Pastor Susan Sosebee on Sabbatical

During the month of December, Susan Sosebee, Pastor for Families with Children, will be on Sabbatical Leave.  This means that she will not be present in her pastoral role on Sundays and Wednesdays during the month of December.  Neither will she be at the office performing her usual duties.  Instead, she will be away from the everyday demands of church ministry for a time of spiritual, emotional, intellectual, physical and ministerial renewal.


Our Calvary Personnel Handbook provides a Sabbatical leave for our full time pastoral staff every seven years of ministry at Calvary.  Pastor Susan has been on staff at Calvary for fourteen years and, thus, became eligible this year for her second Sabbatical.  Several in our pastoral staff have benefited from this personnel policy in the last 15 years or so.


Susan's original plans for her Sabbatical included (1) a time of spiritual rest and renewal and (2) development of pastoral care training under the chaplaincy ministry at Valley Baptist Medical Center, among other things.  Unfortunately, a few days ago Susan hurt her knee.  It seems like she will need surgery in the next few days.  This means that the pastoral care training plans may change.  She does plan to work on some ministry certifications during her surgery recovery time.  Of course, her rehabilitation time may extend beyond the Sabbatical.  (Please pray for her surgery, recovery and the adjustments that this will require).


Even with this added challenge of surgery, it is our hope that during this month Pastor Susan will have a time of rest from the high demands of everyday ministry, experience spiritual renewal, explore personal development areas and return to her assignment in January with renewed vitality.  We will be communicating who are the people that will be in charge of various areas in the children's ministry and how to communicate with them.  Of course, any concern during this time may be directed to me via phone or e-mail.  (It just so happens that Susan and I share a ministry assistant.  So contacting Katrina Williamson is also a good option: katrina@calvarymcallen.org).


There are several documents and resources that explain the background, rationale and practice of ministry sabbaticals, (which are different from the academic sabbaticals that university professors take).  Here are some excerpts from two different web documents:

WHAT IS A MINISTRY SABBATICAL?

Wheat Ridge Ministries defines a ministry sabbatical as a period of time, usually three months, when ministry leaders and congregations set aside the leader’s normal responsibilities for the purpose of rest and renewal toward sustained excellence in ministry.

A ministry sabbatical is not an extended vacation nor is it an academic sabbatical that normally involves extensive study. A ministry sabbatical is a release from the routine of the call for the physical, emotional, spiritual, and intellectual well-being of the ministry leader.

A BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE ON SABBATICALS

The word sabbatical is drawn from Sabbath. The Hebrew word for Sabbath means to “close or rest” and is connected with the last day of Creation when God rested. (Genesis 2:3) God both models and commands Sabbath rest for his people. “Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy.” (Exodus 20:8-11)

Jesus affirmed the importance of rest saying, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:27-28) The Biblical example of Jesus’ own frequent withdrawal to a quiet place to meditate, pray and be renewed is a model. In His ministry, the constant demands of people led Jesus to step away on a regular basis.

See also: Genesis 1 and 2; Exodus 20:8-11, 23:10-12; Leviticus 25:1-7 (Sabbatical Year), 24:8-25 (Year of Jubilee); Psalm 23; and Ecclesiastes 3:1-8.

WHY IS A SABBATICAL IMPORTANT?

Roy Oswald, Alban Institute, suggests that the rapid change and complexity of congregational life and ministry raises the need for three months of sabbatical rest and renewal every four to seven years. He believes that 20% to 30% of ministry leaders he speaks to are in a state of severe burnout. Another 20% of the same audience is on the way to severe burnout.

Richard Bullock and Richard Bruesehoff in Clergy Renewal: The Alban Guide to Sabbatical Planning suggest the following motivations for considering a ministry sabbatical.

•                Continual spiritual growth facilitated by periods of rest and renewal is vital toward being an effective minister.

•                Pastoral responsibilities are not contained within normal office hours and regularly involve weekends.

•                Rapid changes in parish ministry can increase the likelihood of burnout without periods of rest and renewal.

