Josh and Lara’s Sabbatical

The Number 7

It’s hard to believe it’s been almost seven years since pastor Lara and I arrived in Salisbury. Since that new beginning, much has changed. When we arrived, we had one dog and no kids. Seven years later, our beloved dog, Red, is no longer with us, but God has given us the gift of two hilarious, wild, silly, and beautiful girls, Joanna and Phoebe. They’ve grown up before your eyes just as much as before ours.

The church has changed, too. There are new faces on Sunday mornings, new staff members, and we’ve said goodbye to several faithful saints. The church went through a global health crisis that threatened something we cherish—community. Even so, we arrive at our seventh year feeling that God’s Spirit continues to work in our midst.

The Bible loves the number seven. The seventh day was imbued with something special by our creator. It is the only day blessed and declared “holy”—set apart. It is the only day that receives continued attention throughout the biblical witness. On the seventh day, God rested. The number seven means wholeness, means rest, means a pause, means blessing.

This is why the Scriptural witness expands the meaning of seven in its mention of Sabbatical. Sabbatical is a “Sabbath of Sabbaths,” which occurs every seven years. In that year, farmers let their ground lie fallow with the implication that the ground and the workers are both given a period of rest and renewal. It is from this Scripture that denominations like our own have adopted Sabbaticals for their pastoral staff.

This summer, from June 16-September 8^th, Pastor Lara and I are taking Sabbatical together. It’s time to let the soil of our ministry lie fallow so that we can rest and renew our spirits for the next seven years to come. It is time for you, the congregation, to find renewal in this season. It is a time for you to rediscover that this church can survive without us. I imagine many of you are thinking, “Okay, so you’re going away for 3 months. But what are you doing with that time?” It’s a good question. Pastor Lara and I would like to each share one of the pieces of our Sabbatical that we’re most looking forward to.

Josh: Emotionally Healthy Spirituality

The piece of Sabbatical I’m most looking forward to is called “The Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Course.” A pastor, writer, and church leader named Pete Scazzero has spent the better part of the last twenty years helping leaders figure out how our being with God is connected to our doing for God. Wonders Scazzero, “How does our emotional and interior life affect our leadership?”

Believe it or not, this is a question I spend a lot of time thinking about. How does a pastor deal with carrying the grief and wounds they hear from parishioners on a weekly basis? How does a pastor lead with grace and yet also learn to have difficult conversations with staff or congregants? How does a pastor deal with conflict that happens in the context of ministry?

As Scazzero says in his podcast, “there’s the skills and aptitudes we bring to leadership, and then there’s the person we are that we bring as well.” For Scazzero, leadership is more than just acquired skills that can be applied in certain situations. Leadership is how one stays non-anxious and centered amid institutional challenges. Leadership is coming to terms with who one is, where one has been, so that the leader can bring who they truly are to their ministry.

The Emotionally Healthy Spirituality course is an 8-week course that involves scripture, prayer, psychological insights, devotions, and teaching. For me, Sabbatical is a perfect moment to go deeper. Sabbatical is a sabbath of sabbaths, a time to delight, to pause, and to contemplate the unique person God has uniquely called to this unique church. In other words, this course will help me continue down the path of becoming a healthier leader, person, and pastor. I’m excited to see what God will do during this course! Ask me about it when I get back. Hopefully, there will be much fruit to share.

Lara: Being Churchy

Growing up, I was the churchy girl. Obnoxiously churchy. I discovered my call to ministry as a churchy kid who was delighted by the sacred rhythms of worship, who encountered Christ in simple service, and had space for the unplanned interruptions of grace. During my Sabbatical, I want to reconnect with that churchy girl. In other words, I want to embrace the joys of discipleship outside of being a pastor in charge. As such, I’m most excited about attending worship, volunteering when I can, reading, and having space for holy interruptions.

I am sooooooo excited to attend worship as a parishioner, not a pastor. I hope to worship at my childhood church in Illinois and a friend’s PC(USA) church in Tacoma, WA. I love worshiping in different contexts, too. I hope to visit a wide range of churches: tiny and mega, white and black, English and Spanish, high church, low church, Presby, non-denom, AMEZ, Catholic, Pentecostal. I have 12 weeks to be another beggar in the pew, hungry for a meal of grace. I’ll eat anything as long as Jesus is the main ingredient.

I also want to volunteer when I can. My soul needs a period of surrender of control and power. It will be good for me to show up and do what I’m told rather than be in charge. Plus, I discovered my calling through volunteer service. The least, last, lost, and lowly are Jesus in disguise, and I’d like to hang out with them or at least do a menial task to serve them.

Reading keeps my m

ind open and my heart soft. I can’t wait to read a bunch this summer. I hope to read as much of the Bible as I can. I plan to read across a variety of disciplines as the Spirit leads me.

Finally, I want to have lots of unplanned, empty time so that I needn’t rush. The young-mom-pastor-life causes me to literally run from thing to thing more than I would like. I hope to recalibrate my sense of time from Chronos (get it done) time to Kairos (sacred slowness) time by wasting time with my kids, reading that extra chapter, lingering in conversation with a stranger, simply because I am remembering that God is the creator and master of all things, including time.

Q&A:

Who will be our pastors while you’re gone?

Pastor Randy will serve as acting Head of Staff and moderator of Session. He will also have the support of two wonderful, retired clergy who have blessed First Pres by choosing to make First Pres their home—Revs. Bil Hoyle and Felicia Stewart Hoyle. Bill and Felicia will preach, lead liturgy, and offer pastoral care to our congregation. In addition to Bill and Felicia, we will have several other guest preachers, including Tony de la Rosa, the Executive Presbyter of Salem Presbytery, Daniel Heath, the Director of the Davidson Forum and the LCW pianist, and more. These ministers will bless you with their wisdom, warmth, and care.

What if we see you around town?

If you see us around town, please say hi! We are going to miss seeing your faces each week. Truly. We’re a little worried about it. So please say hello, but please do not tell us anything about the church—good, bad, or ugly. We both are anticipating having a difficult time letting go of the day-to-day at First Pres. Hearing even a peep about it could easily suck us back in and defeat the purpose of Sabbatical.

How can we follow you?

Check Pastor Lara’s Facebook page for updates from both Pastor Josh and Pastor Lara. We’ll post about once a week so that you can get a snapshot of where we are, what we’re up to, and what God is doing in us. When we return, we’ll each lead a Sunday School lesson and write a newsletter article on our sabbaticals to share more with you.

We can’t possibly thank you all enough for supporting this milestone in ministry. We trust that God will be faithful to us all in this season. We don’t leave until June 16^th. If you have any questions or concerns, come chat with us!