"Pastor, can you explain to me the meaning of life?"
It's a joke one of our lay leaders has gotten in the habit of making. As he is taking on an increasing role in leading our worship life, he is becoming more and more aware of how much "focus" is needed in the pre-service moments, AND of how likely it is that someone will, within 90 seconds of the start of a worship service, come up to a pastor/ leader and ask a question on par with "I need to know the meaning of life NOW."
But it's a reality of ministry life. People don't mean to be rude, but they try and engage about the meaning of life, a profoud pastoral care concern, or an important church decision right before worship, sometimes literally as I'm walking into the sanctuary, with my mic on! And then you try and write yourself a note to follow up with them... Where's the pen? (Under your vestments, of course!) Piece of paper, piece of paper... Well, there's 3 of them stuck into each of the 2 worship books you're carrying, with announcements that need to be made, a prayer list, etc. Can't keep track of them, never mind which one I can use as scrap paper... Ugh. Oh yeah, and the person who's supposed to help lead worship didn't show up, so do I have an extra copy of the prayers???
So any little advantage you can get in this situation, to help you serve your people in and outside of the worship service, can pay off big time. Here's one little trick that takes a fair amount of time, but is easily worth it in my book: a weekend "worship book" with everything you need right in your hands.

