draw those boundaries and make sure your church is prepared for that day when they may need to pay for what God has called you to as a ministry!
Blessings,
Kevin
I know how you feel, Jim. We all get burned out sometimes, especially when more and more responsibility gets handed to us and distracts us from our initial passion.
I pray that you get the chance to refocus yourself on the directions that God is pulling you, and that you find joy in them!
Jim … I feel your pains.
I went through just this a couple of years back and shed myself of all responsibilities within my local church. It was good, but something was missing - and now I’m back and at the time in a new job (so similar to you as well) and both aspects are going really well.
I’m loving my job, loving working with Church IT and Media stuff even though I don’t get to do what is needed when it’s needed all the time and most importantly is the fact that I am beholden to no-one and have pushed a lot of mundane stuff back to the Church and other volunteers.
Keep writing - you are definitely a part of the Church IT World and it was yourself and others that encouraged me to come out myself
Thanks for telling your story. Like the others I hear what you’re saying about being tired and needing a rest, and that doing church IT is what drives you. The bottom line is that we’re listening for and to the Lord for His leading, in His time.
Thanks for your contribution to all of our journeys!