Sustaining Pastoral Excellence In The CRC: Sabbaticals

Here is a helpful resource for understanding sabbaticals. It comes from the sustaining pastoral excellence page on our denominations web site.

There is increasing discussion in churches about the value of sabbaticals for pastors—and for good reason. The pastoral vocation seems to be more demanding than ever. Years ago, pastors’ duties were simpler and more focused. Today, pastors are expected not only to preach the Word, visit their congregants, and teach some catechism classes but to lead dynamic churches, sustain creative evangelism programs, excel in administrative skills, plan meaningful worship, possibly manage multiple staff positions, and more. Pastors are expected to accomplish all of this during their normal work week—a week that can be 60-plus hours long. James O. Davis, president of Global Pastors Network, has stated that:

• 1,600 pastors in US churches quit or resign from their jobs every month

• nearly 20 percent of pastors suffer stress or burnout

• 50 percent of pastors become divorced

A sabbatical is a change or a break from the normal routine. It’s an opportunity to step back, reflect, relax, recharge, and renew. Here are some opportunities to do just that. 

More here. 

Sabbatical Grant Request

This spring I heard about an institute that gave grants to pastors who are planning a sabbatical.  It's called the Louisville Institute.

I put together all the paper work and submitted the grant request.  They required a 12 week schedule for the sabbatical and a detail of what I felt would be the outcomes.  It was a very good exercise, it forced me to think things through and to ask some new questions.

Well I just found out I didn't get the grant.  I was a little down after I got the news. I had some great things planned if I got the grant (study trip to Israel with Ray VanderLaan) but now that is all up in the air.

But today I asked my son if he thought it was a good thing or a bad thing that I didn't get the grant.  He replied without hesitating, "Dad, I think it's a good thing.  You won't have all the expectations associated with receiving a grant."  After he said that I felt a weight being lifted and some new ideas came about what the 12 weeks could entail.  More to come.

Sabbatical Resources

A blogger friend (someone I haven't met but have read his blog - Darryl Dash) announced this spring that he was starting a Sabbatical and he made an excellent blog post about Sabbatical Resources.  I flagged the post and have turned to it a few times as I am preparing for my own Sabbatical.  I like his post so much I copy and pasted it here:  

The countdown is on. I’m starting a sabbatical in just two weeks. I can’t wait.

I wish that I had known about some resources a little earlier. I thought I should pass them on. Learn from my mistakes.

For pastors in the United States, the Lily Foundation provides grants of up to $45,000. It’s definitely worth looking into. Even if you’re not in the States, their application guidelines (PDF) are worth reading. The question on the front cover is a good one: “What will make your heart sing?”

The Louisville Institute provides sabbatical grants of up to $15,000. It’s open to pastors in the United States and Canada. It’s really nice to see that Canadian pastors are eligible for this one!

For both of these, take note of the deadlines. I learned about the Louisville Institute two weeks after their deadline last year, and it’s a hard deadline.

There are lots of places that provide places for pastors to spend some time away. Here’s one:

Founded in 1997, Pastors Retreat Network offers five-day retreats to pastors and pastor couples. Our programs balance solitude and community time. Scripture reading and meditation are at the heart of the experience.

I’ve heard good things about them. You only need five days, so you can take advantage of one of these even if you don’t have much time.

One of the best articles I’ve read on sabbaticals is “Sabbatical is not Study Leave” by Eugene Peterson. It’s from the Winter 1988 edition of Leadership Journal. Here’s a sample:

If the life of faith is reduced to a church program or into jargon, the gospel is betrayed and the spirit dulled. Yet churches make little provision for renewal of spirit in those they set as overseers for the renewal of their spirits.

The omission impoverishes the church’s spiritual vitality. Pastors enter their ordained work centered in prayer and alive to grace; after ten, twelve, thirteen years they find they simply don’t have the energy for a life of prayer, of spirit. One after another and year after year, they abandon the terms of their ordination and settle for running churches.

Peterson argues that universities stole the idea of sabbaticals from churches. Churches stole the idea back, but turned them into study leaves. Peterson says that this is a mistake:

The all-but-universal practice is for pastors to go to universities and seminaries for these bastard sabbaticals and take academic courses. They return to their congregations with starched and in-fashion ideas, but their spirits as baggy as ever.

If we are going to take sabbaticals, let them be real sabbaticals: a willed passivity in order to be restored to alert receptivity to spirit-prayer, silence, solitude, worship…The original intent of sabbath is a time to be silent and listen to God, not attend lectures; a time to be in solitude and be with God, not “interact” with fatigued peers. If help is to be given to the pastor in midcourse, it is not going to come by infusion of intellect but by renewal of spirit.

If you know of any other good resources, leave me a note in the comments.

Sabbatical - Seventh Year

Did you know that Heartland Council gave me a 12 week sabbatical?  

No, nothing is wrong - I'm not sick,  burned out or have a doctor's note in hand or anything like that.   

When I came to Heartland 6 years ago, Council wrote a personnel policy that outline issues like vacation time, sick time, stat holidays etc.  One area they also addressed was ongoing education and time for a sabbatical - that after 6 years of service in his seven year,  the Pastor would be eligible for a 12 week sabbatical (2 weeks for each year of service).   

Since I am in my seventh year of service at Heartland,  Council last spring approved a Sabbatical for me that would begin this spring (2011).  

What is a Sabbatical?  Simply put, a sabbatical is a time of study and rest.  It's a time to recharge the batteries for the future.  One person described it this way:  a vacation or long weekend would be like a quick re-charge, but a sabbatical would be like a slow, deep recharge.  

If you have any questions about the sabbatical, we will have a Q and A section in the connector where I or a council member can answer your questions.  

You can email me your questions.

I'll try and post here as often as I can about the Sabbatical.