I HEARD YOU! And now...?
The tools you asked for are now available!
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Which tools are that, you say? Last summer I conducted a survey to hear from pastors what areas of ministry they most struggle with or wanted to learn more about. The intention was to create self-coaching books for pastors so that I could reach even more pastors with the blessings of coaching! As I looked at that list from the survey – it occurred to me that most of the topics had something to do with the efficient or effective use of time. Spiritual health, self-care, balance, taking Sabbath, realistic expectations, time management, burnout, overwhelm, goal setting and organization – all had components that dealt with being aware of and managing time.
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I searched for a planner that I could recommend to my clients and found nothing geared specifically for clergy. It became apparent to me that before I created my series of self-coaching books (which I have started – more on that in future newsletters), I really needed to create a planner for pastors that considered their needs! The Clergy Life Planner was born!
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CLERGY LIFE PLANNER
 The Clergy Life Planner was created paying close attention to the feedback from clergy clients. There is an area to set goals for the year – we have long heard about the power of writing goals and the connection with accomplishing them. There is a place to list Sabbath ideas that make your heart sing – again, to get you more attuned to taking your Sabbath for that purpose. The monthly planner has a place for your Most Important Tasks for the month to accomplish in both your personal and ministry lives. There is room for other tasks to be listed, projects to be worked on, emails/calls to remember for that month, visits to make and room for other notes. In the weekly planner, there are areas for your tasks to be captured, your Sabbath to be planned, an area to list your prayer concerns for the week as well as a space to capture your ministry moments and God sightings – a place to look back on and be reminded of the ways that God is at work through you and your ministry! The days are divided into ½ hour time slots from 6 AM to 10 PM. At the end of every month there is a place to reflect on that month and the month ahead with intention.
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Next comes one of my favorite areas – a listing of the church year calendar with blocks to write in so when you are in a meeting and someone says, “In Lent last year we…” you can jump to the Lent section and capture those ideas or “For All Saints Sunday we did the coolest thing…” you can capture it on the All Saints Day section. Periodically just page through those areas and see when you are in the midst of another season, what creative ideas God might put into your heart for future seasons!
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Then there are the practical areas for pastors – master to-do lists, prayer list, visitation list (capturing basic contact info of those you visit), a pastoral visitation log to keep track of those visits, and places to keep track of your reimbursable mileage and other expenses.
After creating the planner, I asked clergy to use it over the last six months and to provide feedback. The responses have been wonderful! I made revisions they requested to make it the most usable resource for them and the final product is now available for you!
There are a couple of ways for you to get a copy of this planner:
- If you like the 8 ½ X 11 size, you can download that from my website immediately at www.ClergyLifeBooks.com and print it out yourself.
- If you are interested in a spiral bound, 5 ½ X 8 ½ size version, one will be coming out that is dated from June 2017 – May 2018. The theory here is to have the planner for the summer months so you can get a head start on doing your program year planning! If you are interested in this hard copy of the planner – shoot me an email at Barbara@ClergyLifeBooks.com and I will send you an order form to fill out. Once I get that back, I will email you an 8 ½ X 11 size February – July 2017 planner for free to use until the hard copy planners are sent out this spring.
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BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!!
 As I was creating the planners, I kept coming up with ideas for more tools I wanted to put in the planner. I soon realized that it was TOO MUCH for the planner and so I created the Clergy Life Planner Companion which comes with extra tools to assist you with planning, list-keeping and tracking! For more information – go to www.ClergyLifeBooks.com and see what is there! If you do not need the whole Companion piece, they have also been divided into three sections (Tools of the Trade) so you can get only what you really need. There are also some FREE resources there for you!
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I am SO excited to get these tools to you because I have seen the way they have been helpful to my clients! If you know of more tools that would be helpful, be sure and let me know that too as I am constantly thinking up and creating more as my clients see the helpfulness in them.
Limited-Time Discount
To celebrate the launch of these tools, enjoy $5 off your purchase of $20 or more by using the code CLB at checkout. This discount is only available until midnight on February 3 so claim your savings today!
Giving Back
10% of all profits at Clergy Life Books will be donated back to a designated fund used to subsidize rostered leaders to receive ICF accredited coaching. Clergy Life Coaching is dedicated to supporting rostered leaders in their ministries.
Stop by today at www.ClergyLifeBooks.com for more details!
Blessings!
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Barbara Solsaa, PCC
Professional Christian Life Coach
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