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Sample Sabbatical Proposal

Dan Colwin — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 20:04:53 +0000

My senior pastor friend who recently got back from his three month sabbatical allowed me to use his proposal letter to help others draft one of their own. Note that he wrote this proposal in August of 2007 and did not take his sabbatical until summer of 2010, so planning your sabbatical a ways out is key. Note also this letter preceded a formal meeting to discuss the sabbatical proposal. Anyways, here is his sample. Hope it helps:

August 28, 2007

Dear Executive Board,

My wife and I had visitors in this past weekend. As we toured them around the church we were all somewhat startled when we realized it has been five years since my departure from my last church. Many wonderful things have transpired here during those five years. Many challenges, however, still lie ahead.

My hope and prayer is that God will allow me the privilege of walking with this church family through those challenges and seeing Him do exciting things in and through us. My desire is to continue as Senior Pastor here until I step into retirement. With all my heart I want to finish strong.

There are, however, a couple of factors that will affect the accomplishment of that dream: skill and strength. Let me explain what I mean:

1) Skill

The world in which I work today is a very different place than the one into which I

graduated 30-plus years ago. I often find my mind perplexed and my spirit troubled by the new challenges faced by the Church today. In addition to that, a congregation of 500 (current church) is very different from a congregation of 250 (last church) requiring different skill sets of its leader. I am striving to develop those new skills and yet the demands of ministry, at times, make that a difficult task.

2) Strength

It is not that a pastor works harder or longer than church members in the marketplace. However, the separation of one’s professional and personal life when in the ministry can be difficult to maintain. Add to that the various stress factors I have been called to bear over the last 10 years and I am noticing a growing weariness in my spirit. Where once there was energy and creativity within, I am finding, instead, a deep fatigue.

I cherish a dream, however. In addition to my desire to finish strong as your pastor I dream of taking a sabbatical to renew my spirit and strengthen my skills. The purpose of this letter is to ask your permission to begin planning a Pastoral Renewal Sabbatical beginning some time in the summer/ fall of 2009. In over 30 years of ministry, working days, evenings and weekends and many holidays, I have never had a sabbatical. Here is my thinking to this point:

1) I would like to recruit a small team of people who would help me plan this experience… people who know me well and can help me think through what sabbatical elements would be most beneficial for me as your pastor. They would also assist me with presenting this proposal to the congregation before and after the actual sabbatical.

2) The team would help me prepare an application to the Lilly Foundation – Clergy Renewal Program. The Lilly Foundation makes 120 grants per year to pastors and their churches for the purpose of renewing pastors for ministry. If we are accepted, the foundation would provide up to $45,000 for use on this sabbatical ($30,000 for my expenses and $15,000 for church expenses.) The application deadline for the 2009 calendar year is May 15, 2008. I am currently in receipt of all the documents necessary to complete this application.

3) I would also work with the church leadership to develop a plan that would strengthen our church during my absence (hence, the monies allocated to the church). We would think through areas of training and development that would benefit the church the most…who might provide this training…what special programs might we want to take advantage of…who would best fill our pulpit…and so forth. While I’m learning and growing the church will be doing the same thing.

I believe God called me to this church. I believe God wants us to work together as we face future challenges and opportunities. I also believe we can do that most effectively if I, your pastor, am renewed and refocused for the ministry that lies ahead.

Please prayerfully consider this request so that we can discuss the matter at length during the September Executive Board meeting. Feel free to ask me questions between now and that meeting; I will be happy to discuss this proposal with you.

Blessings and love,

Mike

Mike did in fact get the Lily Foundation Grant, which was actually over the $45,000 amount. Pretty cool.

Proposing A Sabbatical

Dan Colwin — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 22:10:57 +0000

Two days ago I wrote about the importance of taking a sabbatical every few years if you are in ministry. Many churches have sabbaticals built into their church constitution, so this idea is not foreign for them. This is a huge blessing to pastors in ministry because the process of taking a sabbatical is not an uphill battle. But, unfortunately, this is not always the case in many churches. Too many churches in fact. For many in ministry, sabbaticals are only a dream, and one that will never come to fruition.

