Most pastors lose 10+ hrs each week to admin (according to a recent study by LifeWay Research). That’s time NOT spent in prayer, preaching sermon prep, discipling, and rest.
That’s time not doing the pastoral work I got into ministry to do in the first place. Yes, admin is an important part of the job… but when days are long stretches of forms, schedules, and meetings? My soul dries up a little.
My mentor John Russin recently challenged me: “Josh, look for opportunities to permanently solve those admin-heavy tasks to free up energy to spend in relational ministry.”
So, I built “The Pastor’s Delegation Assistant” using ChatGPT.
With this tool, I’ve freed up an extra afternoon each week to spend in rest, study, or prayer. Once you enter the special instructions into ChatGPT, the magic begins:
- The tool asks which task you want to take off your plate.
- It asks 3-4 contextual questions.
- It outputs a clear, simple, repeatable step-by-step checklist.
I take that checklist, and hand it off to a volunteer. From start to finish, the entire process takes 3-5 minutes.
I have a TON of strong feelings about ChatGPT. It offers incredible capabilities, but used poorly, that same tool can cut the heart out of your ministry. Where ChatGPT really shines is as a behind-the-scenes helper that assists with administrative or management type tasks, like:
- Meeting prep
- Summarizing meetings
- Transcribing sermon audio
Download the prompt and try it yourself!