•                Burnout makes ministry and the minister, dull, hollow, and uninteresting.

•                Provides the opportunity for congregations to examine their dependency on the ministry leader and consider expanding the roles of lay leaders.

http://www.wheatridge.org/resources/ministry-sabbatical-center/what-is-a-ministry-sabbatical/




Here's an excerpt from a different source:

MINISTERIAL SABBATICALS

When a minister serves a congregation for six years or longer, it is time for a sabbatical. An extended time away for the purpose of study, enrichment, vision casting, travel, rest, prayer and/or visiting different cultures provides the needed respite that is pivotal in helping assure continued healthy leadership. Congregations may be strengthened by offering a pastor or an associate a sabbatical—time to briefly step away from the cyclical, unending demands of daily parish life.

A sabbatical is not a vacation. Rather it is a time for intentional exploration and reflection, for drinking anew from God’s life-giving waters, and for regaining the enthusiasm and creativity for ministry.

Genesis and Leviticus speak of “Sabbath time” in terms of days, years, and land usage. Since the Sabbath is recognized as a distinctive time in creation—as a gift of rest for both renewal and hope—Scripture infers that regular, periodic rejuvenation is vital in all areas of life. The Old Testament writers directed a time period for the soil to remain untilled so that it could replenish itself. Just like the soil, humans need a season to lie fallow for revitalization of the body, mind, and soul. Dave Ellingson declared, “We require a time to receive rather than give, to get input rather than give output, to carefully nurture and cultivate our lives so that the soul of our spirits might be rid of weeds and have an opportunity to receive nourishment (Ellingson, page 2).”

Pastors, associates, and ministry leaders are called to the work of ministry as servants of the church. Because of the spiritual dimension of leadership and the emotional energy required by the task, ministers often get into a “give and give and give, but never receive” treadmill. When there is little relief from the constant pressure of Sunday morning deadlines, committee meetings, counseling sessions, visitation schedules, community commitments, and a host of other day-to-day encounters, a leader might scream, “Stop the world. I want to get off.” Greg Asimakoupoulos discovered in his weariness, “Much of my depression was actually my body’s muffled cry for rest (Asimakoupoulos, page 102).”

A sabbatical allows the minister to get off the treadmill in exchange for a battery recharge of vision and hope. It creates an opportunity for the minister to:

 recapture a sense of vision,
 be nurtured in faith and skills,

 become introspective,
 rekindle spiritual passion,
 refocus priorities,
 review the ministerial journey, and
 reflect on the call of God for life and ministry.

A sabbatical feeds the body, mind, and soul resulting in renewed, refreshed, and revitalized energy to function as a shepherd and servant leader. Several clergy persons have expressed “ah-ha” moments as a result of the sabbatical journey. Often, the sabbatical extends the pastor’s tenure with a congregation. When the minister returns with a renewed vision, the congregation often opens a new, exciting chapter in congregational ministry.

Vibrant, healthy congregations are led by vigorous, effective ministers. To retain the spark of dynamic leadership,aministerneedstostepawayfromtheintensityofdailyministryforbreathingspace. Duringa respite from leadership, pastoring, administrating, counseling, comforting, and fundraising, the minister may learn, grow, and renew his/her personal wellsprings of faith and commitment. Following a sabbatical, a minister often resumes congregational leadership with a fresh spirit and a renewed passion.

https://chogministryconnector.com/downloads/pdfs/Ministerial%20Sabbaticals.pdf

We are grateful that Calvary Baptist Church has provided up to 30 days of Sabbatical to full time pastoral staff for every seven years of ministry since the 1990s.  We pray that God continue to bless Calvary and her pastors with renewal and health.

Personnel Budget 2012

Our congregation approved the 2012 proposed budget a week ago in "Church Conference."  One of the large portions of the budget has to do with personnel.  Our church has seven pastors on staff, two part-time associates, a Church Administrator, and five ministry assistants.  This staff has the privilege and responsibility of providing leadership, ministry and resources to church members so that together we may all do the work of the ministry.

