Upon recommendation of the personnel committee, the Council approved Sabbatical Leave for Dr. Carol Ann Fleming for a twelve-week period from June 15 through September 5, 2011. A sub-committee from personnel has been appointed to set guidelines for this period, including who will fill the pulpit and provide pastoral support to the congregation in my absence. Serving on this group will be Sally Lottick, chair of personnel, Elaine Eidam, vice-chair, Robert Gardner, member of personnel, and Leslie Bullock as Council Moderator. The finance committee has been charged to determine how the expenses incurred during this time will be paid. Rev. Fleming has applied for a Sabbatical Grant for Pastoral Leaders from the Louisville Institute to cover costs. From their twelve-page application form there is this background for Sabbaticals.
Rest…
‘Sabbatical’ is rooted in the word ‘Sabbath,’ the day on which the Creator rested from labor. Tying sabbatical to Sabbath underscores the rhythmic character of rest – just as Sabbath happens every seven days, so sabbatical happens ideally every seven years. (Pastor Carol has not had a sabbatical in her thirty years of active pastoral service!) It is a gift of full regular rest to those who nurture God’s people, corresponding to the Levitical order that God’s people grant their cropland – their source of sustenance – a full rest every seven years.
Renewal…
The purpose of giving the land Sabbath rest is the renewal of its fertility. Similarly, sabbaticals renew fruitfulness of pastoral leaders. Sabbath refers not only to the weekly rhythm of life and to the seven-year fallow plan, seven times seven Sabbath years was called the Jubilee in which every one gets to start over again economically. Ultimately, Sabbath is about systematic renewal of opportunity.
Recreation…
Most of us no longer allow for Sabbath in our week… Sunday is another day for work or chores, especially as internet, cell-phones, texting, keep us always connected so that we give in to the temptation to be ‘always on,’ causing ‘burn-out.’ Sabbath is more than vacation or an invitation to play. Renewal of creativity- or re-creation is an important sabbatical theme. In a sabbatical we are freed to pursue interests ordinarily excluded by the press of our daily vocational grind.
Devotion…
More than anything else, Sabbath is a reminder that we are not our own, we are not self-made. Worship, which Marva Dawn provocatively calls ‘a royal waste of time’ stands at Sabbath’s portal; contemplation of God and reflection on God’s ways with us lie at its heart; vocational and spiritual renewal are its first-fruits. We devote ourselves to ‘abiding in Christ’ so that we may be more fruit-full when we go back to work.
Sabbatical: Slowing down, to fall in love again!
Having been a parish pastor for thirty-plus years and leading worship for all that time; it is a sense of devotion
and worship that I most miss; a chance to participate in a community of faith; not as the conductor or leader but as a supplicant among others before God. Check out the next months of this page in our newsletters to find out more details of ‘the plan.’
Serving Christ together with you,
Pastor Carol