But for those of you whose church does not already support a paid sabbatical for pastors in ministry, my senior pastor friend who recently returned from a 3 month sabbatical (first for him ever) had some words of advice for proposing a sabbatical to your church.

1. Research is Key

My senior pastor friend had the advantage of living in a very academic community, so the idea of sabbaticals was not foreign to many in his congregation. His church however had never supported them before, so he still needed to provide them with convincing arguments (outside of his own) for the value of sabbaticals. Any article, especially from newspapers or Christian magazines (Leadership Journal for example) that lay the case for pastors taking time off from the ministry to recharge is very important to supply your elder board with. Check out writings by H.B. London on sabbaticals and even look at a recent article in the New York Times (Taking a Break From the Lord’s Work http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/02/nyregion/02burnout.html?_r=1)

2. Communicate Your Desire to Stay Long Term

Truth is, no one wants to give you 3 months paid leave if you’re just going to hit the road after you get back. You need to both have put in multiple years at your current church AND intend to stay at your church for years to come. My friend clearly communicated his desire to stay at his current church until he retired. The more your elder board and church knows you are committed to them, the more committed to helping you they’ll be. Within this, you also need to clearly communicate the long term effects of what constant work in the ministry can do to a person. Facilitating funerals, weddings, late night calls and conversations, time away from family, and tons of personal stress can tear you down. Time to refuel will sustain you for the long term.

3. Present Your Plan and Get Help

Your church needs to know you are taking this very seriously, so you need to clearly present your plan and do it several years in advance. No big decision happens quickly in a church, so know that one, two, or even five years is not a long time to wait. Expect to wait a little for your sabbatical to happen, which means you should start planning it NOW. Also, get together a small team of about four people who can help you plan a sabbatical that will fulfill you personally and within ministry. The more you surround yourself with people you and the church trusts, the better your chances of getting your sabbatical approved.

That’s it for now. Tomorrow I’ll write a little more about specific approaches to the plan for your sabbatical.

A Five Year Old’s Answered Prayer

Dan Colwin — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 19:11:55 +0000

One of my best friends has had a tough last two years. As a financial advisor, the stock market plunge in the fall of 2008 hit him especially hard. When everyone around him lost 40% of their financial worth, he lost more. Several months into the recession he realized his family wouldn’t be able to stay in their house. With great sadness and a huge blow to his pride, they moved into his in-law’s basement.

I didn’t actually meet my friend until about a year ago, which was already almost a year into their struggles. Week after week we would meet together (we were co-leading a small group) and he would tell me story after story of heartbreak. There seemed like no end in sight. The money wasn’t coming in and the struggles were only increasing. Yet my friend, only by the grace of God, had the most integrity of any man I have ever seen. As his world was continually falling in around him, as the pressure mounted on him to provide for his family, and as the thought of the American Dream in his life vanished, he would still not curse God. Sure, he questioned. Sure, he got frustrated. Sure, he even lost it a couple of times. In fact, he told me one time that every night when he went to bed he would hear his five year old son praying that God would give them back their house, and it continually left my friend broken.

But he never gave up. Not on his family and not on his God. He knew the Lord had good in mind for them and as difficult as it was, he relished in what he and his wife were learning of God’s love and grace. Through his laughter and his tears he always thanked God for the blessings in his life and for the friends who surrounded him with great love.

And today, with great excitement and joy, his son’s prayers were finally answered. Today we moved my friend’s family into a new house. It’s a little smaller than their old place and needs some work, but it’s beautiful. And today my friend’s smile was bigger than I’ve ever seen because his faith had become sight, at least for today.

Sabbaticals are Needed

Dan Colwin — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 21:19:25 +0000

This past summer my brother–who’s a youth pastor in Wisconsin–and a senior pastor friend of mine both went on sabbaticals. A little over 2 months of time to refresh themselves and renew their passion for ministry. They both took advantage of the time. My brother went on vacation in North Carolina with his family, a marriage retreat with his wife in Colorado, and read a ton of ministry books. My senior pastor friend got the opportunity of a lifetime, visiting Greece and Turkey, as well as a week long silent retreat in a monastery. Both have told me how needed their sabbaticals were for renewing the drive they have for transformational ministry.

