The common definition of “sabbatical” is “an extended period of time away from work.” Sabbaticals are often given to those in universities, medical institutions, and religious organizations, with the purpose of having time to “recover both physically and mentally from your regular routines,” as defined by financial planners Middleton & Company.

A sabbatical is not a vacation. The root of the word sabbatical is “sabbath.” This is rest from work because God commanded us to rest.

The truth is many ministers never have the opportunity to completely break away from ministry. On days off, the day can be interrupted by a pastoral emergency, or thinking about the next sermon, or worry about a pastoral situation or business of the church. Even on vacation, while one can unplug for a bit and have pastoral coverage in case of emergency, most likely upon return from vacation the pastor will have to immediately pick back up some pastoral coverage or business that was missed. Even on vacation, they may have to return and immediately preach the next Sunday, so they may have to work on their sermon the last few days of vacation. Many pastors often forgo vacation days, or days off, because of pastoral emergencies, or because of the season of the church is such that it makes it impossible, such as Holy Week and Advent.

A sabbatical, traditionally three months off after seven years of service, gives space for a minister to take a full break and not worry about what is happening at the church. It gives space for that physical, emotional, mental and spiritual healing that is necessary.

The most common concern I hear from congregations about sabbaticals is “what will we do when the pastor is away?” Some churches choose to call a short-term interim to fill in the gap. Others will have one or two pastors to be on-call for emergencies and fill the other Sundays with pulpit supply. Still others will have lay leaders preach on Sundays, with a neighboring pastor or two as coverage for pastoral emergencies such as visitations and funerals.

The next most common concern is “how can we afford this?” If the church calls an interim, they will need to pay salary and housing along with other expenses for both the interim and the pastor while on sabbatical. If they choose to go with pulpit supply, they may be paying only for Sunday pulpit supply and other related expenses. During a sabbatical, a pastor is paid their full housing and salary, insurance, and other benefits. Those are already included in your yearly budget.

However, some pastors use sabbatical for intentional renewal. The Center for Pastoral Excellence at Christian Theological Seminary administers the Clergy Renewal Program for the Lilly Endowment. They are highly competitive but an excellent resource and provide funds for both the pastor and the congregation during the sabbatical. I encourage pastors and congregational leaders to research well in advance because the grant must be applied the year before and the grant window is brief. You can learn more here: https://www.cts.edu/cpe/clergy-renewal/

Some ministers also use sabbatical for study leave or travel. One way a congregation can support that initiative is to set aside some funds every year in the budget, so that at the seven year mark, there are funds available for the minister to use for study or travel. I also suggest doing the same for a sabbatical interim. For smaller churches that cannot afford an interim during the sabbatical, setting aside two week’s worth of costs for pulpit supply, mileage reimbursement and other costs (and be mindful that those costs will go up every year) can help a congregation prepare for the sabbatical year.

Some congregations choose to give a two-month sabbatical after four years and an additional month after six years. This can be not only attractive for congregations seeking a pastor but can be helpful for pastors who might not have had a sabbatical prior to coming to your congregation. Many churches granted one- or two-month sabbaticals in 2022/2023 because of the demands of congregational life during Covid isolations. Having to learn new technology and pivoting to different ways of doing ministry was both life-giving for congregations and draining on ministers.

Lastly, keep in mind that the rates of clergy burnout continue to rise. The statistics of pastors under stress from the website SoulShepherding are staggering:

• 75% of pastors report being “extremely stressed” or “highly stressed.”
• 90% work between 55-75 hours per week.
• 70% report they are grossly underpaid.
• 91% have experienced some form of burnout in ministry.
• 80% will not be in ministry ten years later.

With those statistics, waiting to give a sabbatical once every seven years really is not enough. However, there are things you and your congregation can do to support your minister:

• Have a Pastoral Relations Committee that meets regularly and listens to the pastor’s concerns. They should also check-in with the pastor from time to time to make sure they have taken their days off. Arrange for compensatory time off when needed.
• Provide for “mental health days.” These are not sick days nor vacation days, but days in which, after a funeral, holy day, congregational meeting, or other high-stress moment a pastor can have a break. It is necessary for physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being.
• Provide four weeks of vacation regardless of if your pastor is part time or full time. That includes four full Sundays off. Because even part-time ministry has the same number of funerals, meetings, conflicts, and other stressors.
• Include sabbatical in the contract and be open to alternative models of breaking up the sabbatical if necessary.
• Provide continuing education funds for pastors to renew their mind.
• Provide funding for your minister to meet with a clergy coach or spiritual director.

