The Why and What of My Sabbatical

Work is a good thing. Humanity is designed to reflect the Creator through productivity. While our work—like everything else—has been subjected to futility (cf. Romans 8:20-21) by the curse of sin in Genesis 3:17-19, the commission to work as God’s representatives on earth came in Genesis 1:28. It has been keenly observed that striving for a “work-life balance” is a misnomer. Life is meant for work.

Yet that is not all that Genesis has to say on the subject. When God arrived at the end of the Sixth Day declaring his work very good (Genesis 1:31), he didn’t rest from all his work on the Seventh Day because he needed a break. He wasn’t living for the weekend. He didn’t need a nap. No, he instituted a day of rest, the sabbath, as a gift (Mark 2:27). He made us finite creatures, and he baked into the design of the cosmos a weekly rhythm of rest to remind us of our dependence on him, both in our work (Exodus 20:8-11) and in our redemption (Deuteronomy 5:12-15). This sabbath rest is set on a trajectory of expanding significance (see Leviticus 23:1-44, 25:1-22) until that Day when we finally enter the eternal rest Jesus has secured (Hebrews 4:1-11). So, rather than finding a “work-life balance,” a more fitting objective is a “work-rest balance.”

Flowing from this rich, biblical theme, Westview pastors will be granted periodic sabbaticals, time away from the routines of normal ministry and daily life for enrichment, rest, renewal, and personal growth. Both staff and non-staff pastors will be afforded the opportunity of a sabbatical every seven years, yet by nature of his increased responsibilities, a staff pastor’s sabbatical has a larger impact on the life of the church. As we prepare for the first of these sabbaticals later this year, let’s consider the why and what of pastoral sabbaticals.

Serving as a staff pastor has unique challenges. Reflect on these statistics:

• 1 in 5—the number of pastors that leave vocational ministry due to burnout (Lifeway Research)
• 3-4 years—the average tenure of a lead pastor at a church (Thom Rainer)
• 1 in 10—the number of pastors who actually retire as a pastor (Schaeffer Institute)
• 56%—the number of pastors who report the immense stress of the job as the reason they consider quitting (Barna)

Sabbaticals aren’t a silver bullet to secure the long-term service of pastors in ministry. But church ministry researcher Thom Rainer identifies five reasons for why they are a significant help:

1. A pastor has emotional highs and lows unlike most other vocations.
2. A pastor is on 24-hour call.
3. Pastors need time of uninterrupted study.
4. Pastors who have sabbaticals have longer tenure at churches.
5. Pastors who have sabbaticals view the time off as an affirmation from their churches.

Gratefully, as I see my seventh year of serving Westview on the horizon, I do not feel like I am on the brink of burnout and certainly not considering quitting. A key reason why I am looking forward to this sabbatical is to preserve and encourage healthy rhythms that promote longevity in this ministry. My eager desire has been and continues to be to serve Westview until I die or no longer have the physical or mental capacity due to age. So, as I have reflected on why a sabbatical would be wise for me, I have focused on three reasons.

The all-in demands of church planting, the 24/7 availability of pastoring, and my own personal disposition toward productivity can lead me to believe the lie that the health, success, and vitality of Westview is dependent on me. It’s a lie that stokes the flame of the praise of man—it’s a fire that can consume a pastor. In his book Dangerous Calling, Paul Tripp writes, “Perhaps in ministry there is no more potent intoxicant than the praise of men, and there is no more dangerous form of drunkenness than to be drunk with your own glory” (167). Stepping away for a sabbatical is a tangible flame retardant for such self-glory. The church does not need me, and I do not need to be needed.

We are all made to be worshipers. The weekly grind of pastoral ministry can have a tendency to move away from wonder to “what’s next.” The next sermon, the next counseling meeting, the next training, the next crisis, the next, the next, the next. A plurality of pastors and shared preaching helps mitigate against this experience, which is also found in other professions. However, the unique feature of pastoral ministry is that, in a sense, the source of wonder is the work. And familiarity can breed contempt. Eli and his worthless sons, though ministers of God, failed to worship, failed to wonder, failed to give God glory—and they were judged accordingly (cf. 2 Samuel 2:12-36). I don’t want to become a worthless minister. I need wonder.

Out of 8 billion people, I am the only one called to be a husband and father in my family. Many men could be a pastor at Westview. I am the only one who can shepherd my family. This is a strategic point in family life with my kids old enough to flex schedules and habits but not pulled to other responsibilities. I have seen buds of resentment of being a pastor’s kid as my regular absence from home in the mornings and evenings is felt—buds that I nip by flexing schedules and investing intentional time. But the extended time away from such demands of church ministry would be a testimony and gift to my family that they are not less important to me than Westview is.

The substance of a sabbatical will look different for each pastor. The target is to leverage the time for mental, physical, relational, and spiritual replenishment such as to extend the length of time a pastor can be in ministry and to make his time in ministry more fruitful and energized. The goal is not to simply vacate responsibilities or work. Rather, the objective is to follow Jesus’ model to go away to a desolate place to be refreshed by God (Mark 1:35) and heed Jesus’ words to “come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while” (Mark 6:31).

It can include personal and professional development through exposure to and study of new ideas through travel, research, and quiet time alone with God. The sabbatical should be taken at a location that is rejuvenating and include activities that renew and refresh the pastor. It is important to have a balance of planned time to read, study, and cast vision, as well as open-ended time to allow the Holy Spirit to work during the sabbatical. As I have sought counsel for planning my very first sabbatical, a common element is to have a clear plan for the time so it doesn’t slip through your fingers like sand.

This year, both Pastor Zach and I are planning on taking a sabbatical. I will step away for most of June and July, and, God willing, Pastor Zach will do likewise this Fall. Contributing to the specific plans of our sabbaticals will be feedback from our members. We will send out a form to members to provide the opportunity to contribute encouragement and opportunities for growth.

At this point, I am structuring my planned time away in three phases:

My wife and I are making arrangements to meet up with an out-of-state ministry couple for the better part of a week to debrief the last six years together. This couple are dear friends who have navigated challenges in ministry faithfully.

The focus of this second phase is to fill my soul with wonder and spend formative time with my family in the mountains. Few settings so readily cultivate rest and awe in God like the mountains (there’s actually a whole biblical theology of mountains I have reflected on—I’ll save that for a future article). The plan is for this time to be marked by:

• Running and hiking
• Reading Brothers Karamazov—I don’t normally read fiction and have heard how beautiful this (long) book is
• Memorize the letter to Titus
• Have extended 1:1 time with each of my children

The focus of the third phase is to give time, prayer, thought, and planning on what the next seven years will look like for my family and ministry before “re-entering” normal life. If the Lord wills, at the time of my next sabbatical (2033!), we will be knocking on the door of a whole new season: launching kids into independent adulthood and transitioning to an empty nest. So, during this phase I want to:

• Keep working on the same things in phase two
• Develop a discipleship strategy for my children in the burgeoning young adult years that also could serve as a resource to other parents (and perhaps capture what we’ve done through the little to childhood years)
• Read books related to writing and preaching: On Writing Well by William Zinsser, Saving Eutychus by Gary Millar & Phil Campbell, and Preaching by Stuart Olyott
• Transition to a new Bible study system, Logos, for study and sermon preparation
• Prepare reflections on the benefit of the sabbatical to report back to the church

I am eager to see how the Lord will use this sabbatical for his good purposes in my life, in the lives of my family, and in the life of Westview. If you would, pray for these plans. Pray that logistics and details would come together. Pray even now that the investment would reap exponential dividends for Christ’s sake. May the Lord do far more than we could ever ask or imagine.