The Renewal Team – Sabbatical & Congregational Renewal
As I shared at the Annual Meeting, I am planning to take a sabbatical next year. I began talking with the Vestry two years ago about my hopes for taking a sabbatical, and identified 2021 as the right time. I will be completing my sixth full year at St. James’, and beginning my seventh, next fall.
Sabbatical is time set aside for clergy to step away briefly from the persistent obligations of daily parish life and to engage in a time of renewal and reflection. Renewal periods are not vacation, but times for intentional exploration and reflection, for regaining enthusiasm and creativity for ministry, and for discovering what will make the pastor’s heart sing.
That description is taken directly from the Lilly Endowment National Clergy Renewal Program. The resources offered by this program have spurred my own thinking about sabbatical and renewal, and have widened our conversation about how that period can be a time of renewal for the congregation as well – both in the sense of the work done in preparation for my time away, and for using that time for intentional community building.
I am pleased to share that Senior Warden Jeannie Pellicier, Treasurer Jane Barger, and parishioners Joan Fader, Lynda Ellis, and Blix Winston are serving on a Renewal Team to work with me to vision and plan for this important time for our community. A part of our work will be applying to the Lilly Endowment Clergy Renewal Program for a grant to cover both my sabbatical plans as well as congregational renewal activities and clergy coverage while I am away. Please keep this team and our work in your prayers, and reach out to any member if you have questions or ideas!
Yours in God’s peace,
Kristin+