Let me continue to reflect with you on ways that a presbytery can contribute to the health of its clergy. I have spoken before on the critical witness of the sabbath and the importance of clergy finding creative ways of practicing the Sabbath in their own lives.
One of the sad truths of my own life is that I don’t do a very good job of playing. I suspect that is true for other clergy as well. The focus of so much of our energy is in helping others that we often only indulge in acts of pure personal pleasure with a slight tinge of guilt.
As a way of raising awareness of the need for fun times that interrupt the presures of ministry, what if the presbytery invited people to contribute to a treasure chest of fun. You could begin this over the internet but it also should be lifted up when the body meets together. The idea would be to begin building a list of pleasurable activities from which any person could draw from.
Ask people to suggest pleasurable activities that they have discovered in their own lives that others might enjoy as well. You might build several lists. One that an individual could do, another list for families with young children, another for couples, or families with teenagers, etc. Each list needs to include things that cost nothing or very little as well as others that may cost more. Lists need to be made that one can do in a short time as well as those that take several days.
Someone needs to keep a compilation of the suggestions accessible on the presbytery web page or some other convenient place. Each time the presbytery meets, it would be good to highlight some of the best suggestions and invite people to contribute more before the next meeting. You might be surprised at how infectious this exercise might be.