The Minister and Missionary Benefit Board (MMBB) now provides all members with counseling and coaching at no cost. Visit https://www.mmbb.org/what-we-offer/mmbb-cares for more information.

For all ministers: remember that you must also advocate for yourself. I encourage you to take advantage of the services provided by MMBB.

For congregations and ministers: I am happy to meet with your Pastoral Relations Committee to do trainings on best practices for healthy congregation and pastor relationships.

Remember: when we take care of our ministers, they take care of us. Let’s all do our part to care for each other and do what we can to provide the best resources for our pastors for their minds, bodies, and spirits.

Jesus reminds us that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30). That is our whole selves, not just one part. We must take care of the whole, then we can fulfill the second commandment that is like the first “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” for there is no other commandment greater than these (vs. 31).

Take care of yourselves, and one another.

Here in Wisconsin, this July will be different. The Republican National Convention will be in Milwaukee in the middle of this month. I will admit I am nervous about what might happen in the city. What sort of protests and counter-protests might occur, what kind of messaging may come forth, what violence may erupt. I have the same nervousness for our neighbors to the south hosting the Democratic National Convention next month.

Nonetheless, my ABC colleague in Vermont/New Hampshire, Rev. Ron Bouthillette (interim executive minister) reminded his region in a recent newsletter to remember that “Our hope is in God. Our calling is to participate in the mission of God in this world.” In an illusion to Mark 12 where Jesus is asked about taxes, Ron wrote, “Jesus is saying implicitly to us is that you and I can function in the systems and structures of a broken and sinful world and still be faithful to God.”

This is important to remember. We are here to participate in Christ’s mission. No political candidate is ever going to bring about the reign of God, only Jesus can do that. But we can live in this world, in these United States, and participate even when the systems and structures are broken.

By reading Ron’s words, I am encouraged and reminded that we not only have our hope in Christ, but that we belong to Christ. What happens here is temporary. When we read the New Testament, we are reminded that the systems and structures of the world never have the final word. Whatever happens at these conventions, even the November election, cannot ever have the final word because the Author of Salvation is still writing our story.

May we hold on to that hope, as Ron states:

We need to soak up how God’s gospel-shaped work always and forever creates a gospel people. Herein lies the challenge at election time. We are tempted to divide the USA into the good and the bad and to forget that the gospel has folks on both sides of political lines. Even more: we are tempted to think that the winners of the election are those who are blessed by God when the blessing of God is on God’s people. God’s gospel powered mission creates a new people, the church, where we are to see God’s mission at work. Therein lies our hope. Our hope is in God’s mission in this world, and that mission transcends what happens in November.

With you on the journey of faith,

Rev. Mindi Welton-Mitchell,

inspired by the words of Rev. Ron Bouthillette, Interim Executive Minister of Vermont/New Hampshire

Rev. Mindi Welton-Mitchell – Regional Executive Minister

July is nationally known as Disability Pride Month, an opportunity to honor the history, achievements, experiences
and struggles of disabled people and the greater disability community. The American with Disabilities Act was passed on
July 26, 1990. July 26 is a special day in our household because it is also my son AJ’s birthday. AJ has autism and is
primarily nonverbal.

As a family, we have had a variety of experiences at churches around the country when AJ is with us. Sometimes we
are told that AJ is too loud as he does express audibly his joy as well as his frustration. We have been offered space in the
“crying room” that is usually reserved for infants and toddlers with their parents. We have experienced times where we did
not feel welcome or included as a family. However, I can readily say we have also experienced wonderful moments of
welcome and inclusion, especially here in our churches in Wisconsin. I am grateful that the staff at our own Camp
Tamarack have gone out of their way to find ways of welcoming AJ and having him participate with other campers as much
as possible.

But there are a variety of disabilities and experiences of disabled people. One way we can truly love our neighbor as
ourselves is to consider our disabled church members and their experiences of welcome and inclusion. Where are the
ramps for those who use wheelchairs or need assistance? Does your church have an elevator? Is the choir loft accessible?
Do you have listening devices for those who are hearing impaired? Do you provide closed captioning or ASL interpretation
for those who are deaf? What we find is that when we start asking questions about accessibility, we discover that making
worship more accessible for some makes it more accessible for us all. A ramp makes space more accessible for all of us.
Closed captions make it easier for all of us to understand what is said.

