Thank You Lilly Endowment

I am deeply grateful that my sabbatical is underwritten by a grant through the Lilly Endowment and administered by The Center for Pastoral Excellence at Christian Theological Seminary.  Our congregation and I were fortunate to be selected in a competitive national grant program for clergy and their congregations.

Here is what the program website says about the grant program:

"Pastors are essential to nurture and sustain the spiritual vitality of Christian congregations. Spiritual guide, scholar, counselor, preacher, administrator, confidant, teacher, pastoral visitor and friend, pastors are called on to play many roles in leading the ministries of congregations.The job is demanding, and pastors perform their duties among a dizzying array of requests and expectations. It is not a job for the fainthearted, but requires a rare balance of intelligence, love, humility, compassion and endurance. Most importantly, it demands that pastors remain in touch with the source of their life and strength. Like all people of faith, good pastors need moments to renew and refresh their spiritual energies and regain their enthusiasm and creativity for ministry. 

Recognizing the importance for busy pastors to step away briefly from the persistent obligations of daily parish life, Lilly Endowment started the Indiana and National Clergy Renewal Programs in 1999 and 2000 respectively. Through these programs, it has awarded on a competitive basis grants to congregations to support renewal programs for their pastors. Congregations also have benefited from these grants by utilizing the renewal programs as opportunities to strengthen their ministries as vital places of worship and mission and to develop the leadership capacities of their lay leaders. 

Both programs offer awards of up to $50,000 each directly to congregations for the support of a renewal program for their pastor. Up to $15,000 of the grant can be used to help the congregation fulfill pastoral duties during its pastor's absence and/or to support activities that enable the congregation as a whole to be renewed in its ministries. 

Renewal programs are not vacations but times for pastors to engage in new experiences, to reflect on their ministries, to rediscover their passions and to sharpen their leadership skills. Common aspects of these renewal experiences include: strengthening relationships with family and friends, renewing a sense of call, meeting and serving neighbors in a new way, finding joy and purpose in a simplified life, traveling to new lands and unfamiliar territories, and creating opportunities where members of the congregation can exercise their gifts for ministry.

Lilly Endowment Inc. is a private family endowment established by members of the Lilly family through gifts of stock in the giant pharmaceutical firm of Eli Lilly and Company.  Eli Lilly was a Civil War vet and "chemist" who made a home in Indianapolis after the war. He began a pharmaceutical company in 1876 that grew and grew. The company became the first mass manufacturer of insulin, penicillin, and the polo vaccine. 

Yet as his wealth grew, Mr. Lilly kept strong charitable concerns which were passed on to his children and grandchildren. The endowment that bears their name is worth billions of dollars, with a significant portion directed toward religious communities and their leaders. 

Words cannot adequately express my deep gratitude for this grant program.  I could not do all that I am doing without the assistance of this grant.  

Excerpts from the Personnel Manual of our Church

 "The Administration/Personnel Committee is keenly aware of the accumulating pressures of sustained twenty-four hour ministry and the toll it can have on clergy.  They bear the burdens, the anguish, the pain, and hurt of their parishioners on a 24-hour basis unlike those of any other profession.

All full-time ordained staff having served Community Presbyterian Church, as a Minister of Word and Sacrament, for a minimum of 7 consecutive years and not interrupted by prolonged personal paid leave, or other leave of absence, are eligible for Sabbatical Leave.  

Sabbath is a time to refill and replenish the soul, to be refreshed in the Spirit with renewed dedication and vision, restored in physical health and energy all of which potentially can bring great benefits in a renewed and more fulfilling and productive ministry. 

 Sabbatical leave for pastors is a planned time of intensive enhancement for ministry and mission.  This 'extended time' is qualitatively different than 'vacation' or 'days off'.  It is an opportunity for the individual to strategically disengage from regular and normal tasks so that ministry and mission may be viewed from a new perspective.  Sabbatical Leave is an extension of the Biblical concept of a Sabbath day and a Sabbath year for renewal.  It is both an act of faith that God will sustain us through a period of reflection and changed activity and an occasion for recovery and renewal of vital energies.  "

Thank you leadership of Community Presbyterian Church for your compassion and spiritual awareness to create a sabbatical policy that allows time for your pastors to step away from the day-to-day ministries to find renewal in a season of rest, prayer, reflection, and study of God's word.  This Sabbatical Leave policy is truly a gift in which I am deeply grateful.

Welcome to this blog!

Welcome to this blog.  I'm glad you have found it.

This online journal is an attempt to share some of my experiences while taking a three month sabbatical from my parish work as a pastor.  I look forward to taking you to places that I will have the privilege to visit.  I want to record many of the things seen, heard and pondered so we can share together this time. Spiritual insights will be shared with the hope that apart and together we will seek a renewal of spirit and a reaffirmation of life with God who is the source of our strength and life.

Please pray for me as I am about to begin this spiritual journey of rest and renewal, as I will pray for you.

Blessing,

Rod