The personnel committee is elected by the church in order to ensure that the staff receives adequate compensation for their work, that they are provided with benefits and terms of employment that recognize the value of their work and that is equitable for our particular church setting.  The responsibility of this committee is great and they should be commended for their hard work.

For the 2012 budget, the personnel committee reviewed a national study of church employee compensation that used criteria of church size, educational level, and years of service, among other things.  Based on this study and other information, the committee agreed to bring the compensation of two in our pastoral staff into alignment.  While it has not been the practice of the committee or the congregation to publish all the salaries of the staff for several years, it is important that leaders be aware of how thorough the work of the committee is.


Marcus Rodriguez', Pastor for Families with Students, compensation was brought into alignment in keeping with the size of ministry he is leading, in accordance with this level of education and his years of service here at Calvary.  We are grateful for a vibrant student ministry and for the leadership of Pastor Marcus.


Rolando Aguirre, Pastor for Spanish Language Ministries and Regional Missions, has had increased responsibilities as the Spanish-speaking portion of our congregation continues to grow and as he continues to give leadership to regional missions and serves as liaison for to the missions committee.  He also assists the lead pastor in pastoral counseling and in supplying the pulpit.  Taking this in consideration, the personnel committee also saw fit to bring his compensation up in keeping with his increased responsibilities, his level of education and his years of service at Calvary.  We are blessed to have Pastor Rolando on our staff.


Our personnel budget also provides for the position of Pastor for Global Impact and Administration.  We pray and hope that our budget may be met so that this vacancy can be filled.  This is a key position in regard to the missional direction of our church and we look forward to God's provision in this area.


We are grateful, once again, for a personnel committee that has worked hard to make sure our staff is taken care of, thus freeing them up to do what God has called them to do.


Please pray for our staff and for the continued generosity of the congregation in budget giving.

Church in Conference Participation and Decisions

Last night with approximately 160 Calvary members, representing all three Sunday morning services, attended "The Church in Conference" event.  Those attending were able to see exhibits about the missions and ministries supported through our church budget.  A brief fellowship time which included cheese nachos was followed by congregational worship in English and Spanish.


The By-Laws Standing committee presented two amendments to Calvary's bylaws.  One of them had to do with when and how individuals may join the church, allowing the congregation to receive members at any of its worship services.  The other had to do with the role of the deacons when the office of the lead pastor is vacant.  Both amendments were approved by an overwhelming majority.  You can see the amendments here: Constitutional Amendments.


The Deacon Screening and Nominating Committee presented 11 deacon nominees (representing men from all three of our worship services): George Kydd, Alfonso Cavazos, Jose Luis Cuellar, Dennis Chang, Joe Martell, Brent McBain, Marco Murrillo, Javier Gonzalez, Warren Reed, Ken Munn and David Heflin.  There were 140 ballots cast and all nominees received more than the required 2/3 affirmative vote.  All of these men will be rotating into the active deacon body in January.  You can see their biographies here: Deacon Biographies.


The Stewardship Committee presented the 2012 Budget consisting of a total $2,059,615 for the year or $38,861 weekly (53 Sundays in 2012).  The budget is divided as follows: 18% for missions; 53% for personnel; 7% for direct ministries and 22% for ministry support.  The budget was approved as presented by an overwhelming majority and will be effective on January 1, 2012.  You can see a copy of the budget here: Budget 2012.


We are grateful for the committees that prayed and worked hard in preparation for this meeting, for all the staff and volunteers who worked hard to make the experience meaningful for those attending and for each member who participated and contributed with his/her presence, questions and vote.


It is our desire that God would be glorified through every decision that was made last night.  As we move forward to 2012 we continue to pray for the Lord's blessing, direction, wisdom and provision.  We realize that without Him we cannot do anything.  We also rejoice in knowing that He is able to do great things through us as we trust Him.  May He be glorified.  May our church grow into the likeness of Christ.  May our community be blessed by our presence here.  And, may more people around the world become followers of Christ as we pray, give and go.

