I have had several conversations with pastors lately about the gifts and challenges of sabbaticals. Here are some of my thoughts after reflecting on those discussions:

Extended time (> 1 month) away for pastors is essential. When ministers take 1-2 week vacations, they are usually just fully relaxing into renewal and replenishment when it’s time to think about re-entering the system. That’s because it takes several days to set aside the heavy mental load that pastors carry all the time.

Pastors’ extended time away is good for congregations. It helps churches remember that they - not their ministers - are the church. It also allows congregation members to exercise leadership and creativity muscles that they often don’t when pastors are around.

Many churches require too long a gap between sabbaticals. Some congregations permit sabbaticals every seven years. While seven might be a biblical number, that length of time between sabbaticals sometimes means that pastors are army-crawling their way to that milestone, utterly depleted at that point and wondering if ministry is sustainable over the long term.

Rest is not something any of us - pastors and non-pastors alike - needs to earn. Sabbatical policies, whether they are set up for every seven, five, or even four years, imply that they are a reward for hanging on that long. (There's a big difference between offering sabbatical out of a recognition that ministry is hard work and using it as a carrot.) Rest, though, is part of living into God’s likeness in us. God wove rest into the very design of creation.

The one-year clause keeps ministers locked in and resentful. Most sabbatical policies come with a caveat: the pastor must return for at least a full year of ministry following an extended break away. I think the intention here is to keep ministers from disappearing into the ether during sabbatical. However, this requirement 1) often comes with the every-seven-year sabbatical policy (at which point pastors are burned out), 2) implies that the sabbatical not only is a reward for hard work but also that there are also strings to that “gift,” and 3) suggests that congregations don’t trust their ministers to do right by them.

Sabbaticals aren’t one-size-fits-all (for pastors or churches). Some ministers might want a month off every year instead of a far-off sabbatical, while others might need three months at a stretch for travel. Some churches can tolerate the pastor being gone for longer, while others might have circumstances that make it more necessary for the minister to take more regular breaks for shorter lengths of time.

All of this is to say that sabbaticals are good and necessary, but they can be even better if we rethink them.

Photo by Mantas Hesthaven on Unsplash.

Lots of ministers I know are planning for renewal leave. This makes me so happy! I celebrate alongside the clergy who are getting a break from their rewarding yet demanding vocation, and I am grateful for congregations who see the value of an extended time away for ministers.

Renewal leave is different than vacation. It’s not just about the length, which is usually measured in months rather than weeks. There’s much more trust involved on both sides. Pastors count on their people to carry on the work of the church. Congregations expect that their ministers will return to them with energy and creativity after the time away.

Because renewal leave is significant for all involved, I have written the following prayer for the clergyperson’s last worship service before leaving. Feel free to use it as you see fit. It will work best with the minister reading her/his/their respective parts and a lay leader leading the people in the lines from the chancel.

People: On the seventh day of creation, God took a step back from all that hard, holy work and rested. 

Minister: That rejuvenation, just like all of creation, was very good.

People: And so it was that God wove the design for replenishment into the fabric of creation itself.

Minister: All of us, made in God's very image, are intended to take time away for renewal. 

People: We celebrate today that our minister is taking a season for purposeful rest.

Minister: I love you all, and I love being your minister. 

People: We love you, and we are grateful for your leadership and care and for the chance to be in ministry with you.

Minister: This time away will help me be the best possible minister for you. It will permit me to tend more fully to my body, mind, and spirit so that I can help you do the same.

People: This time away will help us be the best possible partners for you. [Choose one of the following here: “It will allow us time to prepare ourselves for the next season of ministry” or “It will call upon us to step into gaps caused by your absence and allow us to own even more our gifts for leadership.”]

Minister: Thank you for this opportunity to take renewal leave. I bless you during this season when we are apart, yet always together as parts of Christ's body.

People: Thank you for modeling sabbath for us in the midst of a world that too often prioritizes productivity. We bless you during this season when we are apart, yet always together as parts of Christ's body.

All: At the end of this renewal leave, may we look back and know, as people created by God and continually re-created by rest, that it was very good for us all.

Photo by Yu Kato on Unsplash.

You’ve almost made it! That promise of extended leave in order to rejuvenate and to reconnect with God and others is just around the corner. Maybe you are army crawling toward your departure date. Maybe you have concerns about being away from your congregation during a pandemic, as conflict simmers, or with a big event or part of a significant planning process overlapping with your leave. Whether you are looking toward your respite with desperation, hesitation, or another emotion (or combination of emotions) entirely, I highly encourage you to take the breather and to think through all the pieces of getting ready, being gone, and re-entering your context.

That’s why I have created Hitting the Refresh Button: A Workbook to Help Clergy Plan for Renewal Leave. This 38-page PDF workbook helps you notice the current states of yourself and your congregation and name your hopes for what you’d like them to be after you take some time apart. The included reflection prompts then help you identify the scaffolding for a leave that will bridge the gap between what is and what could be. Details that are covered include framing, timing, identifying needed resources, budgeting, communicating with the church, departing well, checking in with yourself mid-leave, preparing for coming back, and much more.

The Church, your church, and the world need you at your best. That means we need you physically rested, spiritually grounded, and emotionally nurtured, whether or not we do a good job of telling you this! Hitting the Refresh Button could be the guide you’ve been seeking to get you there during your renewal leave. Purchase it for $15 here.

Ahhh, sabbatical. A time of rest, renewal, and reflection away from the usual pulls of congregational ministry. In many denominations and churches, clergy are eligible for multi-month sabbaticals after a certain period of service (usually five, seven, or ten years).

Some of us will never get there.

In my case, I’ll likely never serve in one place long enough to reach the sabbatical threshold. (Such is one of the downsides of a passion for interim ministry.) Even those who are serve in settled ministry are often called away before they hit the magic number of years, whether because other congregations match their gifts more closely or because conflict in the here and now has taken its toll. So what are the short-timers to do?

I suggest we make our own mini-sabbaticals.

There are a couple of ways to go about this. The more flexible route is to leave ample space between calls and be intentional about how that time is spent. This assumes, however, that the minister is in no hurry for a paycheck at the new gig. (I know, I know.)

The other way is to get creative with vacation and professional development allotments. The whole point of a sabbatical is to take more than the average week away so that the pastor can unplug from the congregation, reconnect with God, and recharge passion for ministry. So consider the setting, the tools, the companionship, and the time you’d need to meet these aims. Then ask colleagues and scour the web for recommendations about locations, mentors, and maybe even short-term courses that would fit the focus of your time away. Take a look at your personal and church budgets to see what financial resources are available to you. Then consult the calendar, identifying seasons when you could string together a few weeks of study leave, vacation, and maybe even a denominational gathering.

When a minister takes an official sabbatical, it’s a good idea for him/her to prepare the congregation a long time in advance, letting church folks know the purpose behind the time away, getting them excited about how your sabbatical will benefit them, and filling them in on the plan for pastoral coverage. You might consider doing the same for an unofficial mini-sabbatical. Obtaining the congregation’s support for your rest and renewal will ease your mind while you’re gone, help your members take ownership of ministry during the gap, and give them the sense that you care enough about them to do the things that cultivate longevity in your position.