What's a Sabbatical?

Is it a vacation? A leave of absence? What?
The answer is yes. Kinda.

The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod and the North Wisconsin District have been strongly encouraging church workers (especially pastors) and congregations to embrace the use of sabbaticals to help relieve the pressure and anxiety that builds up over time in the pursuit of saving souls. That’s how pastors see it: a daily battle for life and death. After a while, it wears you down.

The foundation of sabbatical comes from God’s Word itself. From the North Wisconsin District website: The word “sabbatical” is derived from the Biblical idea of “Sabbath.” God himself sets the pattern for Sabbath in Genesis 2:1-4a and would later command the people Israel (Exodus 20:8-11) to set aside 1/7th of their time for rest and renewal.

The first thought that a lot of lay people have – that I joke about all the time – is, “Rest and renewal from what? They only work one day a week!” The truth is, according to my Call Documents, I actually have only one day OFF per week. That’s standard for church workers in the LCMS.

That’s the nature of the business. It’s what I signed up for. We work weekends and holidays: all of them. The other days of the week fill up rather fast, with sermons to prepare, confirmation and Bible classes, meetings, visits, more meetings, theological reading and research, time in prayer and the Word, calls/texts/emails from members and others, and meetings. That’s ministry, and I absolutely love it! But without proper self care, it becomes a genuine strain on me, and on my family.

The hard part for me is that “time off” thing. When I go home at night, ministry comes with me, in my heart, on my mind. My day off on Friday sometimes isn’t. I’m getting better at vacation, but I still think too much about ministry – the next sermon, someone who’s hurting, future plans and such - and I am now forbidden to look at my phone when we’re gone. Mentally and spiritually, I struggle to find the off switch. That, plus a tiny bit of aging, is affecting my physical health as well.

The District guidelines on Sabbatical address this: Workers in the church need to recreate and restore what has been worn down by day-to-day encounters with reality. Nourishing one’s body, mind and spirit and regaining perspective requires a change of pace and place—a pilgrimage. Jesus provides us a good example to follow. He actively nourished his whole person, body, mind and spirit—in prayer, in teaching, in travel, in time alone, in rest and in the caring for people. By his example, the apostles who walked and worked with him learned from him and benefited as well. Jesus told his disciples in Mark 6:31: “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

That is what sabbatical is about—an extended pilgrimage away from the “normal” activities of life as we know it in the exercising of the roles, functions and responsibilities or our vocations and into others which restore, renew, rebuild, and rejuvenate the whole person, body, mind and spirit. It is a significant change of life and living for an extended period of time that ultimately benefits the person, his/her family and the ministry of call.

A couple pastor friends of mine, likewise serving in large, dynamic congregations, ended up taking emergency Sabbaticals, due to the excessive stress and burnout. One is still working to regain his equilibrium. The other came back to his church and announced his resignation, because he couldn’t be what they needed him to be anymore.

There’s a lot of that going around among pastors. The Hartford Institute for Religion Research released a foundational report last year about the health of America’s churches and the leaders that serve them. The survey’s title, “I’m Exhausted All the Time,” will resonate with anyone in soul business. The report documents the growing number of American clergy who are burned out and have considered leaving either their current congregation — 44% — or the profession itself — more than half (53%). This has reached epidemic levels in American Christianity. And I don’t want it to happen to me.

I am doing what I was born to do, what I love to do. I truly cannot imagine doing anything else, and I have no idea what I would even be qualified to do. I’m also doing it in a place I love, with the Family of God that I love.

Again, the main reason so many pastors get stressed out is that we are on the front lines, in the trenches, for the spiritual battle of life and death for every soul entrusted to us. That’s our reality. We try not to overthink that, but it is still what drives us, and sometimes drives us over the edge.

That’s why our Administrative Board adopted a Sabbatical policy years ago, and affirmed again last year. The policy says, “The purpose of the Sabbatical is to provide time for our pastors to gain perspective on ministry by stepping out of it for a specified length of time. Sabbatical leave is a part of the ministry of this congregation, and the planning and implementation of the Sabbatical are part of our pastor’s job to maintain his professional skills and his spiritual growth.”

The Admin Board and I started this conversation three years ago, in response to Synod and District encouragement. Together we formulated the plan and affirmed the dates. My Sabbatical starts May 1, and I return August 4. During that time, my goals are:

1. Work on self care – mental and physical;
2. Organize and inventory my sports card collection (Anyone looking to buy? Have I got a deal for you!);
3. Explore a book idea I’ve had for the last 10 years.

Deb and I will also be doing some traveling as we celebrate our 35th Anniversary in June, plus a trip to see the newlyweds in Georgia in July. I envision some golfing and fishing may also creep onto the calendar.

This means I won’t be taking calls or texts or messages involving church or ministry. I have to break away completely for these three months. I’ll also be visiting other churches for worship. In case of catastrophe or serious emergency, the church staff will know how to find me.

What I won’t be doing is looking for another Call. Synod guidelines forbid it, and I don’t want one anyway. This is where God put me, where He wants me, and where I want to be. You’re stuck with me.
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See you in August.