Let My People Go...Fishing!

Sabbaticals, Sabbaths and The Power of Rest & Renewal

And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. 

- Genesis 2: 2-4

I began writing this blog on Sabbaths and sabbaticals on the Sabbath, while on sabbatical. Actually, I began blogging on the first Saturday of my vacation. That may seem sadly ironic, but writing is how I unwind. It provides a release valve for all the clutter that collects in my brain. 

When I was a pastor, not only did I harbor my own thoughts, but I also often harbored my congregation’s as well. Sometimes I felt I was carrying more baggage than the bellhop at a Hilton Hotel.   

Sabbaticals, Sabbaths and seasons of rest, including uninterrupted days off, allow leaders to lead better. Rest renews pastors and makes them both more efficient and more effective. I don’t know a single pastor who only works 9 to 5, yet too often I have heard church leaders and congregants make disparaging and snide remarks regarding their pastor’s work ethic. “I mean, preachers only work on Sundays and Wednesdays, right?” One church leader criticized a pastor who regularly posted pictures on Facebook of he and his family fishing. (I would submit that pastors should be praised publicly for highlighting a commitment to family. The best sermons are actions, which always speak louder than words.) Another congregant publicly questioned why his church’s pastor should get a sabbatical. He reasoned, he never got a sabbatical, so why should the pastor? This hurt the pastor, and not much later, the wounded shepherd accepted a call from another church. The position paid about the same, but uninterrupted days off and a 6-week sabbatical after every seven years were part of the church’s personnel policy. Renewed, the pastor is now thriving at his new church.

Research from Barna, the National Institutes of Health and others regularly confirms the benefits of rest to prevent burnout and enhance leader productivity, so it’s no surprise that God created an entire day for rest. If you are a church member, I’d encourage you to help implement policies and urge your minister(s) to take a sabbatical to learn, listen and lean on God’s Word and the resources available for personal and professional growth. I’d also suggest that our Lord would certainly affirm His churches to “Let my people go…fishing (hiking, camping, golfing or whatever time away that brings them and their churches, renewal and revitalization)!”  

For more info and/or examples of sabbatical policies, email us at Dover.Info@doverbaptist.org.

God Bless,

Arnold “Win” Davis,

Executive Director of Missions