How To Worship At Work

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I love my church.  If I didn’t I wouldn’t work there.  I believe in it’s mission and leadership.  As a member of the church that I work at it I couldn’t be more happy.  With that said there have been periods in my tenure when it was difficult to worship at work.

Going to Mass after having a disagreement that week with the pastor.  Sitting in the pews with my family hoping for some corporate worship, only to be interrupted.  Wanting to be fed on a weekend, only to walk away empty because of a large event or rough day of ministry.

Worshipping where you work isn’t always the easiest. Because it’s not easy youth workers will worship at a church that doesn’t employ them on a regular basis.  There are many reasons but it all boils down to having that tangible separation.

It’s important to worship where you work because of what it represents.  It shows that you believe it’s a place where anyone can be fed.  It’s a basic principle of practice what you preach.  But, again it’s not easy, so how do you do it?

• Communicate Boundaries: While you can’t get up in front of the congregation and say, “If you see my spouse and child sitting next to me during Mass, don’t disturb me.” But, you need to know how to say, “I’ll talk to you later.”  You also can tell a few friends and fellow church members to advocate on your behalf.  It’s a slow process; however, over time people will slowly but surely get that this is your private worship time. 

• Set Your Self Up For Success: In order to enjoy worship you need to make sure you aren’t entering into it preoccupied with other work duties.  I avoid this by making sure I’m not doing anything 15 minutes before that is work related.  You need to give yourself the time to transition from a work mindset into a worship one.  To be successful in this step you need to put it into your schedule.

• Understand Your Pastor’s Many Hats: Another reason youth ministers attend other churches for worship is because of the multiple relationships they have with their pastor.  There is nothing worst than listening to your pastor preach about one thing when you know his flaws as a boss.  When you appreciate the fact that we are all broken humans then you can knock down the judgment that prevents you from embracing God’s word.

• Pray Outside The Sabbath Together:  On top of Sunday worship you as a staff need to pray together.  Our staff gets together on Tuesday mornings for a half hour, we pray before meetings and on Tuesdays we lift up God’s name in thanks for what happened on the weekends.  A staff that prays together stays together.  

It’s not easy to worship where you work; however, it’s important because it shows others that you back your church.  It not only tells the other congregants but your family that you believe this is the best place for them to worship.  It’s never going to be perfect; but, that’s normal.  Worship takes work, commitment and that’s because it’s all a part of a greater relationship.

Do you agree that we need to worship where we work?  Where would you find exceptions?  How do you manage the balance?