Presentation by Mother Susan on the Rector’s Sabbatical

This summer I will have been at St. Christopher’s 14 years. The time has come around again for a sabbatical.  Some of you remember the sabbatical time in 2002, when I was away for four months learning about and living Celtic spirituality in Ireland and Scotland.  This time I will be away for three months – four was too long for me last time.

My sabbatical will begin on May 1 – just a bit more than three months from now – and will go through July 31. 

We will have a sabbatical interim rector.  He is the Rev. Tom McCusker, whom many of you know.  Father Tom was associate rector and interim rector of Church of the Good Shepherd in Burke.  He is retired now and lives much of the year in Thailand.  He has a home in Springfield where he will live during our interim time.  Father Tom will serve at St. Christopher’s half time.  He and I will share Sunday services at the beginning and end of the sabbatical as a way of making smooth transitions and supporting each other’s ministries.

My focus during this sabbatical will be on multicultural ministry.  St. Christopher’s is becoming more and more multicultural and I want to learn about how other congregations celebrate, honor and include the rich diversity of cultures in their life and worship.  I intend to go to language school in Mexico or Guatemala to work on my Spanish speaking skills and move toward fluency.  I’m not sure how or if my speaking Spanish will touch our life together at St. Christopher’s when I return, but I’ve felt called to become fluent in Spanish for a long time now.  During the sabbatical time I will also visit intentionally multicultural congregations in northern Virginia and in D.C. to worship with them and learn about their life and ministry.  Of course, I will also take an art class or two, work on some paintings and other art projects I’ve been putting off for a long time and spend quality time in the museums that so enrich and inspire me. 

As part of our shared preparation for the sabbatical, I hope we will have an intercultural party in April, a party at which we will share a variety of wonderful foods and music, dance dances from many cultures and celebrate the cultural backgrounds of members of our community.  What better way is there to begin a new venture than with a great celebration!

After the sabbatical is over, I will come back to St. Christopher’s  with renewed energy and sharpened vision.  As we learned last time around, sabbatical time is not only enriching for the clergy person who goes away, but for the whole congregation.  I’ve asked Bobbie Milton to share with you some of the ways we hope and anticipate that the congregation will learn and grow and be renewed.

Barbara Milton’s comments:

The benefits to Susan of a sabbatical might be more evident than those for the congregation.   But there are benefits for us too.  When she left on sabbatical in 2002, there were some who were concerned that she might not return.   She did, and she will this time.   However, her absence certainly made us realize how much we expect of our Rector, and how much she gives to us.  When she came back rested and refreshed, we reaped the benefits.

This same thing will happen again.  Our Rector will again return refreshed and, if possible, even more enthusiastic about her ministry among us.  Her renewed energy will be reflected in every aspect of her ministry.  We, in turn, will become even more cognizant of, and appreciative of, her contributions. 

New activities may well begin during her absence.  Some that started during her last sabbatical have endured.  One area that truly came into its own during the last sabbatical was that of lay ministry.  While quite a number of our people had been involved in ministry programs for some time, during Susan’s absence our parishioners grew in strength and confidence in this area.  We were able to try new things and thereby identify those that were important.  Additional people became aware that they too are capable of lay ministry, and these activities have continued since her return.  

One example is the Pastoral Assistance Ministry.  This group became formalized during the previous sabbatical and has now become a fully integrated aspect of our community life.  Other lay-led ministries have since developed, with Susan’s full support, such as the Chapel Prayer Teams and the Healing Shawl Ministry.

During the sabbatical, Susan will enjoy a period of spiritual, physical, and emotional refreshment.  She will be able to rest, to reflect, to feel, to pray, to be--without the pressures that go with any job.   She will be removed from the everyday crises that surround all ministers, and have uninterrupted time with God.   This time will provide the perspective that only distance and the interruption of routine responsibility can create.

Mother Susan

I invite your questions, comments or suggestions about this sabbatical and look forward to the new ways the Holy Spirit will move among us in this time.