21 March 2023
Dear friends,
This April after we celebrate our Patronal Feast of St. Mark, I will begin the first sabbatical of my career. Technically I was to take a sabbatical several years ago during my tenure at St. Mark’s, but that was thwarted a couple of times due to various events. I thought I would take this opportunity to share why sabbaticals are offered to clergy, as well as the challenges of observing them, especially in a congregation such as St. Mark’s.
The word sabbatical finds its root in the word for rest, sabbath, and sabbaticals can be rich opportunities of growth for congregations. For the priest they offer time for increased study away from the demands of the parish. I have also known of situations in which the clergy were suffering from burnout, and thus a sabbatical was instituted to help the cleric recover, especially when depression had become a factor. One of the sad effects of the pandemic has been many churches have not bounced back, and many clergy have largely felt that pressure. I am also told that clergy suicides have increased, but I do not have empirical evidence for that assertion. That being said, most of us clergy know of clergy who have committed suicide during and since the pandemic. It is a reality of our current landscape.
Do not worry. I am not taking a sabbatical for the above health concerns. I am taking a sabbatical in order to do some study, as well as enrich my priestly spirituality. I hope that the congregation can grow during my absence as well. During my time away you will have the opportunity to hear sermons from four different clergy and two lay professionals. Four are from the Episcopal Church, one is from the Anglican Church of Canada, and one is Lutheran. Each cleric brings their own expertise in regard to ministry. Having a variety of voices from the pulpit enriches all of us.
While I am away, my studies will include visits to the churches and cities of the Book of Revelation in Turkiye, a sojourn to Ephesus, an overnight on Patmos, and time in Corinth, Athens, Philippi, and Thessalonica. Later in the sabbatical, I will travel to England for a deep dive into Anglican spirituality, including time in London, Canterbury, Norwich, Coventry, Walsingham, Oxford, Stratford, Salisbury, Windsor, Glastonbury, Wells, Winchester, Bremerton, and Little Gidding. Jayson will be able to join me for these trips as well, but to be clear, we are self-funding his portion.
So you might be wondering, what thwarted the previous attempts for me to take a sabbatical? Some of it was financial, and some of it was because of the pandemic. When the vestry began to put monies aside for a sabbatical originally, they had created quite a good reserve fund. Nevertheless, as many of you know quite well, when I came to St. Mark’s the church was in a precarious financial position. Budgets had no room for anything beyond the very basics, and even with such skeleton finances, the church was often a month behind in paying the diocesan assessment. To put it frankly, at one point the church had to use the sabbatical fund to pay our delinquency of the diocesan assessment.
Since that time, the church’s finances have become more stable, and over recent years money has been saved. Remember that funds are needed not only for the study opportunities of the priest, but also for the cost of supply clergy to cover the priest’s absence. I should also state that I was able to receive funding and scholarships from the diocese and other sources to pay for a majority of the travel and study tours. Such funding made these opportunities a possibility. I am also using personal funds to augment my time away. People often think St. Mark’s has some imaginary financial largesse, but that is simply not the case. Still, through careful planning, the finances materialized for a sabbatical, but then the pandemic happened, and travel and study tours were cancelled. Finally, the time has arrived for the sabbatical to become a reality.
I should also clarify that I believe sabbaticals will increasingly become a rarity. As most churches becomes smaller, there is the challenge of leaner staffs and fewer lay volunteers. Most clergy cannot leave another clergy person on staff in charge during their absence. Most clergy do not have a full-time administrator to be a presence while they are away. Most clergy no longer have an abundant pool of volunteers who have the time to ensure a basic institutional professionalism continues during a sabbatical. In many cases, sabbaticals will become a luxury that churches cannot sustain. For those who are thinking good riddance, please beware that this is part of the downward trend in which being a cleric is no longer an honored vocation or position within society.
It dawned on me recently that St. Mark’s was facing post-pandemic realities before the pandemic happened. We learned how to be responsive to the trends of society years before the current challenges. One of the aspects that makes St. Mark’s so special is that we are continually bucking the “doom and gloom” forecasts of the church and our society. I will go on sabbatical, and all of you will be just fine, and we shall all be grateful for the opportunities that we will share. I am grateful for this educational opportunity, and I look forward to sharing my study time with you.
Blessings,
Father Paul Lillie +
