Why a Sabbatical?

Benefits to the Staff Member

1. Extended time free from work responsibilities giving the staff member major amounts of time to invest in relationships with immediate family and God.
2. Gone long enough to appreciate home, neighbors, desert, and work.
3. Gives the staff member the option to do something that an ordinary vacation does not (e.g., college tour, mission trip, travel, visit all supporting churches).
4. Extended study of one book of the Bible.
5. Keeps the staff member from getting into a deep rut of the same thing every year.
6. Gives the staff member something to look forward to, plan for, and save for.

Benefits to the Ministry

1. Pushes staff member to teach work areas that only he/she knows.
2. Gives team appreciation for the staff member’s contribution—cannot be taken for granted and is missed . . . hopefully. 🙂
3. Staff member learns from other ministries’ experiences and brings back that knowledge.
4. Refreshed, rejuvenated staff member—helps longevity.
5. Reminds staff member that no one is indispensable and reminds the team that the staff member is invaluable.
6. Allows extra responsibility to be given to other staff members for a short time, giving them a sampling of what that work would be like.
7. Provides a camp tour Morning Meeting of a camp that we probably couldn’t visit as a staff team.
8. Allows for an “itch” (interest or need) that may require longer than a month to be “scratched” (done, tried, experienced) without losing the staff member permanently.