What is a sabbatical?

The word sabbatical comes from the biblical concept of Shabbat, or Sabbath, meaning to cease or rest from one’s labors. Sabbath-keeping means setting aside time from one’s work to rest and become refreshed by being more open to God’s hand in shaping the self and the world. Sabbatical time allows a clergy person to “shift gears,” disengage from the daily chores of running a parish, and to rest, study, reflect, travel and seek renewal and refreshment of mind, body and spirit.

Sabbatical is more than taking a vacation from meetings, budget work, preparing sermons, conducting services and continual exposure to people in need. It is a time to tend to the clergy person’s own need for spiritual renewal. It is a time for spiritual growth for both the clergy person and the congregation.

Mother Susan’s letter of agreement with St. Christopher’s specifies that she will be allotted one month of sabbatical leave for every year served starting in 1996, and that this time may accumulate from year to year. She took her first sabbatical in 22 years of ministry in 2002. That sabbatical was three months, followed by one month of vacation. Mother Susan is taking her second Sabbatical this summer.

How long will Mother Susan be gone?

Mother Susan will be away from St. Christopher’s for a total of three months, from April 28 though July 26, 2008.

Do other clergy go on sabbatical?

Yes. Nationally, the Episcopal Church as well as churches of other denominations provide sabbatical leave for their clergy, and encourage their clergy and congregations to provide for the sabbatical experience.

What will Mother Susan be doing on her sabbatical?

Mother Susan and her husband, Father Tom Holliday, will travel to Antigua, Guatemala, where they will attend Spanish language school full time for three weeks. Susan will build on the intermediate Spanish she knows and speaks and move toward fluency. Father Tom will start at the very beginning and hopes to learn how to survive in a Spanish- speaking environment. After the Spanish immersion program, they will travel in Guatemala for an additional week, putting their learning into practice.

After returning to the U.S., Mother Susan will visit, worship with and learn about Spanish-speaking Episcopal congregations in northern Virginia. She will also spend time working on paintings and other art endeavors that have been on hold for too long. Visits with her parents in northern New Jersey before and after the trip to Guatemala will round out the sabbatical time.

Who will cover Mother Susan’s responsibilities during her absence?

The Rev. Tom McCusker will serve as our part-time Sabbatical Interim during this time. He will conduct our worship services and attend to other pastoral duties. Barbara Johnson, our senior warden, and Carroll Hill, our junior warden, will have the authority and responsibility for managing the ongoing administrative affairs of the parish.

In addition, all members of St. Christopher’s will take a role in caring for each other, conducting the parish programs, and supporting the Sabbatical Interim and the vestry. It is expected that the parish’s ministers (and ALL are ministers!) will continue their ministries unabated and will become even more active and self-sustaining. This will be a time of spiritual and personal growth for us all. We expect our ministries to flourish during this time and that new ministries we be formed.

Who will conduct the worship services?

Father Tom McCusker will serve as celebrant and preacher at the two regular Sunday services, the Wednesday morning Eucharist and the monthly healing service/Eucharist. Father Michael Hinson will continue to serve at the later Sunday service through much of the sabbatical period. St. Christopher’s lay ministers will continue to function as usual in all services. Father Tom will also work two other days of the week to perform pastoral and other functions and to prepare for services.

Whom do I call for special worship services?

The church office will maintain its regular hours (M-Th, 8:30 -5; F 9-3) during Mother Susan’s absence, and will be staffed by Nina Miller, the administrative assistant. She and Father Tom McCusker will arrange for weddings, funerals, baptisms and other special services. Mother Susan will not return to the parish for such services during her sabbatical.

Whom do I contact for special prayer requests?

You may contact Father Tom, Nina Miller or the Pastoral Assistance Team (PAT) minister of the week. Prayers will be offered at services and through the monthly prayer list, as usual. Mother Susan will be praying for the congregation daily while she is away.

Whom do I call if I have a personal or family crisis?

You may contact Father Tom, one of the wardens, Linda Murphy, head of the PAT ministers or the PAT minister of the week, or you may call Nina in the parish office. Father Tom and the PAT ministers will share the responsibility of visiting persons in need or distress, to provide support, visit the homebound, the sick and those in hospitals, or to refer parishioners to appropriate qualified professionals in the community.

Of course, you may still rely on vestry members as well as your friends and others in the congregation for comfort and assistance in time of need. We hope and expect that the congregation will be drawn even closer together and that additional leaders and ministers will emerge during Mother Susan’s absence.

Will Mother Susan be in touch with the parish during her sabbatical?

She will send a message to the congregation through the weekly E-pistle from time to time, sharing her learning and experience. She will not be available for meetings with individual members of the congregation during the sabbatical time. Mother Susan will not forget us when she is gone, but part of being on sabbatical is to honor and recognize the necessity of being away from the routine while leaving the parish in God’s hands and in the hands of capable clergy and lay leaders.

How is this sabbatical time funded?

The vestry has included a line item for sabbatical in the annual parish budget in recent years. Salary and benefits for Father Tom will be paid from this line of the budget. Mother Susan’s salary and benefits will continue to be paid. A small portion of her education expenses will be paid from the staff continuing education line of the budget. She will pay the rest of her travel and education expenses.

How will we send Mother Susan off and welcome Father Tom?

We will have a special ritual of coming and going during worship on Sunday, April 27. Later that day we will have an international pot luck supper and party. Then on July 27, we will have a reverse ritual of coming and going.

After Mother Susan return she will share with us her reflections on her sabbatical experience – what she learned and discovered and what her work in Spanish might mean for her and the congregation of St. Christopher’s.

During this sabbatical time, please pray for:

Our parish Family that we may grow together in joy-filled hope, Christ-filled trust and Spirit-filled love.
Nina, Michael, Kellee, Ruth, Linda, Gayle and Melvin, our parish Staff, that they may have wisdom, courage and compassion in the exercise of their daily ministries.
Barbara, our Senior Warden; Carroll, our Junior Warden; Barbara, Marian, John, Kathy, Debbie, Jen, Cy, Virginia, Richard, and Mike, our Vestry; Stan, our Treasurer; Marion, our Assistant Treasurer; that they may faithfully execute the ministries to which they were called to the glory of God and the benefit of this congregation.
Members of parish Committees, Commissions, Guilds and Groups, that they may continue to be faithful ministers of Christ in this place.
The Rev. Tom McCusker, our Sabbatical Interim Priest, that he may lead worship and preach the Gospel with integrity and joy, and be welcomed fully into the life of this community.
The Rev. Susan Goff, our Rector, that she may travel safely, find rest and refreshment, and return to St. Christopher’s renewed and strengthened for ministry.
The Rev. Tom Holliday, the Rector’s husband, who will travel with her, that he may find rest and renewal.
The Rev. Michael Hinson, that his continued ministry of support in this place will thrive and grow.
Faithfulness in church attendance and giving of time, talent and money.
A minimum of anxiety about the changes this time brings.
A maximum of openness to the movement of God in our congregation and in our lives.

O God, in the course of this busy life, give us times of refreshment and peace, and grant that we may use our sabbatical time to strengthen our community, renew our commitment to ministry in your name, and refresh our souls; that our spirits may be opened to your goodness and love, and that our hearts may be opened more than ever before to your service; through Jesus Christ or Lord. Amen.