A Season of Rest

Published on June 28, 2010 by John Hendrix

The time for Kurt’s sabbatical is drawing near. As most of you know from the annual report, our Senior Pastor will be taking a 3 month sabbatical this fall, from September 1 through November 21, returning in time to preach on the first Sunday in Advent.

The last sabbatical Kurt took was in 2003, and so there may be many of our fellowship who are unfamiliar with pastoral Sabbaticals at Grace & Peace. As you might guess from looking at the word, sabbatical is directly connected to God’s creation of the Sabbath. Every seven years- we give the Senior pastor extended time away from active ministry to pursue personal and professional growth, spend time with family, recharge his batteries and devote time to other ministry projects.

The sabbatical is a gift to the pastor from the congregation while benefiting the congregation as a whole. The Biblical model is found in many places in the Old Testament. “For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest your crops, but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused.” Exodus 23:10-11, and from Leviticus 26:34, “Then the land will enjoy its Sabbath years all the time that it lies desolate and you are in the country of your enemies; then the land will rest and enjoy its Sabbaths.” Though our pastor is far from being a fallow field, we do see a clear connection here to the idea of a sabbatical. God gave us a seventh day of rest during the week for the same reason he gave the fields a rest on their seventh year, to lift our eyes unto Himself. On Sunday, we worship and forget about the chores of our week. Our gaze moves from the earthbound to the heavenly. With this obscure agricultural command, God was giving the Israelites the same message by reminding them that their provision comes from the Lord alone. As the fields rest, their dependence would be on God himself to provide. As much as we value the work of our Senior Pastor, Kurt, we know that the work of this church is God’s alone- not the pastor’s. The season of rest is for Kurt, but also for the church. One of the benefits to the fellowship is that various spiritual gifts are exercised among us when brothers and sisters step into the gap in surprisingly wonderful ways. This certainly happened here in 2003! The Session enthusiastically believes that the gift of a sabbatical is not just Biblical, but one of the ways we can love our Senior Pastor and support his ministry.

As is the case when there is change afoot, anxiety about the uncertain can arise. The Session wants to address any lingering concerns about Kurt’s absence before he leaves. The dollars and cents cost to the fellowship is the $1,200 in our Financial Projection to cover the cost of guest preachers. Though he will remain on salary, Kurt will be covering travel and other related costs out of his own pocket. The weekly ministry duties and daily pastoral care that our Senior Pastor provides will be handed off to other staff and session members. We are confident that there will be no significant change in responding to needs in the congregation with speed and love. Kurt will be writing an upcoming report in July about his time away and also addressing some of the practical concerns for pastoral coverage in his absence.

-John Hendrix, for the Session