Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.
~ Exodus 20:10
I cannot thank the congregation and leaders of Bethel enough for the gift of the six weeks I was able to take for a sabbatical. A sabbatical is intended to be a time of rest and renewal. Some pastors travel or use the time to learn more about a particular subject. Many pastors use this time to spend dedicated time with family and friends. My sabbatical was a bit different. It was specifically to give me time to pour through my notes and data I was able to gather through my nine-month study. From the very beginning of the sabbatical, I had a plan for how I would work and make the best use of the time. I planned to take more time in prayer and devotion, and I planned to take nice long walks with my dog. The reality is that the data took much longer to process that I expected, and there was the minor detail of selling our home and moving. We made the move in mid-October from Bristow to Nokesville. Our new home is about half the size of our previous one and gives us some land to enable us to have chickens and honey bees (and I’ve heard Vicki mention miniature goats several times…).
Now that I’m back, I see some things differently. I’ve been thrilled to see people working together in ways they haven’t before. I’ve been asking church leaders and staff about what went well during the sabbatical and where there were some questions or struggles. The sentiment I’ve been hearing goes something like this: “The first week or two was a little difficult, but we worked things through. We missed you and all, but we did just fine.” Personally, I love that! A thriving ministry of a congregation our size with our staffing requires that the pastor not be the center of all things. So, the challenge for me is to be enough involved and enough informed so I can lead, but then to identify and encourage leaders to live into their ministry.
There are so many things I would like to share with you about what I’ve learned and observed, including what it was like for me to be a visitor in the congregations I visited while on sabbatical. In time, I’ll share more as I continue to work with the data and the paper. Even with the sabbatical, I have an aggressive writing schedule through the rest of 2016 and the early part of 2017. The big finale comes on March 28-29 when I fly to St. Paul, MN, to defend my thesis in front of my cohort, the entire faculty at Luther Seminary, and anyone from the student body or community who wishes to come. Then, after five years of this program, my cohort and I should graduate on May 21, 2017.
Bethel is now in that part of its church year where we prepare for our Annual Congregational Meeting (Nov 13) during which we elect new Council members and adopt a budget for 2017. Budgeting in a church is difficult. Like a home budget, there can be unforeseen expenses that arise. To cover those at home, we build in an emergency fund, hopefully with 3-6 months of your family’s income. The church does that through reserves. There are also fixed and variable expenses like you have at home. Unlike a home budget, so many things affect income: transitions in membership, the economy, and there are even times when people get upset at something in the church and they reduce or stop giving. Both at home and at church, we have to make decisions about what we will and will not do. Faith definitely plays a role in our decisions. As my wife, Vicki, said in her Faith Talk on October 16, “with the same or less money, we can do the same or less ministry.” But with more money, we can get above just paying for the bare necessities and do amazing, God-sized ministry.
Money ought not to be a taboo subject in the church. It also ought not to be the main focus. Bethel is a congregation of disciples who are following Jesus and who want to make a difference in the lives of those around us.
Please be in prayer this month for our leaders and our congregation as we make important decisions about 2017 and beyond.
Epicurious Lutheran 