In just a few weeks, Pastor Chris will begin his 3-month sabbatical leave and this has some wondering what this means for Ascension. Allow me to share a little bit about what this gift can mean both for our faith community and for Pastor Chris.

First, a sabbatical is a wise and healthy investment not just for pastors but for all involved. It provides opportunities for pastors and congregations to explore new opportunities and responsibilities and open themselves to experience growth and renewal. Let me also be clear about what a sabbatical is not. It is not an extended vacation. Although a pastor’s time away is likely to include travel and fun, it is centered mostly around rest and reflection for body, mind, and spirit. And although the pastor on sabbatical and the congregation will have different sabbatical experiences, the time apart is nevertheless a shared endeavor that presents a priceless gift of renewal for all.

Here are just a few of the ways this time apart can impact us here at Ascension. On a pastoral team level, it affords me increased opportunities for leadership and to let my own pastoral identity and imagination flourish. And it will do the same for Edwin as he continues his internship and edges closer to the completion of his own seminary journey. New responsibilities and opportunities also arise for the staff in various areas of congregational activity. And while the increase in these opportunities and responsibilities does come with some additional challenges, I assure you that Edwin and I and the rest of the staff and church leadership have been diligently preparing for this time and we remain confident that our faith community and our mission will be well tended, and we are excited about wherever the Holy Spirit leads us.

On a congregational level, Pastor Chris’ time away allows the community of Ascension to recognize and appreciate many of the things Pastor Chris does that often go unnoticed and unappreciated. Some things will be picked up by Edwin and I and the other staff, but there are still other things that will be necessary for congregation members to step up and step in and assist with these tasks. Take coffee hour on Sunday mornings for instance. We are all aware of Pastor Chris’ affinity for coffee but because we don’t have a full-time barista on staff…yet (certainly on his wish list), and no congregation member currently willing to prep coffee for Sunday mornings this is one such instance congregation members will need to consider how God might be calling you to step up and help take on new responsibilities in Pastor Chris’ absence.

That said, in the days and weeks to come I am inviting every member of Ascension to take some additional time to watch, listen, reflect, and prayerfully consider where God might be calling you to jump in. Then, I encourage you to talk to myself, Edwin, a staff member or other church leader about the ways you could volunteer and be helpful. 

This time of separation is also a time to welcome experiencing things differently. Now, I’m not saying we’re suddenly making all kinds of changes to things and Ascension will look and feel completely different. But what I am saying is things will feel and seem and be a bit different than when Pastor Chris is in the mix, and this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. As a matter of fact, you can rest assured that the way the chairs in the sanctuary are set up today you can expect them to be the same throughout June, July, August, and into September until Pastor Chris returns. These any many other differences are neither good nor bad, they are just different, and they invite us all to pay attention, reflect, grow, and experience renewal throughout the sabbatical process. I’m not making any promises but who knows, maybe by the time Pastor Chris is about to return I’ll be making coffee and moving chairs around in the sanctuary. The bottom line is, God is calling all of us to open ourselves, to make space, to listen and trust and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit wherever that may be.

The opportunity for Pastor Chris to step away makes space for others to step in, and in doing so it offers him the blessing to reconnect with his family and friends, to rediscover his passions both in life and in ministry, it is a time for him to receive rather than to give, to focus on his own mental, physical, and emotional health and that of his family, to nurture and cultivate his life as a husband, father, son, brother, friend and follower and servant of Jesus. It provides him time to get away, to discover, to play, to wonder, to imagine, to listen, to follow and to do all this in different ways that renew him and his commitment to God, to his family and friends,

and to the people of Ascension. Throughout this sabbatical time I invite you to keep Pastor Chris and his family along with the rest of our Ascension family in your prayers.

My friends, I am excited for our continued and ever-changing journey, and I simply ask that you continue to open your heart and your mind to God’s leading. And then I humbly ask that before you question or complain about something that might look or feel different, you consider how God might be calling you to use your gifts to enhance and improve and enliven the ministry entrusted to us.

What a wonderful gift it is to be the people of God together in this place, and what a blessing we have upon of us with this sabbatical time of renewal. May the peace of Christ be upon you today and always!

Pastor Tony