Weekly Report: Week One

Church of the Resurrection, Intern’s Weekly Report
Week 1
May 01, 2006 – May 6, 2006

Ecclesiastes 3: 1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.

This first week has been a week of assessment, organization, strategy, planning and in a small measure, playing catch-up. I have spent the week making initial pastoral visits with congregants that are known to me already, deepening my familiarity with the upcoming major projects ahead of me (cool school and the day camp), catching up on things that have not yet been done, and trying to get ahead on things that will need to be done.

The seminal feelings I am left with are reflected in the above quoted passage: everything in its own time and in its own season. As much as I would like to get ahead on planning the day camp, there is much that I cannot do until after I have a detailed overview of the day-by-day structure of the camp, and that will not come until after I have attended the orientation on May 27th. Then I will be in a position to move effectively, and in a targeted, focused fashion. As tempted as I was to spend Friday morning inventorying the arts and crafts contents of the church, I also realized the futility of such an exercise “this early in the game”. Any inventory performed now would be out of date in very short order – better to do an inventory closer to the date, then a gap analysis. As tempted as I am to recruit for, announce, publicize and build the cool school, there are key people that need to be spoken to and brought into the process lest I fall into the trap of “doing everything myself” before that can happen; and meeting with those people will not happen for a few days, perhaps even a couple of weeks.

I realize as I write this that a key temptation I need to actively work against is my tendency to “spin my wheels”; to put great effort into something and yet produce only negligible results (such as the hours it would take to inventory the arts and craft resources of the church only to have such an inventory become obsolete within a week).

I know this to be a weakness within myself, and naturally I am struggling with feelings of doubt about resolving this issue simply by acknowledging its existence. My plan for the week, in my personal prayers and devotions, it to meditate on the above section of scripture to try to understand that God’s plan – and by extension, our own destinies – unfold according to His timetable. Wisdom, in this case, is recognizing God’s Sovereignty in this area as well, and submitting to His will while at the same time effectively and efficiently capitalizing on the opportunities I am able to seize on, without wasting energy in futile action.

As the fatigue of the first week begins to settle into me, I am more aware than ever that this internship process must be managed with respect to human limitations; and that I need to be very aware of using my energy effectively, to produce meaningful results, rather than just going “flat out” to prove to those around me that I am doing something.