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Dear fellow stewards,
We are all familiar with the opening verses of Ecclesiastes 3 which begin with “There is a time for everything.” The point of the writer is that time is another gift from God to every human being. The challenge we face living in a sinful world is efficiently and effectively managing the time God gives us.
One way to do this is through efficient meetings. As a parish pastor for 29 years and a WELS administrator for the past four years it would be interesting to total up the amount of time—hours, days, months, and possibly years—I have spent in meetings.
I am sure we could all share some great ideas about how to make good use of our time in meetings. One suggestion I was given very early in my ministry was the concept of time-framed meetings. Every meeting had a set beginning and end time, and when it was time to end the meeting any agenda items remaining were moved to the next agenda. Time-framed meetings require a well-crafted agenda, that all participants stay on the subject, and that small talk is saved for outside the meeting time.
May the Lord shower his blessings upon the many meetings we need to attend. May those meetings be well organized, efficient, effective, and possibly time-framed.
In Our Savior’s Service,
Dave Liggett
Director of Christian Giving
Please send comments regarding this issue of An Encouraging Word to: dave.liggett@sab.wels.net
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January 2009