Yet, as I talked this past weekend with my senior pastor friend, it saddened me to hear that not everyone was supportive of his taking time off. Even though he got a grant from the Lily Endowment, which paid for his trips and paid for an interim pastor to take his preaching duties, many were still against his sabbatical. He told me how one board member had so adamantly opposed his sabbatical that he left the church because of it.

So sad. People don’t fully understand the amount of time, energy, sacrifice, and heart pastoral staff put into their ministries and people. They need extended time to unplug from work, silence themselves before God, soaking up his wisdom and grace. And we, as members of the church body need our pastoral staff to have sabbaticals because they come back fully charged and ready to do better ministry than they did before.

If you’re looking to go on a sabbatical, next year or five years from now, check out the Lily Endowment. This amazing group gives away about 120 grants every year to pastors going on sabbatical, to the amount of $45,000. You need to write an application, but they walk you through what a good one looks like. It’s worth it though.

Thoughts on Youth Worker Training

Dan Colwin — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 21:49:33 +0000

Over the weekend I had the opportunity of going to a youth worker training at a friend’s church. I like going to other company trainings for two reasons: 1. because I volunteer in a youth group and can never have too much training, and 2. because I like to see how other companies are doing it. The training was supposed to be from 8:30-12:30, but we didn’t really get started until about 9:15 because us youth workers like to show up late. The training focused on three individual topics: small groups, evangelism, and mentoring. All great things to talk about, but it was a lot to fit into three hours (when you added in the breaks, each session was between 45-55 minutes). By the time we finished I was tired and had a lot of material to look over, but it got me thinking about training in general. So here are my few observations for youth worker training, in no specific order:

1. Balance content and experience

Too often we make the mistake of trying to cram a TON of content into our trainings (that’s what happened this past weekend) and we simply overwhelm those we are training. For some reason we think the real value is solely in the content, but that’s just not true. With the variety of learning modes out there, we need to present content in multiple formats (auditory, visual, and experiential) or we will lose many we are trying to train. Plus, just like when planning sermons, people only retain a small amount of the information they hear anyways, so why not get creative and develop new, innovative ways of delivering your content so they internalize it. Less is more my boss always says.

2. Allow time to process and share

Speaking of internalizing, there was almost no time this past weekend for us to think through what we were receiving for training. There was only one pair and share, but only for five minutes (we needed way more for the subject matter). We also needed just time to internalize what we were learning and how to apply it for our own groups, or at least more discussion with others to help us apply the training.

3. Question asking is key

Even though the trainer told us all at the beginning he welcomed questions, not once did he ask us if we had any questions. I had to interrupt him a couple times to ask a question. People need to be invited to ask questions, for they won’t all interrupt to do it. And especially if we are teaching a complex subject. Plus, as trainers, we also have to ask the participants questions. The trainer this weekend didn’t ask us any questions about our own ministries, which could have been so helpful for applying the training.

What Motivates Volunteers?

Doug Franklin — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 13:56:56 +0000

We are all starting out a new year and we want our adult volunteers to have a great experience. We want them to be successful and feel like they are making a difference. We also want them to love what they are doing so they will make the ministry a priority and will want to serve a long time. So how do we make this happen for them? The key to motivating a volunteer is placing them in a ministry position based on their passion. For example: if you have a female volunteer that is passionate about hospitality but you have a need for a freshman girl small group leader. So you decided the ministry needs a freshman girl small group leader more than a hospitality leader and you place this volunteer in the girls small group. How long do you think she will stay there? How motivated will she be? Sure she can use some of her hospitality gifts with the girls but how will she feel when she’s preparing the Bible study? This is easy to understand, so how do you find out what are your adult volunteers passions really are? At LeaderTreks we make a handy resource called The Sweet Spot. The Sweet Spot is a series of assessments that will help you and your adult volunteers understand their passions and the right place in youth ministry. Check it out at http://www.simplyyouthministry.com/resources-leadertreks-youth-workers-the-sweet-spot.html

