A few days ago, I posed the following question on Facebook/Twitter: “For those in ministry: what day do YOU think is the best for your day off? And why?” Since getting back into ministry, I’ve realized that, first of all, I’m pretty bad about actually trying to take a day off. During my first year, I didn’t really take one. Last fall, I was taking off Mondays…and now (because of some scheduling issues), I’m taking Thursdays off. Taking Thursdays off feels weird and don’t think I’ll keep doing it next fall, but that’s what I have this spring. So, I received a lot of responses to my question and wanted to share some of them here with you.
Of the 22 people who responded, 1 person took Thursdays off, 13 took Fridays off and 8 took Mondays off. There were some folks who suggested that it was a seasonal thing (“during high school football season, taking Fridays off didn’t make sense” or “during summer, Fridays for 2-day weekends – but during school, Mondays because that’s most restorative”). Others said that as Associate Pastors, Fridays were great days – but once they started preaching weekly as solo pastors, Mondays became the necessary day of Sabbath. But there were some interesting thoughts regarding which day was better.
Reasons for taking Friday off
- You might “actually” get a 2-day weekend off
- Doing Friday pushes me to get the sermon done early
- Friday – because I yearn for 48 hours off!
- Two days of rest before Sunday
- Fridays lets you get out of town easier, Thursday night through Saturday
Reasons for taking Monday off
- Sundays are so exhausting, I need a break
- The need to “recover” from the weekend
- I preach every week now, I need Monday
- Monday feels like a real Sabbath
Obviously – there isn’t any magic to which day you take – just the fact that you DO TAKE A DAY OFF. Now, I feel quite hypocritical while typing that…because I am REALLY BAD at taking my days off. During Lent, Sarah has decided to make Thursdays her Sabbath days, so it’s helpful to have someone else reminding me to stop doing church-related stuff on my computer, etc.
What do you find is the best day for you to take off, and why?