Resources for Sabbath Keeping and Sabbatical Taking
Sunday. . . Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy. . .The first day of the week . . . Sabbath rest . . . Sabbatical time.
|
This collection of resources and reflections is meant to stimulate conversation about the meaning of renewal and rest, of Sabbath keeping and sabbatical taking. It is an invitation to pastors and lay leaders to consider with their parishes the need for rest and renewal as a congregation. It’s an opportunity to engage communities of faith in intentional observation of Sabbath time. It’s also an opportunity to think about pastoral sabbatical time, modeling the importance of renewal and the meaning of Sabbath keeping, sabbatical taking.
I have combined the two topics intentionally. Sabbath rest and renewal are as crucial and critical for our congregations as sabbatical rest and replenishment are for clergy. Helping one another think about Sabbath rest and our common need for renewal (Sunday is “resurrection day” after all!) is a challenge worthy of our best efforts. One congregation in a neighboring synod chose to celebrate a “Year of Sabbath.” It became a congregational opportunity to change the rhythms of parish life, to slow down, and to invite intentional renewal and reflection. And it was combined with a pastoral sabbatical involving the entire parish. What better way to embody the meaning of Sabbath rest.
|
In his book, Sabbath: Restoring the Sacred Rhythm of Rest, Wayne Muller writes, “The Sabbath rocks us and holds us until we remember who we are.” In our culture where time has become a commodity and remembering who we are is sometimes a challenge, Sabbath keeping may be more important than ever. The following resources can be a catalyst for inviting the church to slow down, to remember and reclaim Sabbath time. Additionally, it’s an invitation to pastoral renewal and replenishment in the form of sabbatical leave. I hope you find it helpful.
Julie K. Aageson
The Resource Center, Eastern ND Synod
Coordinator, ELCA Resource Centers
Books
|
For an invaluable introduction to the meaning of Sabbath time and the importance of sabbatical taking, begin with Dorothy Bass’s profound little book, Receiving the Day: Christian Practices for Opening the Gift of Time, Jossey-Bass, 2000.
In Gail Ramshaw’s artistic and poetic confession, Under the Tree of Life, she writes a provocative and challenging chapter called “Each Sunday Morning.”
Wayne Muller’s Sabbath: Finding Rest, Renewal, and Delight in Our Busy Lives challenges our sense of what it means to be busy and productive.
Keeping the Sabbath Wholly: Ceasing, Resting, Embracing, Feasting by Marva Dawn is a straight-forward invitation to Christians to experience the “wholeness and joy that come from observing God’s order for life” by observing Sabbath time.
|
The Alban Institute’s Clergy Renewal: the Alban Guide to Sabbatical Planning by A. Richard Bullock and Richard J. Bruesehoff provides guidance and practical suggestions for sabbatical planning.
Henri Nouwen’s life embodied the heart of Christianity. In Sabbatical Journey, he offers profound wisdom and insight from his own sabbatical taken the year before he died.
Abraham Joshua Heschel’s classic, The Sabbath, continues to shape our notion of time as sacred, Sabbath time as holy. Among Heschel’s many contributions is his characterization of Judaism as a religion of time, not space, calling the Sabbaths “our great cathedrals.”
Practicing Our Faith: A Way of Life for a Searching People edited by Dorothy Bass. Bass explores 12 practices that can become an integral part of how we live as the body of Christ.
Tilden Edwards explores the roots of Sabbath and the relationship between contemplation and ministry in his classic, Sabbath Time.
Wendell Berry’s A Timbered Choir: the Sabbath Poems is a beautiful collection of poetry written by Berry during Sunday morning walks.
|
Ministerial Sabbaticals: Tools for Mission is a D.Min. thesis by Pasor Larry Wohlrabe, formerly synod staff in the Southwest Minnesota Synod. It is a collection of practical information and reflection on the meaning of ministerial sabbaticals and basic guidelines for sabbatical leave including extended study and renewal, field research findings, interviews, and surveys.
Catch Your Breath: God’s Invitation to Sabbath Rest by Don Postema is a guide for small groups who wish to learn and practice Sabbath rest. Six chapters help readers think more deeply about the meanings of spiritual rest. This resource is ideal for congregational discussion.
A thoughtful look at Sabbath time and sabbatical taking can also be found in Melissa Bane Sevier’s, Journeying Toward Renewal: A Spiritual Companion for Pastoral Sabbaticals from the Alban Institute.
Sabbatical Programs
The Charis Ecumenical Center maintains a resource for sabbatical planning. This includes sources of information, grant sources, programs and informal arrangements, and sabbatical retreat options. Go to www.cord.edu/dept/charis
|
The Lilly Endowment’s National Clergy Renewal Program makes available financial support for rest and renewal for pastors of Christian congregations. Go to http://www.lillyendowment.org/religion_ncr.html or call (317)916-7302.
Through its Sabbatical Grant for Pastoral Leaders program, the Louisville Institute awards grants to pastoral leaders for extended leave for study, prayer, reflection, and renewal. For information and an application packet, go to http://www.louisville-institute.org/
Videos
|
The significance of Sabbath time for Christianity, Judaism, and Islam is highlighted in Sabbath of Peace, a reflection about the ways Sabbath time is observed among these three monotheistic religions.
The Ten Commandments by Walter Wangerinincludes a segment on Sabbath, inviting listeners to discuss the meaning of the commandment using a series of questions.
Dusting Off Theology , Living the Ten Commandments, and Power Tools: the Ten Commandments.
Changing the Rhythm of Parish Ministry: Sabbatical Policy Insights can be a helpful tool for introducing the idea of sabbatical time. It was developed by an ELCA congregation in Wisconsin as a tool for congregation councils, adult study groups, and church committees.
|
Why You Should Give Your Pastor a Sabbatical by Roy Oswald makes the case for clergy sabbaticals as a way of retaining congregational vitality. It provides a general overview of sabbaticals and recommendations for a sabbatical rhythm. It also addresses and elaborates six points supporting sabbatical leave as renewal.
Keep the Sabbath, part of a series on the Ten Commandments, focuses on why the seventh day is special and what is meant by keeping it holy and set apart.
