Sabbaticals
are good for the pastors who get them and the congregations who give them.
It gives pastors time to recharge their batteries spiritually and emotionally,
engage in projects for which they don’t ordinarily have the time, study
new subjects or pick up new skills, and gain new perspectives on their ministry
by stepping away it for a period of time. For the congregation, pastors should
come back with fresh energy and ideas, and often pastors who get sabbaticals
are willing to make a longer-term commitment to the congregation, ensuring
longer tenures.
If sabbaticals are a good thing for pastors, wouldn’t it be good for lay leaders to also take sabbatical leaves from their involvement in the congregation? Sabbaticals might be particularly helpful for lay leaders who have been in one position for a long period of time or who have been involved in a number of different roles over a long period of time without an intentional break. I’m suggesting stepping back from all congregational responsibilities for a period of four-six months.
A sabbatical is one form of what someone has called the spiritual discipline of “creative dislocation”: placing one’s self in a very different context, free of one’s usual duties and expectations, in order to see one’s usual place and responsibilities in a fresh light.
Sabbaticals for lay leaders could be beneficial for some of the same reasons as for pastoral leaders—personal renewal and regeneration. The time normally spent in congregational leadership could be given to prayer, reading, and reflection. Lay leaders on sabbatical would also be freer to visit other congregations on Sundays to experience what happens in other places. Being a participant in the congregation without leadership responsibilities could well bring new perspectives on one’s relationship to the congregation or on the congregation itself. Time off might even give lay people some new ideas about their future engagement in the congregation.
Another reason to consider a sabbatical plan for lay leaders is that some lay leaders tend to over-commit themselves. A sabbatical might help them experience the liberation of realizing the congregation doesn’t depend on them, that perhaps the congregation can even thrive without them.
I once suggested to several lay persons who were deeply entrenched in their leadership roles that, for their own wellbeing, they might consider taking a sabbatical. They were incensed that I might suggest such a thing. They couldn’t imagine any one else in the congregation being able to do the job as well as they could; their identity and self-worth came from their congregational involvement; and, over time they had built up a little fiefdom in one significant area of the congregation’s life, which itself was a source of congregational conflict. Frankly, there was a control issue involved in this situation: they weren’t about to give up their control and power for fear that the congregation would choose to take a different course of action in their absence as lay leaders—or worse—never let them back in the same leadership role again.
Lay sabbaticals could be good for the congregation as well. For one thing, it gives other persons a chance to try out new ministries and exercise their gifts. My generation, the baby boomers, especially need to think about turning over responsibilities to the generation behind us. There are many gifted younger people in the congregation who need to be tapped for service. Unleashing their gifts will bring fresh energy and ideas to the congregation, and give them a new sense of ownership in the life and future of the congregation.
So should your congregation consider sabbaticals for lay leaders? It might be a win-win situation for both the leaders themselves and the congregation.
Richard A. Kauffman