Do you know the first corporation to grant sabbaticals? McDonalds. Does your church or company grant sabbaticals? They should. If you are in leadership in a church or company, this post explains why sabbaticals are not an indulgent luxury, but deeply beneficial for the employee and the organization.
As I mentioned in previous posts this week, in Leviticus 25, God instructed his people Israel to let their land lay fallow once every seven years. Our contemporary principle of sabbaticals is rooted in this ancient practice. So let me talk about the practice of sabbatical in our contemporary world.
Sabbatical is not vacation. Sabbaticals are intentional breaks. Just like the sabbath year is an intentional break primarily for the purpose of rest for the land. Sabbatical is not to be so busy that you are more tired after sabbatical than when you began it. A sabbatical is best if it is life-giving, encouraging, inspiring. For some that is further study. For some that is a special trip. For some that is doing something completely different.
My congregation is part of a denomination, the Evangelical Congregational Church, and our denomination has, as long as I have been a part of it, encouraged our churches to give pastors sabbaticals. In fact, here is what the EC Church says.
One of our denominational governing documents, the “Rules of Conference,” in rule 1016 “Sabbatical,” says: “The National Conference urges that all churches consider a Sabbatical/Renewal leave for their Pastor, regardless of their pastoral status, after the Pastor has served a minimum of 7 years at one church or charge and be reconsidered after each subsequent 7-year period of time at the same church or charge.”
Rule 1016 goes on to say, “Sabbatical Leave is a carefully planned period of time in which the Pastor is granted leave away from his normal responsibilities in order to spend an extended period of time in rest, renewal and refreshment. It is to be a time to receive spiritual nourishment, a change of perspective, to deepen the Pastor’s relationship with God, himself and his family. It is to be a time of rest and cessation of his regular pastoral duties and activities.”
Why? What is so different about pastoral ministry that the EC Church would recommend sabbaticals every seven years?
One source I found said this: “Recently published statistics report that 75% of pastors report being “extremely stressed” or “highly stressed”, 91% have experienced some form of burnout in ministry and 18% say they are “fried to a crisp right now,” 70% constantly fight depression, and 90% feel fatigued and worn out every wee.” (Source: soulshepherding.org)
So in the EC Church Health Community report at this past year’s National Conference, they stated, “Wisely scheduled sabbaticals can prevent burnout by providing an opportunity to step away from regular routines. These sabbaticals are not glorified vacations. They may include vacation-like elements, but their aim is uniquely rest and rejuvenation for the soul. Sabbaticals allow pastors to cease normal duties, lay down taxing burdens, and reshape existing rhythms to press deeper into God’s grace.”
Sabbatical is not just for those in ministry. Sabbatical can, and I believe should, be not just recommended, but strongly encouraged or even required for any employee in any organization. A pastoral colleague shared with me that sabbatical has become so embedded in the DNA of his church, that all pastors and staff are required to take sabbatical. One pastor on staff regularly rebuffed this idea, saying that he didn’t need a sabbatical and did not want to take one. They required him to anyway. He came back from sabbatical thanking the leaders for forcing him. He said he was wrong, that he did need the sabbatical, and it was deeply meaningful to him. Furthermore, as the title of this article suggests, and as the article proves, “When Employees Take Sabbaticals, Organizations Benefit.”
And that brings me to my experience with sabbaticals at Faith Church. I’ll tell that story in two parts in the next two posts.
Photo by Tim Goedhart on Unsplash
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