Holy Week Recap

One of the things I like about working within the Methodist church is the celebration of Holy Week. In fact, I think the "high church" has a serious leg-up on more modern fellowships in it's observance of both Lent and the week leading up to Easter. I think the Methodists (and others) do a good job at protecting the reverence of this particular season.

The only problem with a church that celebrates Holy Week is that it celebrates it A Lot. It literally is one of the busiest times of year for us. And as such, too often the week ends up losing it's power over staff members like me as it becomes a list of obligations and requirements rather than a week of worship.

This year, I decided to keep track of my hours to see how much time Holy Week has required of me. This is not meant to slight my church (or any church) for it's observation of Holy Week - it's actually intended simply as journal of my week.

Monday, April 2nd / 8 hrs., 45 min.
9:30am-12:30pm: Edit video, post audio of Palm Sunday sermons to web, meet with associate pastor to discuss video selections for "Holy Thursday" service.
12:30pm-1:45pm: Lunch with family.
1:45pm-4:30pm: Finish posting audio to web, meet w/ program staff to go over service order for "Holy Thursday" service, update worship website with Easter info.
10:30pm-1:30am: Start work on tech sheet for Thursday night service, clean up some folders on computer, do preliminary editing work on both clips for Thursday night.

Tuesday, April 3rd / 8 hrs.
9:30am-11:30am: Edit clip of Passion of the Christ; work on voice-over for video; check lights in worship center; work on projection for Thursday and Easter; double check lights in worship center.
11:30am-1:-00pm: Grab guitar and get over to First Christian for Holy Week services; soundcheck, sing, listen to sermon, come back to office, blog a bit, wait on meeting at 1pm.
1:00pm-2:30pm: Meet w/ guy about summer camp at church; meet w/ electrician regarding no power in sanctuary sound system rack;
2:30pm-3:30pm: Pick up Jonah, grab a couple of Cokes and some brownies, home to see family for a bit.
3:30pm-5:00: Back at work...more projection for Holy Thursday and Easter Sunday morning; attempt to convert videos to mpeg to see if they run in projection. (No Go) Goof off a bit with the editing system - everybody needs a little break now and then.
5:15pm-5:50pm: Teach guitar lessons.
6:00pm-8:00pm: Home with family.
8:00pm-9:00pm: Guitar lessons.
9:00pm-11:15pm: Home w/ Krist.
11:20pm-1:00am: Work on hymns for Thursday service, edit video.

Wednesday, April 4th / 6hrs.
9:10am-9:30am: Check emails, go over to-do list, check blogs.
9:30am-10:45am: Staff meeting
11:00am-12:30pm: Clean up stage, add voice-over to video 2 for Thursday. Burn videos to DVD. (Post secret Todd-mix Video to YouTube.
12:30pm-1:50pm: Go pick up speaker cables, lunch at home.
1:50pm-2:30pm: Begin charting hymns, pick up Jonah for school.
2:30pm-3:00pm: Get Jonah, get a snack, go home.
3:00pm-5:00pm: Back in the office. More chords, more setup, more video.

Thursday, April 5th / 5 hrs.
9:50am-12:00pm: Check emails, play through hymns (AGAIN,) hook up some DI's, change 9 volts.
12:15pm-1:00pm: Go to Jonah's Easter Party at school.
1:00pm-4:00pm: Grab lunch with Krist and Finley, shop for floor covering, pick up Jonah at school, take Jonah to get haircut, back home for shower. Back to church.
4:00pm-5:00pm: Guitar lesson. Student is running late.
5:00pm-8:00pm: Do final check on Thursday service, soundcheck performers, do service.