Recently, while discussing some sabbatical plans for a pastor, I began imagining with him a way to help his congregation to experience their personal value from the sabbatical. This pastor was building in to his sabbatical plans a deliberate time for family renewal and recreation. Since pastors often feel guilty about the time denied to their family due to the demands of the pastorate, I think this is a healthy part of his sabbatical planning.
What we also know is that many congregational families find themselves denying time with their family because of both their professional commitments and their participation in church and other community activities. Unlike the Puritan emphasis on the Sabbath that is part of this country’s religious heritage, the European tradition places more emphasis on the Sabbath being a time for renewal of relationships. You are to take time to focus on your relationship with God but you are also to spend time and energy in visiting and caring for your human relationships as well.
What we began to sketch out was a way to place a renewed emphasis on family within the congregation during his three month sabbatical. I recalled that the Mormon church often identified a day each week that they would have no church activities so that each family could have a family night. What if, we speculated, as he interpreted the sabbatical plans to the congregation, he also offered a sabbatical possibility during his May through July time away in which families within the congregation would take a time each week to focus on relationships within the family. It might be a Monday evening or a Sunday afternoon and evening but it would be an agreed upon time for the whole congregation. Three weeks out of each month the congregation would agree to not have meetings or activities at the church and suggestions could be made for family relational activities appropriate to families with various age groups in them. Couples without children would also be encouraged to have a special night in which they focused on each other either at home or a date out.
On the fourth week, there would be a church wide activity that would focus on the celebration of the family. It might be a time to bring in someone who could introduce music in a relational fashion or even a recreational specialist. The idea would be to have a night of joy. There could be three of these during his absence and a fourth one when he returned. This would be a time to hear of his sabbatical and to share in their reactions to their own sabbatical experience. Maybe by that time it could become a habit that all would like to continue.
