After a very busy fall and a rich and wonderful Christmas, a couple of quick days in Washington to visit family, I am back in the office on a cold winter day, getting ready for the New Year.  While daily pastoral concerns continue and there is always the next newsletter, council report, and sermon to write, I also need to stop and look ahead, and to give you a “heads-up” about what is coming in this new year.

I want you to know that one significant event for me and for the life of Calvary Lutheran Church this year is that I will be taking a sabbatical in July and August.

The concept of Sabbatical has deep Biblical roots and comes from the very core of the faith that we profess.  Genesis 1 shows that rest is built into the very rhythm of creation.  Leviticus laws provided weekly rest; yearly rest and seventh year rest for the people the animals and the very land that the people of God lived in.  Jesus often went away to a lonely place to pray, and from those personal Sabbath times, he came back with renewed strength and vision for ministry.

In a book about sabbaticals for pastors put out by the Alban institute, it lists reasons that a congregation would want to encourage its pastor to take a sabbatical.  One reason is that the pastor had become dull and boring.  That cracked me up!  But it is true.  Cranking out sermons, Sunday after Sunday, week after week for years can take its toll and surely the congregation can tell the word is not as fresh and full of life as it could be.  I need to be fed.  And I need a chance to find new language and new forms for ministry of word and sacrament.

Here is a rough sketch of how I intend to find rest as well as enrichment on my sabbatical.

I plan to spend a week or so at the Trappist Abbey in Lafayette where I will spend most of the day in silence, following the hours of prayer, meditation, work and rest that has been the Dominical pattern of daily life from which the Trappist’s way of life has evolved.  My hope is that by starting the sabbatical with a week of disciplined spiritual life which I have found quite peaceful and healing, I might incorporate some of that rhythm into the rest of my days.

After this week of restful silence and prayer, I hope to pursue my writing interests other than sermons and newsletters.  In particular, I want to work on some poetry and also complete a draft of my novel.  I hope to work one-on-one with a writing instructor for the novel, and take some kind of poetry class to work on poetry.  One value I hope that this will have for the congregation is that I will come back with new forms and fresh language to express our faith and life in sermons and worship and in our life together.  I also hope to continue in the direction of writing for publication.

A second major goal for my sabbatical is to do serious fun hiking.  I hope to hike a stretch of the Pacific Crest Trail, certainly not the whole thing which stretches almost from Mexico to Canada, but maybe a week or two somewhere in the north cascades.

Besides these goals, I hope to spend time with my family.  My son remarked to me just the other day.  “Your job never ends.  I mean it never ends.”  That is true, but it is possible to stop working for a while, knowing that the ministry will continue.  And this is necessary to do.  Not only do I need rest and time to be with my family, but also, taking sabbatical teaches us that we are not the ones who make this life happen.  We can take a rest, and God will continue to care for God’s creation and God’s congregation.  Thanks be to God!

A sabbatical can also be an opportunity for new life and growth for the congregation as well.  While I am gone here are some ways that the ministry will continue.  For one thing, a wonderful retired pastor, Dennis Martala,  who has spent much of his career working as an interim pastor, working with congregations during transition times, has generously offered to be a supply pastor and to be on call for only the amount that a congregation would usually pay a pastor on Sunday Morning.

We are also blessed to have in our midst, Pastor Virginia Eggert, who has graciously offered the same service when Dennis Martala is unavailable.  Furthermore, we are blessed with a number of lay leaders who are willing to preach or lead worship.  The congregation’s life would be enriched by a variety of voices and styles through which God’s word will be faithfully preached and the sacraments administered.

In other areas of ministry, the congregation will need to identify and lift up lay leaders to continue the faithful life of the congregation.  This congregation already has strong and active leadership, but a sabbatical is definitely a time for others to step up to serve and grow in faith and involvement in congregational life.  Who will visit the home-bound members of the congregation?  Who will lead Bible studies?  Who will make sure that the congregational life continues and that fall programs get up and running?  This is your opportunity to get involved in the ministry more fully, and to learn and grow in love and service in Jesus Christ.

I may choose to end my sabbatical time with another retreat at the monastery or just enjoy being home with my family.  When I come back, it will be a time for us to tell each other our respective stories of learning and growth, and also to have a conversation about how reflecting on our ministry apart we have come to re-envision our mission and life together.

I am sure you will have more questions or want further conversation, and so will I.  Together we will learn and grow through this Sabbatical year and know that God is always with us.

Peace,

Pastor Matthew