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Show Notes: Seven Questions With Robert Pooley
Summary: In this episode, I continue my interview with Pastor Robert Pooley. Robert is the Founding Pastor of Coast Community Church in Gulf Breeze, Florida, which he planted over 19 years ago. Robert has served as a youth pastor, was a member of the “Keith Shealy Band” back in the day, and has lived and served in California, Washington, D.C., and North Carolina. He is married to Vicki, and their daughter is Leanna.
Coast Community Church
http://www.coastcommunity.org
Some Highlights and Links From Today’s Show:
On Keeping His Family Relationships Strong:
– Robert Keeps a “Day Off.” He stresses that it is one of the “Big Ten” (commandments) and that it is vitally important. He views it as a “Personal Sabbath Day.” He usually spends this day with his wife.
– Robert intentionally makes “Time to Listen” and just sit around and talk. He turns his phone off when he goes out to dinner.
– With his family, he strives to “make memories together.” As he puts it, “Have fun. Laugh. Be a family.”
Robert’s Basic Schedule:
- Every day begins with a quiet time, getting into the Word and spending time with the Lord in worship, allowing Him to speak to his soul.
- Every day he finds time to engage with people on social media and to encourage people.
- Each week he looks for opportunities to meet with people for lunch and through phone calls.
Monday:
Day off. He starts this day by listening to a sermon from a Pastor that he respects. The rest of the day he spends with his wife, going to the movies, going out to eat or to hang out on the beach.
Tuesday:
Morning – Prep for staff meeting/Later breakfast with some friends from church
Afternoon – Staff Meeting/Other meetings/Message Prep/Reading
(Once a Month) Pastor’s Small Group
Evening – Occasional meetings
Wednesday:
Morning – Writing
Noon – All Church Intercessory Prayer Gathering
Afternoon – Appointments/Study Time
Thursday:
Morning – Finalize message notes
Afternoon – Appointments/Study for Small Group
Evening – Leads a Small Group Bible Study
[Robert feels that all Pastors should lead a Small Group Bible Study in order to stay close to the needs of people and stay grounded. He is currently doing an “old style” Bible Study, going verse by verse through a book of the Bible.]
Friday:
Morning – Sends message notes out with commentary to his Tech Team and Worship Team to get them into the system for Sunday Morning. They discuss video options that have been prepared at this point. / Works on the Church email Newsletter
Afternoon – Finalizes Message For Sunday/Prays over the points of the message/Asks God to prepare him for the message
Saturday:
Morning – Last “tweaks” to the message/Goes over it several times
Afternoon – In the fall – Watch Football & “Trash Talk” 🙂
Shuts everything down after 2pm to begin preparing mentally, physically and spiritually for Sunday
Sunday:
Morning – Gets up early, goes through the message one more time and prays / Gets to church an hour and a half early (8:30 a.m.) and connects with and encourages team members and other people before the service
Noon – Every week, after the service, he tries to go out to lunch with someone from his church – particularly new people.
Afternoon – Afternoon nap
4 p.m. -“Growth Track’
(https://www.arcchurches.com/establishing-growth-track-small-groups-strategy)
Track 1 – Knowing God – walking in relationship with Him
Track 2 – Finding Freedom – from hurts, habits and hangups /”You can get people out of Egypt, but then you have to get Egypt out of the people.”
Track 3 – Discovering your Purpose
Track 4 – Making a Difference
Grow Network:
https://www.growleader.com/
Annually – He “sees his hometown in the rear-view mirror.” (Takes a Vacation)
Robert is currently working on a Book – Due to launch by early 2018. We’ll update with a link when it is available!
If you are a pastor who is dealing with depression or burnout in ministry, and would like to talk about it and get some encouragement from someone who has been through it, feel free to contact Robert on Facebook: @Robert.Pooley.
Join the conversation on this topic by commenting or leaving questions below. If you have a question that you’d like to have heard on the podcast, record your question, and upload it to Google Drive, Dropbox, Box or some other cloud based site and send the link to Hello@MinistryBackpack.com
Music Provided by “Artist Unknown” – https://artistunknown.bandcamp.com/