Documents for Business Session

Please remember that all of the documents for the business session are available electronically on our website (click on link below):


Church in Conference Documents


We want to encourage you to take a look at those, print them if you'd like and pass the word to others about their availability.  We are trying to save money on paper and copies so we will have a very limited number of packets on Sunday night.  We are counting on everyone to do their part in having the documents that we snail mailed or that are printed from the website.


Thanks for your help with this.


Let's keep praying for God's direction.

A New Thing?

“See, I am doing a new thing!  Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? 
I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland” (Is. 43:19).  This word from God through Isaiah for his people Israel is a good word for us today also.  As we approach the end of 2011 and prepare for 2012, we are grateful for the great things God has done.  Yet, we anticipate “the new thing” he wants to do.  As we gather in Church Conference this Sunday night we will review the missions endeavors and ministries God has allowed us to support.  We will vote on a new budget that increases missions support.  This is a budget that will require us to acknowledge that it will not be met on human effort alone or on the giving trends of the recent past.  It is a budget that calls us to ask if God wants to do a new thing through us.  If so, then we will need to rely on Him to do what only He can do.  We will also vote on deacon candidates and constitutional amendments.  Come ready to discern God’s direction together as a church body.

More for Missions in Budget 2012 Proposal

How can we spend less on ourselves so that we can spend more on missions?  This is one of the questions that several of our church members and committee members have asked during this season of budget development.  As a church we understand that we have a ministry to carry out within our church family and a mission to live out beyond ourselves.  During the development process for the 2012 Calvary budget we have asked our leaders and committees to take a hard look at our needs within the church and to try to free up the budget for increased missions giving.  Our stewardship committee worked hard to designate funds in 2011 for maintenance and repair of church properties to avoid increasing this line item in the budget.

The stewardship committee’s proposed 2012 budget has virtually no increase in the personnel section, a decrease in the direct ministries section, a 1.64% increase in ministry support and a 4.73% in missions giving compared to the 2011 budget.  This is the result of coordinated teamwork across the leadership of Calvary.  We believe that this is a faith budget that can be reached only through prayer, God’s help and generous giving.  If any of these three ingredients is lacking, we will fail.  Please pray for God’s wisdom and blessing on this process.

Budget 2012 Proposal This Sunday

Our stewardship committee will present a proposed budget to the church at our Church in Conference this coming Sunday (November 13) at 6:30 pm.  This is a challenging task that requires much prayer and the direction of God’s Spirit.  The process has involved prayer, listening to the needs of the church from the perspectives of its various leaders, looking at giving patterns and seeking to understand what God is calling our church to do in the year 2012. 

The proposed budget is a total of $2,059,615 for 2012, which is an increase of $64,832 over the current (2011) budget.  The bulk of this increase ($51,366) is in the area of missions.  The missions committee has requested that the missions portion of the budget be increased by 2% points which is in keeping with the missional nature of Calvary.  This is a realistic budget in terms of the giving potential of our church but it will require an increased commitment from across the congregation for us to meet it.  In fact, it is a faith budget that may only be reached by our depending on God for his provision.  Please pray for the Lord’s direction and for His provision during the days ahead.

I'm Back!

I apologize for neglecting this blog for the last couple of months.  As I had been getting behind on my PhD dissertation writing, I had to prioritize some of the ministry responsibilities.  Hopefully I have attended the important matters (preaching, staff direction and development, administrative committees, deacon process, budget development, occasional hospital visits and pastoral counseling) while other matters were put on hold.  I appreciate the support and patience with me in this process.


I am happy to report that last week I submitted my first chapter of the dissertation.  Lord willing, this week I will begin work on the next chapter.  My goal is to submit this next one before the end of the year, God willing.


For now, I will attempt to keep up with this blog so I can share with you what is going on.  I will begin by simply posting the most recent "Calvary Life" articles I have submitted for publication in our Sunday bulletin.  All three of them have to do with our budget.  As you may know we are voting on our budget this coming Sunday night.  I am hoping these brief posts will stimulate discussion to answer questions or address concerns you might have about the budget before voting on it.