Weekends
20/01/20 04:24
Years ago when we managed a church camp, we had to make sure that all of the people who worked at the camp got one day a week off from work. For most of our camps, the campers arrived on Sunday afternoon and departed the following Saturday morning, leaving a kind of natural break. We didn’t have to serve meals for campers Saturday noon evening, or Sunday breakfast or lunch. We could sleep in a bit on Sunday morning. But we couldn’t allow the staff to just take off that time between camps because there were a lot of chores that had to be done to make the system work. Cabins and bathrooms had to be scrubbed to prepare for the next group. Menus had to be planned as each camp was a different size than the others. Some chores, such as gathering firewood, were easier to accomplish when we didn’t have the pressures of needing to care for campers. We established a schedule of rotating days off so that each staff member had a personal day off from work that was different from other staff. Our camp was in a remote location, 46 miles from town, so days off usually didn’t involve leaving the facility, but the staff person could sleep in, take hikes or engage in other recreational activities.
At the time we were spending our summers at camp, and were full time students the rest of the year. That meant that our school work was five days a week. However, there were always lots of home work that had to be done on another schedule and part time jobs to sandwich between classroom hours. In graduate school, we began doing internships in churches, which meant workin on Sundays, so our lives didn’t fall into the pattern of weekends without work. Then we began serving churches, which is one of the jobs where you always work on Sundays. I often comment to people who do not work in the church that there is only one three-day weekend in the schedule of a pastor: Thanksgiving. We take Thursday, Friday and Saturday off, unless there are church activities on Saturday, which is often the case because of the beginning of Advent following on the heels of American Thanksgiving.
Like many of our colleagues when we were beginning our careers, we fell into a pattern of taking Mondays as our day off. It became clear to us early on that the Biblical commandment to observe the Sabbath is a very wise practice. Working without breaks results in inefficiency and decreased productivity. I can accomplish more in a six-day work week than I can in a seven-day week except for short exceptions such as a funeral that lands on my day of. I can work an extra day from time to time without it creating a problem, but I know I need a bit of time for myself and for household chores. Of course the life of a pastor affords more flexibility than a lot of other jobs and I am able to take personal hours away from work during the week.
When children came into our lives we didn’t change our schedules very much, but when they became old enough for school, it was important that we spent at least part of Saturdays as a family. We would often work a bit on Saturdays, but reserve as much time as possible fro family.
Times have changed. I have a lot of colleagues who serve congregations and take two day weekends. Many of the other churches in town are closed on Fridays and Saturdays. This allows church staff to have a two-day weekend and to have one day that lines up with the five day work and school schedules of other family members. Although it isn’t our pattern, it makes sense.
The adoption of a five day work week didn’t happen all at once. It was a hot topic of debate throughout the 19th century and wasn’t fully established as a nation-while practice until the 1930’s. In Britain during the 19th century, there were artisans and workers who began a practice of “Saint Monday.” They would have production goals, often based on orders from buyers. They would work extra hours in order to have enough products to fill the next week’s order when there was a Saint’s day. Having discovered that they could produce a week’s worth of orders in five days, they began to up their production so that they could have an extra day or half day off from work. Those were usually Mondays for those businesses, so workers would get Sunday and part or all of Monday off from work, depending on how productive the previous week had been.
Some argued that the five day work week was more productive than the six day work week. Hourly employees, of course, earned less working five days than six, but as wages and benefits rose, it became more practical for workers to forgo the pay for the time away from work. As the idea of a five day work week gained popularity, unions and other workers organizations began to advocate for the practice. In the US, clergy backed the movement, arguing for Saturdays off from work. They believed that the extra day off would improve attendance at church and allow workers to be more attentive to family and community life.
Increasingly, those who work shift work are going to four day work weeks. By extending shifts employers who have to have all 24 hours covered can cover all of the hours with the same number of employees. Whether the employees work four ten hour shifts or five eight hour shifts doesn’t change the total number of hours or the cost of labor. The days off are not the same for all workers, but there are many workers who don’t mind working on holidays or days that are weekends. It remains to be seen how general this concept will become, but it seems to be gaining momentum in recent years.
