{"id":30880,"date":"2022-09-10T15:08:14","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:08:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/pastor-take-a-break-before-you-quit\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T15:08:14","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:08:14","slug":"pastor-take-a-break-before-you-quit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/pastor-take-a-break-before-you-quit\/","title":{"rendered":"Pastor, Take a Break Before You Quit"},"content":{"rendered":"
Tara Winstead<\/strong>\u00a0photo –\u00a0Pexels<\/strong> <\/p>\n

By Jared C. Wilson<\/em><\/p>\n

Barna reported in December of 2021 that 38% of pastors had considered quitting ministry at the end of 2021. That may not seem like a large number to you, but it\u2019s a 9% increase over those reporting the same at the beginning of 2021. In just one year, the number of pastors who\u2019d considered quitting jumped nearly 10%.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s become almost clich\u00e9 at this point to say that the pandemic, political divisions, cultural upheaval, and the like have all taken their toll. I tend to think we ought to measure the last four years of ministry as taking the toll of twice that (maybe a ministry \u201cdog years\u201d type of thing).<\/p>\n

The good news is, according to a 2021 Lifeway Research study, the rate of those who\u2019ve actually quit is statistically negligible from 2015 to 2021. But the increased number of those contemplating quitting\u2014and the potentially higher rate of pastors transferring from one ministry assignment to another\u2014still doesn\u2019t give us an optimistic forecast for the next few years of ministerial resilience. Indeed, 63% of pastors were not the senior leader of their church 10 years ago.<\/p>\n

What a lot of pastors on the verge of quitting need is not a new context or a new vocation but a substantive break\u2014a sabbatical. \u2014 @JaredCWilson Click To Tweet <\/p>\n

I\u2019m convinced that what a lot of pastors on the verge of quitting need is not a new context or a new vocation but a substantive break\u2014a sabbatical. But so many pastors are in churches where that\u2019s a foreign concept or a tough sell or otherwise unfeasible. For instance, it is more difficult for those in solo pastor contexts to take a lengthy break.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s time to reintroduce the traditional observance of the sabbatical to our ministerial practice.<\/p>\n

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What is a sabbatical?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

A sabbatical\u2014from the word for sabbath\u2014is a permitted time away for an employee to rest and reset. It is a time to focus on personal, emotional, and\/or educational development in preparation for their next season of employment or ministry. Although becoming more popular in the secular marketplace as mitigation of burnout, sabbaticals are customarily taken by those in academic professions (as in colleges or seminaries) or in ministerial professions at certain predetermined milestones of employment.<\/p>\n

Different institutions treat sabbaticals differently. Some leave the purpose of the sabbatical up to the proposal of the one preparing to take leave. They\u2019re often used for personal retreat or study in church settings, but sometimes also used in academic settings for writing leave or research focus.<\/p>\n

Sabbatical policies differ from church to church and institution to institution, but following the pattern of the biblical sabbatical (Leviticus 25), most ministerial sabbaticals occur every seventh year of full-time employment. Sabbaticals range in length, typically one to three months\u2014though they can extend much longer commensurate with the length of one\u2019s tenure\u2014and they don\u2019t usually replace or subsume regularly allowed vacation days.<\/p>\n

In most cases, pastors present to their fellow elders or appropriate committee a proposal for how they plan to use their sabbatical. In congregationally governed churches, the approved proposal is presented to membership as a motion for approval.<\/p>\n

By rewarding faithful shepherds with extended time away at regular intervals, congregations obey the biblical mandates to honor their elders (1 Timothy 5:17). \u2014 @JaredCWilson Click To Tweet <\/p>\n

The purpose of any specific sabbatical leave for a pastor is largely determined by the pastor proposing the leave in conjunction with his fellow pastors and congregation. Pastors can and should use sabbatical time in any or all of the following ways:<\/p>\n

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  1. Personal retreat for spiritual renewal and theological development<\/li>\n
  2. Intentional focus on marriage and family<\/li>\n
  3. Writing projects or other academic pursuits<\/li>\n
  4. Professional development via courses or conferences or travel for educational purposes<\/li>\n
  5. Additional rest\/leisure as needed<\/li>\n
  6. Counseling or coaching for emotional and spiritual maintenance<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    One benefit of ministry sabbaticals for pastors is they typically allow a valuable time of reset for pastors. This time of refreshing, renewed energy, and vision for the next season of ministry works against ministry burnout. By rewarding faithful shepherds with extended time away at regular intervals, congregations obey the biblical mandates to honor their elders (1 Timothy 5:17) and work against their groaning in their work (Hebrews 13:17).<\/p>\n

    Why pastors should take sabbaticals<\/strong><\/h3>\n

    The first reason pastors, like everyone, should regularly rest is because the Lord commands it. We are finite creatures with limited capacities. We are not made to run 24\/7, 365 days a year. But the main reason pastors should take a substantive break (like a sabbatical) is because pastoral ministry takes an enormous emotional toll. Ministry is spiritualized exhaustion.<\/p>\n

    Ministry is spiritualized exhaustion. \u2014 @JaredCWilson Click To Tweet <\/p>\n

    Until you\u2019ve experienced it, you can\u2019t quite understand this. If you trust your pastor, you believe him when (if) he talks about it, but until you\u2019ve been in that role, you can\u2019t really understand the emotional toll on good pastors. Closely analogous roles would be those who do emergency work, police officers, or even some social workers, where one constantly feels \u201con,\u201d there are frequent crises that keep the worker\u2019s adrenaline going long after the crisis is over, and there are experiences and challenges that become difficult to discuss with others who do not share the same work.<\/p>\n

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    See also  The Power of the Ordinary Moments<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    Dale Wolyniak explains it this way: <\/p>\n

    Unlike a doctor or lawyer, who can schedule or refer clients to another peer for services, a minister is less likely to say no or \u2018not now\u2019 to the people he has come to love. . . . This sense of always being on call, of feeling indispensable and irreplaceable, can have a devastating effect on both a minister\u2019s health and his family\u2019s well-being.<\/p>\n

    Though I\u2019m still in vocational ministry, the difference between the end of my work day now and the end of my work day when I was a pastor is significant. Today, for the most part, I can \u201cturn off\u201d my job when it\u2019s time to stop working. When I was pastoring, I could not do that. Here\u2019s what it typically looked like for me: <\/p>\n