Sabbatical Planning

 

I'm BACK!!

What a season of ministry this has been!

Over the past year, I have talked with many leaders from churches, para-church ministries, and businesses, and many say the same thing: "I'm still recovering from the craziness of the pandemic four years later!"

Does this resonate with you? It definitely has for me!

While this past year has seen some INCREDIBLE moves of God and great blessings, it was also filled with many challenges, divisions, spiritual attacks, and a lot of weariness.

Thankfully, God has given us many spiritual disciplines to help us overcome this weariness in our souls: Sabbath and Sabbatical.

In October 2023 the craziness of the pandemic in the life of our church and family finally caught up to me. I was tired. More tired than I had ever been. Every decision in my role at the church felt heavy and filled with doubt. While my spiritual life was deep and I felt very close to God, a nagging voice would speak into my thoughts that it was time to throw in the pastoral towel and run away to that safe job at the local hardware store.

Talking to several mentors of mine in that season, two questions were repeated consistently: "How do you keep Sabbath, and have you ever had a Sabbatical?"

Sabbath keeping has been a regular part of my faith journey for several years. While I'm not always perfect at it, I do keep regular rhythms of 24 hours of rest and renewal during the week. I normally practice it from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. This has allowed me to really enjoy the many blessings of God in my life. Honestly, it's probably a key reason why my spiritual life was as healthy as it was, even while doubting my future as a pastor.

Sabbatical on the other hand is something that I have never truly done in my 19 years of pastoral ministry! Six and a half years ago we talked about sending me on a Sabbatical but then decided to have me do a two-year leadership course with some extra time off. While this was a great learning experience, it didn't accomplish what Sabbaticals are all about.

Lately, there have been conversations on whether or not pastoral Sabbaticals are beneficial or not. Now, if pastors are just using this to recover from overwork or using it as recovery from burnout, then I agree, that isn't the heart of Sabbatical at all!

As I wrap up 2024, I have just completed my plans for a four-month Sabbatical in 2025. Its purpose is spiritual rest and renewal.  I've based it on Luke 2:52 as a template for pastoral sabbaticals:

"And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man."

The sabbatical plan therefore includes the following focuses:

  • Wisdom - my mind
  • Stature - my body
  • Favor with God - my spiritual life
  • Favor with man - my relationships with family, friends

Here's what that will look like.

1- Increased in Wisdom

Reading

  • I want to start the first week of the Sabbatical reading The Art of Rest by Adam Mabry. This book came highly recommended by a pastor friend during his Sabbatical. He read it at the end and recommended this to start the Sabbatical. 
  • Craig Groeschel’s new book Think Ahead. Want to work through the workbook.
  • Dominion by Dr. Tom Holland. Explores the impact of the Christian movement throughout history. Written by a non-believer.
  • CREST Leadership Material. I’d like to reread the material and 1 or 2 books from CREST that I did in 2017-2018 to implement some of that teaching into my life and ministry.

2 - Increased in Stature

Fitness and Weight Training

To continue my journey of physical health, I want to use my sabbatical to REALLY focus on reaching my next fitness goals. This will be done by working with a fitness coach at my gym to build a new weight training program.

The goal would be to get my weight under control and back into the 180s, as well as not turning to junk food for comfort.

2- Favor with God

Ellel Reset Retreat 

I plan to go away for a 5-day spiritual retreat at the Ellel Ministries in Westport, Ontario called RESET. For the past two years, Danielle and I have been taking the Explore A and Explore B  training from Ellel Ministries. We have been very blessed by the ministry there. This retreat will build on the work done these past years.

I would take the RESET retreat near the end of the Sabbatical to prepare to return to active ministry.

3- Favor with man

Marriage Retreat with Danielle

Focus on the Family offers a marriage renewal retreat for pastoral couples which has been highly recommended to me by several leaders I know. One of the major benefits of this retreat is that the couple is followed up with for a year after the retreat to receive encouragement from the leaders.

Friday Fun Nights

To connect more with Danielle, my family, and my friends, Friday evenings will be designated as date nights, family nights, and game nights!

Counseling / Therapy

Danielle and I would like to work with our therapist on a few issues that have come up over the years of ministry. While our marriage is very good, nearly 20 years of pastoral ministry has affected parts of our relationship. During the sabbatical, we would meet once or twice a month which gives the time to journal and process what we go over. 

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With this plan, I'm really excited about all that God wants to do in my life to prepare me for my next season of pastoral ministry.

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