But we can start by simply acknowledging that each person, in all our abilities and disabilities, are made in God’s
image. Each of us have unique gifts we bring to the beloved community of Christ. How do we welcome, celebrate, and
include all of God’s beloved children? I invite you to learn more about Disability Pride Month from The ARC, an advocacy
organization for people with disabilities, here.

Rev. Dr. John Jones – Associate Regional Minister of Education

“Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.” – Romans 12:15

I first heard of “Juneteenth” back in the late 80’s and early 90’s in Atlanta. I didn’t understand the historical significance of the celebration at the time. I only recognized that it was a big deal because of the participation and the impact it had on the city.

In 2021, Juneteenth (officially Juneteenth National Independence Day) was recognized as a federal holiday. It is celebrated annually on June 19 (June + nineteenth = Juneteenth). What exactly is celebrated on that day?

On June 19, 1865, enslaved African-Americans in Galveston, Texas, received word of their emancipation. A formal decree liberated all slaves who remained in bondage two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation had taken effect and two months after the Civil War had ended at Appomattox. The delay was not entirely attributable to slow communications. The reality of freedom had to be enforced by 2000 Federal troops led by General Gordon Granger.

I’m so grateful that we have this new national holiday. It writes into the calendar the true history of this country that is being denied in so many circles these days. Juneteenth celebrates the legal end of a national sin. But sin being sin, the consequences and fruit of that sin continue. The structures and institutions that make up U.S. culture would not be what they are today without that sin.

White supremacy is a slippery and powerful foe that privileges some at the expense of others. It resists exposure to preserve the status quo.  Juneteenth is a step in the direction of truth-telling. What we celebrate would not have been possible without identifying white supremacy, so our culture must tell the truth about itself.

It is a celebration that Christians in the U.S. should wholeheartedly embrace, and not just to comply with Paul’s command from Romans quoted above. This holiday exemplifies an important aspect of our faith.

There is the “already/not yet” aspect of the celebration. As Christians, we know that our salvation is here already, but not yet here in fullness. We continue to participate with what God is doing to bring freedom into the world. Here we celebrate justice, healing and freedom for those who have those honored the least.

I’m also invited to celebrate freedom and liberation, even liberation from the structures and institutions that I benefit from. Grace is hope for the past. It doesn’t erase the past. Nor does it undo the damage of the past. It can bring hope for further liberation as we celebrate this history.

I hope you have a blessed and reflective Juneteenth.

Rev. Mindi Welton-Mitchell – Regional Executive Minister

May is Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Island Heritage Month, when we recognize and honor the accomplishments of Asian Americans and those from Hawaii and the Pacific Islands in the United States. The reason we have different heritage months is to recognize and expand everyone’s knowledge and understanding of history and contributions to the United States beyond European American history, which much of our history books have focused on.

This month, I would like to honor a true “saint” of the American Baptist Churches: Yosh Nakagawa. Yosh was born in 1932 and lived in Seattle with his parents, and they were members of Japanese Baptist Church. However, during World War II, Yosh and his family were taken, along with other Japanese immigrants, to be imprisoned at the Minidoka Concentration Camp in Idaho. Once freed from Minidoka, Yosh returned to Seattle. He eventually went to Linfield College, my alma mater and an American Baptist college, for a year and then graduated from the University of Washington.

In Yosh’s own words, “When my country turned on me, the church stood beside me.” Yosh and the other Japanese families and individuals imprisoned at Minidoka were ministered to by American Baptist Home Mission Societies missionaries. In later years, Yosh served as vice-president of the American Baptist Churches USA. You can read his own words here.

I had the pleasure of meeting Yosh when I served as a pastor in the Seattle area. Yosh was involved in the Evergreen Baptist Association, the ABC region for Seattle and other areas on the West Coast. He once shared about the founding of Japanese Baptist Church in Seattle, his home church: in the beginning, all the members of Japanese Baptist Church were not Christian. They were all Buddhist. Through the love and ministry and acceptance of the Baptists in Seattle, they came to know Christ.

Racism and hate toward Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders has been on the rise, as are other forms of hate, and this month we raise awareness to end discrimination and violence toward Asian Americans. Executive Order 9066 was issued 82 years ago against Japanese Americans simply because they were Japanese. Nonetheless, Yosh was a lifelong advocate for justice and peace. He was a faithful reminder of how the church can stand against the world when the world is unjust. Together we can overcome adversity through the love of Christ and accepting one another as American Baptists. Celebrate and learn more here.