REPORT TO THE CONGREGATION ON MY SABBATICAL

What did I do?

*  2 months of immersion Spanish study in Nicaragua

*  Intensive Vocational Assessment

*  Self care including personal retreat, regular spiritual

   direction, journaling and therapeutic massage

* Celebrate the gift of life with my family and friends

* A typical day in Nicaragua…

 

What did I read?

* Psalms ("The Message"), Eugene Peterson

      (A fresh reading of heartfelt lament and soaring

       praise to God the Creator)

* "Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life" James Hollis

     (A Jungian approach to midlife issues)

* "Eat This Book: A Conversation in the Art of Spiritual

  Reading" Eugene Peterson

     (A guide to reading beyond the words of Scripture to

      Word at the heart of life and faith.)

 

Who were some of the interesting people who shared my journey and that I wish you could meet sometime?

* Dr. Paulette Goudge - Owner/Director Mariposa Spanish School and Eco-Hotel, San Juan de la Concepcion

* Germinna Goudge – Paulette’s Daughter

* Bergman and Eva Maria

* Yvonne

* Alexa Gilmore – Massage Therapist

* Linda Jones - Spiritual Director, Austin, Texas

* Dr. Ross Peterson - Director, Southwest Ministry Development, Dallas, Texas

 

What did my sabbatical experience me to me…

A. Personally - My sabbatical experience afforded space and time for me to more fully sense the presence of God in my life as well as to know and embrace the deep rest and renewal that is God's desire for me.

B. Vocationally - My sabbatical experience helped me to clarify my own sense of call, particularly in coming to terms with some of the core reasons why I entered ordained ministry in the first place.

C. Congregationally - My sabbatical experience provided some significant opportunities for the congregation, opportunities for genuine learning and real growth.  New gifts of ministry were called forth from the community including preaching, calling on the sick and homebound and administration.  I sense that they've come to recognize that as a Spirit filled community, they are capable of far more than they ever imagined.   

 

What was the most surprising discovery you made while on sabbatical?

The most surprising discovery was the gift of living life fully in the moment, especially during my stay in Nicaragua.

 

What has been your experience as you’ve returned to your particular place of ministry?

As I suspected, returning to my place of ministry has been an interesting and challenging experience.  The first few weeks back have generally gone very well.  Starting back in the office mid week, I appreciated not having to prepare a sermon the following Sunday and the warm welcome I received.  I confess that it’s been a bit difficult finding a sense of routine.  (Maybe I have to find a new meaning to what counts for routine.)

 

What would you have done differently?

As to what I have done differently, I think I underestimated my overly developed sense of responsibility and need to be needed.  Recognizing that about myself, I probably should have devoted more time away in personal retreat at the beginning of the sabbatical.

 

What did you learn/discover through your experience of sabbatical?

 My sabbatical helped me more fully embrace the gift and promise of each new day.  I came to regard time not so much from the standpoint of its duration--days, hours, minutes and seconds lived in succession, one after another, but to embrace its content, the hope, the promise, the grace in each moment even if I wasn't in a position to fully understand it.  I learned to appreciate the gift of community--not as something I am responsible for creating, but as one player in the organic, living reality happening all around me.  I learned something about myself, a clearer sense of my own gifts and limitations, of what is important to me and what I am passionate about, of what has led me to choose the path I have chosen and that I am not forever bound to it, but free to choose as the Spirit leads me.  Finally, I learned how profoundly the Spirit blesses us with gifts for ministry, a truth no more evident than in the congregation I am blessed to serve.  People's willingness to assume responsibility, to step outside the box, to embrace different roles in my absence underscores the vitality, the creativity, the power of God at work in and through us all.

 

What effect will your sabbatical experience have on your practice of ministry?

 I anticipate that what I have learned will have profound effects on my practice of ministry.  First and foremost, I see that in many ways, I simply need to let go, to "get out of the way", to stop doing for others so that everyone, myself included can truly "grow in faith, love and obedience to the will of God."  I am confident that my experience in Central America will lead me to be more engaged in economic justice issues, in advocating on behalf of the economically, socially and politically marginalized.  For the time being, I freely choose to live out this commitment in the context of my current ministry.

Pastor Brian Peterson