Meanwhile today is a holiday for many workers - a bonus day off. It is also our usual day off. So, like many other Monday holidays it affects church attendance, as people often don’t include worship in three day weekend plans. However, it doesn’t have a dramatic effect on our work schedule. We are taking the day off, but we’ll still get in our six days as usual.
At the time we were spending our summers at camp, and were full time students the rest of the year. That meant that our school work was five days a week. However, there were always lots of home work that had to be done on another schedule and part time jobs to sandwich between classroom hours. In graduate school, we began doing internships in churches, which meant workin on Sundays, so our lives didn’t fall into the pattern of weekends without work. Then we began serving churches, which is one of the jobs where you always work on Sundays. I often comment to people who do not work in the church that there is only one three-day weekend in the schedule of a pastor: Thanksgiving. We take Thursday, Friday and Saturday off, unless there are church activities on Saturday, which is often the case because of the beginning of Advent following on the heels of American Thanksgiving.
Like many of our colleagues when we were beginning our careers, we fell into a pattern of taking Mondays as our day off. It became clear to us early on that the Biblical commandment to observe the Sabbath is a very wise practice. Working without breaks results in inefficiency and decreased productivity. I can accomplish more in a six-day work week than I can in a seven-day week except for short exceptions such as a funeral that lands on my day of. I can work an extra day from time to time without it creating a problem, but I know I need a bit of time for myself and for household chores. Of course the life of a pastor affords more flexibility than a lot of other jobs and I am able to take personal hours away from work during the week.
When children came into our lives we didn’t change our schedules very much, but when they became old enough for school, it was important that we spent at least part of Saturdays as a family. We would often work a bit on Saturdays, but reserve as much time as possible fro family.
Times have changed. I have a lot of colleagues who serve congregations and take two day weekends. Many of the other churches in town are closed on Fridays and Saturdays. This allows church staff to have a two-day weekend and to have one day that lines up with the five day work and school schedules of other family members. Although it isn’t our pattern, it makes sense.
The adoption of a five day work week didn’t happen all at once. It was a hot topic of debate throughout the 19th century and wasn’t fully established as a nation-while practice until the 1930’s. In Britain during the 19th century, there were artisans and workers who began a practice of “Saint Monday.” They would have production goals, often based on orders from buyers. They would work extra hours in order to have enough products to fill the next week’s order when there was a Saint’s day. Having discovered that they could produce a week’s worth of orders in five days, they began to up their production so that they could have an extra day or half day off from work. Those were usually Mondays for those businesses, so workers would get Sunday and part or all of Monday off from work, depending on how productive the previous week had been.
Some argued that the five day work week was more productive than the six day work week. Hourly employees, of course, earned less working five days than six, but as wages and benefits rose, it became more practical for workers to forgo the pay for the time away from work. As the idea of a five day work week gained popularity, unions and other workers organizations began to advocate for the practice. In the US, clergy backed the movement, arguing for Saturdays off from work. They believed that the extra day off would improve attendance at church and allow workers to be more attentive to family and community life.
Increasingly, those who work shift work are going to four day work weeks. By extending shifts employers who have to have all 24 hours covered can cover all of the hours with the same number of employees. Whether the employees work four ten hour shifts or five eight hour shifts doesn’t change the total number of hours or the cost of labor. The days off are not the same for all workers, but there are many workers who don’t mind working on holidays or days that are weekends. It remains to be seen how general this concept will become, but it seems to be gaining momentum in recent years.
Meanwhile today is a holiday for many workers - a bonus day off. It is also our usual day off. So, like many other Monday holidays it affects church attendance, as people often don’t include worship in three day weekend plans. However, it doesn’t have a dramatic effect on our work schedule. We are taking the day off, but we’ll still get in our six days as usual.
