Starting a Most Unusual Sabbatical
This summer, I embark on my first ministry sabbatical. It's a very unusual sabbatical, not least because this should have happened in 2014, after 5 years of ministry here. The timing back then was terrible, so I didn't even bring it up. And it hasn't been great in recent years either. Finally, the moment has come. Summer of 2022 sabbatical, here we come. The idea of a sabbatical comes from the academic world, or so I'm told. It's a period of paid leave for the minister or teacher, who spends that time in research, writing or exploration of one kind or another. In university settings, a tenured professor might receive a year of sabbatical for every seven years of teaching. In ministry settings, two or three months is a more normal length. In my church tradition, sabbaticals are not a common thing. It's not because people think it's a bad idea — it's just not something they are probably familiar with. The concept has taken root, however, and an increasing ...