Planned time away from the parish for study, rest, and spiritual renewal can be both beneficial and necessary for any pastor, as well as for the congregation. [1] Here are seven reasons why congregations choose to invest in them:
Refill Clergy’s Spiritual Wells Successful spiritual leadership, in the pulpit and beyond, requires a life of spiritual depth for the pastor themselves. The day-to-day demands of parish ministry tend to undercut this need. Sabbaticals help to bridge the gap.
Position a Minister to Lead in the Current Moment Parish ministry is changing rapidly in the 21st century. To thrive (or survive), congregations need spiritual leaders who are fresh in mind and heart, able to retool their own skill sets and guide the congregation toward new ways of living the mission. Time-outs help prepare clergy for innovative leadership in challenging times.
Reduce the (Uncommonly High) Risk of Burnout The risk of burnout rises in the absence of renewal leave. Oswald explains, “the constant intimate involvement with the emotional freight of other people’s lives can be draining. Burned-out clergy are much more likely to leave parish ministry, or seek another call,” or slide into diminished functioning, with greater likelihood of a conflicted ending. “Every pastoral turnover costs a congregation years of progress,” since each ending is followed by several interim ministry years, and several years of relationship-building with a new pastor before momentum picks up again.
Protect and Enhance a Church’s Greatest Resource for Growth and Stability: the Vibrancy of the Spiritual Leader Clergy vitality is the greatest asset in building up a congregation.” Whereas burnout leaves clergy empty, lacking spark, less able to connect with people or champion a church’s vision for the future.
Offset the Overwork that is Normalized in Ministry The norms for clergy work and work-life balance are “crazy” and unsustainable. “When you add up the time off clergy miss that most lay people take for granted …” it’s clear that sabbaticals are “a reasonable proposal to make up for that loss.”
Build Broader Leadership and Institutional Knowledge Clergy sabbaticals help to nurture lay leaders – old and new – and bring ownership back to the membership. This is a correction to the job “creep” that tends to happen over time when you have a competent minister. The congregation’s improved familiarity with the work of the church, its increased skills engaging in this work, and its fresh exercise of judgment about “how we do things” – all of these are healthy for the church, putting the congregation in a better position for the long run.
Cost-Effective Way to Nurture an Effective, Long-Term Ministry Pastoral transitions are costly in terms of budget as well as lost time and lay leader labor. Transitions are expensive, involving search processes, compensation negotiations, and moving costs. Another source reports that “The typical pastor has his/her greatest ministry impact at a church in years 5 through 14 of his pastorate; unfortunately, the average pastor lasts only five years at a church.”[2] The average tenure for a UU minister in 2023 was slightly longer at six years.[3]
[1] Foreword by Roy M. Oswald in Clergy Renewal: The Alban Guide to Sabbatical Planning by A. Richard Bullock and Richard J. Bruesehoff (Rowman & Littlefield, 2014).
[2] Burnout for Pastors report at https://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/jesuscreed/2007/08/burnout-for-pastors.html (accessed May 2024); report cites source of statistics as the book Pastors at Greater Risk, H B London, Jr., and Neil B Wiseman, Regal Books, © 2003.
[3] 2023 FACT Survey on UU Congregations Emerging from the Global Pandemic, https://www.beautiful.ai/player/-NURxDCmZdVhV5DRrdO4/FACT-2023