Dear Church,
August is here and autumn is around the corner. At St. John’s, fall often comes with an upsurge in energy around church programs and activities. Our yearly in-gathering service of water communion is coming up on August 21st. From there we nearly tumble into September.
This year, September will be different. At the worship service on September 11th, I will hand my portion of the church’s ministry over to the Reverend Alice Diebel and members of the Sabbatical Committee. I am stepping away for four months. I will return to the pulpit on January 15, 2023.
You may be wondering what will happen to ordinary things like Sunday service and pastoral care? Or you may wonder what a sabbatical is and why it is even needed.
The Board of St. John’s had the wisdom to engage Rev. Alice part time for all four months of sabbatical. She will preach twice a month. Worship on the remaining Sundays will be provided by St Johners. The schedule has already been filled by generous volunteers. Rita Volz, as chair of the worship team, will be able to help with anything Alice needs.
The two big other dates in December are also being taken care of. Ravensong is looking into an Earth Spirit-led evening event for the winter solstice and both Alice and Rob Thacker are eager to plan for Christmas Eve.
As for pastoral care, we have Rev. Alice and Rich Overturf, our own credentialed lay caregiver who can help with spiritual needs.
We are also blessed to have two wedding officiants as part of our congregation. Both Gay Glasscott and John Kachuba have always had the highest level of ethics and respect for the spiritual lives of others. I wholeheartedly recommend either of them for any wedding celebrations.
I hope to have hired a new director of religious education before I leave. To help this person acclimate to our church, we have put together a team of St. Johners to help restart the program. Kelly Churchwright, Bill Gordon and Connie Prairie will lead this effort.
Sabbaticals have historically functioned as a time for both congregations and clergy to enter into discernment and ask what does the Spirit require of me now? What shape will the next phase of our ministry take?
It is also a time for rest and renewal.
This emphasis on rest is reflected in the rule that the church does not make any significant changes while the minister is away. The minister, in turn, agrees to stay in the current ministry for the next year. There will be time for us to live into our discernment together.
While it would be time for sabbatical even without complications from a global pandemic, Covid has certainly added to my feelings of exhaustion. I do feel that I am on the edge of burnout some days. During my time away, I will travel to Transylvania where I will spend time with elders in the Unitarian community. At the long-standing request of my children, we will celebrate Christmas quietly. My hope is that sabbatical will return me to the next era of ministry with a fresh spirit.
Perhaps you have experienced in your own work the impact of Covid time. The past few years have been very difficult for all of us. I commend St. John’s for its creativity and resourcefulness in finding a way forward. The first year, when Edie Holder was board president, we had to learn to live in liminal space. I appreciate that Edie attended training classes with me and we worked to respond creatively to the needs of the church. We tried new things and learned along the way.
Leaving that liminal space is more difficult.
When I came to St. John’s, the previous interim minister described us as being “siloed,” meaning that while congregants might have been engaged, many of us were most concerned with one ministry of church and missed out on gaining wisdom from or offering wisdom to other areas. When Pamela Wilz was president of the board, we worked hard on creating a community that transcended the special interests. We nurtured a sense of “St. John’s.” That was many years ago.
I am concerned that Covid has chased us into segmented corners. I am concerned that we are returning to old patterns – patterns that are familiar and comfortable. Before shutdown, we had done the work of moving forward in healthy ways. Much of that work now needs to be recreated.
Now is the time for the church, especially including members who joined during the pandemic, to discern how we will be church together; how we will use our gifts to bless the world.
While sabbatical is essential for me to recenter myself and my ministry, it is also essential for the congregation to remember its own calling.
St. Johners have always done a lot as a collection of individuals. I wonder, in addition to our other efforts to help others and build community, what might be possible if we gathered our blessings and acted together for a common good.
What is St. John’s for?
How will you live into that vision?
What is keeping us from living church more authentically?
What are we capable of when we work together, trusting that each will help the other, guided by vision, and dedicated to creating a community of freedom and faith?
Right now, we are looking at major fundraising for repairs to our front wall. We are also asking if we are a congregation that can shelter homeless families.
How will you spend your church energy?
Also, some months ago, I challenged the board to address implicit and explicit Islamophobia experienced at church by your minister. What does it mean for you to be served by an Iranian-American minister?
In short, the work of sabbatical belongs to all of us so that when we come back together, we will better know who we are and how to begin again.
Yours in faith,
Rev. Mitra