Three Tips for Planning Your Sabbatical
“I am not the Head of the church. Jesus is.”
As a pastor, I had not only heard that many times, I had said it many times myself. And I really did believe it. But it left a major question unanswered for me. If I am not the Head, what part of the body of Christ am I?
Getting a chance to have a three-month Sabbatical away from church ministry was an incredible opportunity for the Lord to answer that question for me. I was eight years into a church plant that had grown from a living room house church to a mid-size congregation. We had faithful elders and a healthy staff. As much as I knew that trying to be the Head of the church would burn me out, I needed an alternative. Everyone knew my role wasn’t exactly like anyone else’s in the church. So how should I understand my role?
My discovery: I am a joint or a ligament.
Paul says in Ephesians that Jesus gave pastors to the church to “equip the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body.” I had never realized that later in that chapter Paul adds, “…we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love." John Calvin said these "joints" are the pastors of the church.
It may sound small, but this was a profound realization for me. This little insight represented a much deeper work that God was doing in me. This work came through an extended period of reflection and contemplation that only a sabbatical could give.
A sabbatical is not simply a long vacation. (It is partly that!) But if it has been well planned, it is an intentional time to explore our calling, and to refresh our joy in our union with Christ. The 19th century preacher James Stalker once said that it is the job of every minister to visit a far off country every week, and return to the pulpit to tell the congregation about this land they had visited. This far off country is Christ himself. But sometimes it helps for the preacher to go live in that country for an extended time to understand it more deeply.
That is what a sabbatical is.
Visits to foreign countries benefit from a little planning. Going to Italy with a flexible itinerary will make the trip richer. So too, a little planning for a sabbatical can set up a pastor to have an enriching, restful, and even life-changing experience. Of course, God has his own plans for our sabbaticals, so we should be careful to not over engineer here. But below are a few plan tips that helped me.
1. Make a Plan for Before You Leave.
Unfortunately, it is very common in churches for sabbaticals to be needed only when an emergency happens. The pastor is burned out and he is going to quit unless he gets an extended break soon. This is not a healthy way to operate.
I am grateful that an older lay elder counseled our church to make a sabbatical plan from the beginning. (It was important that our church leaders embraced this counsel.) Our sabbatical schedule was not just for our pastors, but for all of our elders. Lay elders were given five month sabbaticals every 3 years, and a year-long sabbatical every seventh year. These elders received their sabbaticals before I did, and the schedule ended with me getting a three-month sabbatical after eight years of ministry.
We were advised that I should not be required to produce anything during this time. (The sabbath emphasis in the Scriptures is always on resting.) We had a small team assembled who helped write a plan, and we presented it to the congregation. At a congregational meeting about 15 months before the sabbatical, we explained the plan to the congregation. They were given an opportunity to ask questions and give feedback. This intentional planning process helped the congregation share in the joy of giving their pastor a time of rest and refreshment. They weren't surprised either when the time finally came.
2. Make a Plan for During Your Sabbatical.
For most of my three months I followed a daily routine. The morning from 7am-1pm was devoted to meditation on God's Word, journaling, reading, and prayer. I would pause to have lunch with my family. In the afternoon, my family and I would go on hikes, play tennis and games, and cook dinner together. These days were both intentional and restful—truly a delight!
My reading focused on spiritual formation and pastoral leadership. The books included Calvin’s Company of Pastors by Scott Manesch; The Rule of St. Benedict with a companion book; In the Name of Jesus by Henri Nouwen. I also re-read some favorites that bring me to a place of joy and rest (e.g. God in the Dock by C. S. Lewis; Gilead by Marilynne Robinson).
Reading and reflection might look different for you. This time shouldn't feel burdensome. Others had counseled me that some films might be meaningful during this time, and there were two that effected me pretty deeply (Of Gods and Men and Cars 3—I know, a cartoon!). The first I watched alone with time and space for reflection.
Over the course of these weeks of reading, writing, praying and watching, a theme began to emerge of what the Lord wanted to communicate to me: shared leadership. Whether it was 16th century Geneva, or Henri Nouwen working with the disabled at L'Arc, or the brothers at the monastery in Of Gods and Men, or Doc Hudson and Lightning McQueen, or the apostles doing God's mission in the book of Acts, the message over and over was the same: share your leadership. You are not the head of the church.
As a church planter I had been indoctrinated in the visionary leadership philosophy. I needed to develop and cast a vision that would attract a lot of people. I needed to guard my vision at all costs (for others would try to derail it). Ultimately the message was “you need to be great.”
But having an extended time away gave space for God to reshape my understanding of leadership. Each of these influences was showing me: your job is to see the gifts and graces of others and set them up to serve God effectively. Just as joints hold the body together and support the hands and feet of the body, enabling them to do their work, that is the job of a pastor. Make other people great.
I also re-read Bonhoeffer's Life Together and his message was the same:
He who loves his dream of a community more than the Christian community itself becomes a destroyer of the latter, even though his personal intentions may be ever so honest and earnest and sacrificial...God hates visionary dreaming; it makes the dreamer proud and pretentious. The man who fashions a visionary ideal of community demands that it be realized by God, by others, and by himself. He enters the community of Christians with his demands, sets up his own law, and judges the brethren and God Himself accordingly.
What an incredibly important insight for a life of ministry! I wonder how else I would have gotten this message without a sabbatical. But also, I'm not sure I would have gotten it unless my time had been intentional, restful, structured, and well-planned.
3. Make a Plan for After You Get Back.
After returning, the congregation needs an opportunity to hear how the sabbatical effected their pastor.
My first Sunday back in the pulpit, I gave a sermon on shared leadership and Ephesians 4:12-16. This sermon translated what God had been teaching me into our church's community. It also let them into my heart, helping them appreciate the value of the sabbatical.
I met with our elders, shared these insights, and recommended that I preach fewer Sundays each year. I love preaching, but we needed more trusted voices in our church than just mine. Shared leadership would mean hearing from more people throughout the year.
I was also happy to find that this Sabbatical left a permanent mark on the health and quality of our church's ministry together. My being gone for a season set us on a path of mutual leadership as we entered into the next phase of our churches life. It gave opportunities for others to step up in leadership while I was away. It also showed us the areas of the church I was not needed, and the areas I was.
But most of all, it was a time to focus on my first love. Before I am a shepherd, I am one of the sheep of the Good Shepherd. I am a member of his body, "holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God" (Col. 2:19).