Free Student Leadership E-book

Doug Franklin — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 20:51:03 +0000

I’ve just written a new e-book called Student Leaders are Church Leaders and I’m giving it away for free.
Student Leaders are Church Leaders provides a simple way to weave student leadership development into the fabric of your ministry. You don’t have to start over, add another program to your already long list, or scratch your current plan. Youth ministry is still about outreach, evangelism, discipleship, missions, and worship; it’s just better when led by students. This book will help you understand the theory of student leadership while giving you practical steps you can take to give your students ownership of the ministry. Whether you have a student leadership program or you want to start one, this book will help your students lead now.

Download a free copy of Student Leaders are Church Leaders at http://leadertreks.org/studentleaders-churchleaders.html

Mentoring’s Greatest Obstacle

Doug Franklin — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 20:18:32 +0000

Lots of youth workers dream about having a mentoring program. Students meeting with spiritually mature adults, talking about their personal problems and receiving good advice on how to move forward in their relationship with Christ. Many youth workers think that just putting the adult and the student together WAM!, students will be growing. The problem they think is getting time for the two to meet. Busy schedules and tons of church stuff keeps them from meeting. I do think busyness is an obstacle to mentoring but I don’t think it’s the biggest problem. The real problem is having mature adults who are wiling to mentor. Most youth workers know how to organically sit down and talk with a student about spiritual matters, but most adults don’t. Youth workers miss this fact because they think they can do it, so that means any other adult can too. If you want a good mentoring program you need to spend time preparing and training adults to meet with students. Please note this may not solve the scheduling issue but it will give your adults confidence to speak truth into a student’s life.

A Different Approach

Doug Franklin — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 21:07:10 +0000

For many of us in youth ministry we need adult volunteers to help us. Anyone who is breathing will do. Sure. we want them to love students and have time for them, but to be honest we will take anyone. Lots of us would say this is where we are at: we are in desperate need of help. The problem I see with this thinking is it’s only from our side of things. We need the help and we will take just anyone because students are very important . How does this sound to perspective volunteers? It sounds like the students are everything and the volunteers are second in the youth ministry. What if we were to take a different approach and make the volunteer the center of the ministry? For example, we could invite prospective volunteers to come to our ministries to share their gifts while helping students make life changing decisions. We could focus on the spiritual gifts God has given adults, we could place them by their passions, not our needs, and we could build into them as much as we are asking them to build into students. Youth ministries that use this approach don’t have a problem finding volunteers.

Student Leadership Team Revisited

Doug Franklin — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 15:35:12 +0000

We all know that there are many benefits to having students in leadership roles inside our youth ministries. But listening to youth workers I understand many of you are frustrated with the possible downsides to student leadership teams:

• Saying no to some student who wants to be on the team

• Having students think leadership is a label

• Students thinking leader means loved by youth pastor and not on the team means youth pastor hates me

• Having to meet with parents to explain why their student can’t be on the student leadership team

• Students thinking leader means “good kids only”

The list goes on and on. I know when we first think about having student leaders in our ministries we think student leadership team, but you can do student leadership without having to form a team. I call this Mentor Leadership. We can approach students with insights into their lives, share with them how we see God using them, and tell them personally we think they are leaders. We then ask them if they would like to join us in a leadership mentoring relationship. We meet with them every week or so and give them a part of the ministry to lead. This type of leadership program can be very effective and it could fit your style better.

*Please note if you like this type of leadership development you are going to need to train a bunch of adult leaders who can develop this kind of relationship with students.

I am still big on student leadership teams but if you have backed away from student leadership because of the downside of having a team, just know there are other ways to develop student leaders. If you would like more information on Mentor Leadership give me a call; I would love to talk it through with you and if you want a resource to make this happen check out Mentoring Spiritual Leaders and Mentoring Servant Leaders. Both are great LeaderTreks resources.