Preaching Sabbatical
I'm breathing easy this week because I begin a five-week preaching sabbatical. I only have one week's vacation where I'm away, but when I'm not preaching it's like a vacation :)
I love preaching, but every preacher knows that you can hit a point of diminishing return. So about four years ago I started taking a preaching sabbatical in the summer. I feel like it is my way of putting down my staff and really focusing on what God wants to do in me. It's so easy when you're in the thick of ministry to get focused on what God wants to do through you.
I've been around the ministry block enough times to know that you can preach because you have to or you can preach because you have too. One "have too" is because you're scheduled to speak. And that is when ministry becomes a chore. The other "have too" is because God is doing a work in your life and given you something say and you can't not say it :) When you are doing ministry out of the overflow of what God is doing in your life then ministry is a joy!
It's amazing the toll that preaching can take on you! It is nothing short of physically, emotionally, and spiritually exhausting preaching three times on a weekend. I often describe it as exhilirating and exhausting at the same time. So I think a little preaching sabbatical contributes to my long-term health. And I'm sure it'll add to my pastoral longevity.
For what it's worth, I really try to check out of the process. One of our point pastors, Joel Schmidgall, spearheads our next two series and leads our Big Idea meetings. And we're intentional about scheduling our missions series during my sabbatical so we have four guest speakers.
I love preaching, but every preacher knows that you can hit a point of diminishing return. So about four years ago I started taking a preaching sabbatical in the summer. I feel like it is my way of putting down my staff and really focusing on what God wants to do in me. It's so easy when you're in the thick of ministry to get focused on what God wants to do through you.
I've been around the ministry block enough times to know that you can preach because you have to or you can preach because you have too. One "have too" is because you're scheduled to speak. And that is when ministry becomes a chore. The other "have too" is because God is doing a work in your life and given you something say and you can't not say it :) When you are doing ministry out of the overflow of what God is doing in your life then ministry is a joy!
It's amazing the toll that preaching can take on you! It is nothing short of physically, emotionally, and spiritually exhausting preaching three times on a weekend. I often describe it as exhilirating and exhausting at the same time. So I think a little preaching sabbatical contributes to my long-term health. And I'm sure it'll add to my pastoral longevity.
For what it's worth, I really try to check out of the process. One of our point pastors, Joel Schmidgall, spearheads our next two series and leads our Big Idea meetings. And we're intentional about scheduling our missions series during my sabbatical so we have four guest speakers.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home