Category: Clergy Sabbaticals
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Put A Song Back In Your Pastor’s Heart With A Sabbatical
Sometimes, when we hear of how some of our pastor friends are struggling in their ministry, we remember the story of the parakeet who lost his song. Lester the parakeet’s sad story began one day when his owner inadvertently sucked Lester into the vacuum bag while cleaning his cage. After removing Lester from the bag,…
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Let Me Please Breakdown
I remember the first time a pastor colleague told me that he had a breakdown, requiring hospitalization and therapy. It was 35 years ago. He blew my mind. He was successful—the pastor of a large church. He was very matter of fact about the incident. It was Sunday morning. He was, at home, getting ready…
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Alban Institute and Home Exchange
For 40 years, Alban Institute was an amazing ecclesiastical institution serving congregations and their leaders. In 2014, this organization founded by the Rev. Loren Mead in 1974, entered into an agreement with Duke Divinity School to transfer it’s intellectual properties to Duke. As a result of this agreement, Duke Divinity maintains an archive of the…
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Imagine The Best Job In The World!
Imagine what a difference it would make if every pastor in every congregation could look forward to a three-month sabbatical every four years! Imagine especially what a difference this would make to pastors serving smaller congregations. Nothing silly about that! Imagine what a difference it would make if high school students saw the ministry as…
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The Great Commission and Home Exchanges
At a church I served as pastor, we had a guest pastor program called Pastors2Go. One of our guest pastors—on a clergy sabbatical from her job as Chaplain at the University of Leeds England—was leading a Bible study. Both she and her husband shared the importance of going and doing for Christian discipleship. They shared…
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Ministry Sabbaticals 101
At Christian Home Exchange, we believe that the world will be a better place once pastors and all Christians take seriously the word, “Go,” as in “Go, therefore …” (Matthew 28:19). Many refer to the world these days as the Global Village, but it seems to me that most of us are just sitting around…
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Christmas and Stress
[From my diary] Tomorrow is the Fourth Sunday of Advent. The next day is Christmas Eve. Then, of course, comes Christmas Day. This wonderful time of the year we celebrate God becoming human like us–to save us. With the added intensity of the next few days, your pastor is probably struggling with his or her…
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Be A Christmas Angel
Most pastors don’t even dream of taking a sabbatical—let alone contemplate the life-and-career-changing impact of a sabbatical. Last Sunday we talked with a pastor who had served churches for 24 years—and had never taken a sabbatical! Be an angel and help your pastor catch the vision of clergy sabbatical. This Christmas, give your pastor the…
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Christmas Gift Idea
As Christmas approaches, you know your pastor is busy. A lot of preparation goes into sharing the Christmas message of “good news of great joy for all the people.” This Christmas and New Year season give your pastor a gift that could be a source of “good news” and “great joy” in their personal and…
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Leadership Matters And So Does Your Sabbatical
A certain type of self-understanding is essential for the parish pastor who wants to be a great leader. I appreciate Anthony B. Robinson’s insights into the importance of the pastor’s self-understanding for leadership in the parish in Robinson’s article, “Leadership That Matters.” Robinson draws his insights from James MacGregor Burns (Leadership, 1978), Edwin H. Friedman…