The Church of the Lutheran Brethren encourages congregations to grant their pastors a sabbatical after seven years of service. While a sabbatical is often thought of as a time for formal continuing education, it can have many uses, certainly including rest. As one example, Rev. Aage Larsen, pastor of Oak Ridge Lutheran Brethren Church in Menomonie, Wisconsin, is currently on a three month sabbatical. When he approached his congregation with the request, Pastor Larsen focused on relationship as the key idea in his sabbatical time. Portions of Larsen’s sabbatical proposal are excerpted here, with his permission.

Because God is in relation to himself through the triune Godhead, it stands to reason that ministry in his name is also relational in nature...

This work has consumed not only me, but my family as well as those servants who have come alongside us in this work. God in his grace has provided for us in each heartbreak and through every joy. But now, it seems, it is time to more intentionally turn attention outwardly and relationally toward the larger community God has placed us among here in north central Wisconsin. But to do that, my family, our congregation, and I require a brief season to disconnect in order to reconnect...

And it is during this period that each of us will be discovering something new about what it means to “relate to people.” Relating has to do with such things as listening, learning, understanding, caring, and communicating. To help us in this ministry of relating we will concurrently study Christ Have Mercy: How to Put Your Faith in Action, Harrison, Matthew C., Concordia Publishing (July 2008). In addition I will read a book suggested to me by our denominational president titled Relational Leadership: A Biblical Model for Leadership Service, Wright, Jr., Walter, Paternoster Press (2003) as well as Mission from the Cross, Schulz, Klaus Detlev, Concordia Publishing (August 2009)...

So during this sabbatical I will also consider ministry models that more intentionally address this love that not only gathers but sends relationally to our neighbors. To meet this goal I will read The Relational Way: From Small Group Structures to Holistic Life Connections, Boren, M. Scott, Touch Publications (March 2007). I will prepare a written paper that includes insights drawn from the resources mentioned above along with some rough vision sketches for us as leadership and congregation to begin making future relational ministry plans...

The other relational focus during this sabbatical will be immediate and extended family. We have been separated from our extended family for ten years as we have followed the call to full time pastoral ministry through seminary training and church ministry. Vacations have helped to plug some of the holes, but we are seeing a need for an extended period of relational reconnection with family and friends back east... Opportunities to worship together as a family in our “home” churches will also bring a breath of fresh air to our experience of worship.

During this time my extended family in Norway happens to be organizing a broad, international family reunion based upon the 200th anniversary of Hans Lillejord’s birth in my place of birth, Beiarn, Norway… We plan to travel to Northern Norway for this three day event. Here we will not only have the occasion to rekindle as well as develop new family relationships, but I will also be able to research and understand my family’s past and present relationship to the ministry and tradition of the Lutheran Church. As a part of this reunion, the local Lutheran church will be hosting an international service that will include pastors from my family in Norway, the U.S., and Canada...

We will plan to extend our stay in Norway for a few more days to enjoy the scenery of the local fjords and mountains. These will also provide ideal backdrops for family and individual spiritual refreshment as we take time to encounter our loving, sending God through prayer and devotional readings within the framework of his magnificent creation. I believe this unique experience will make a lasting impression on our family that will strengthen our understanding and resolve of what it means to be in relational ministry together.

During our sabbatical the congregation will not be in a “let’s wait for the pastor to get back” mode. They will be continuing the work of ministry both in the gathering part of worship as well as the sending part of relating to people. This will help them learn to take greater ownership of this relational ministry. We will take time in prayer and in meetings to evaluate the things we have all learned through this experience and use it in planning our vision and mission over the short and long term. I anticipate this sabbatical experience to greatly benefit myself, my family, and my congregation by providing the necessary balance of rest, renewal, and equipping that will propel us forward in relational ministry in our church and community for years to come.

download Oak Ridge's sabbatical policy
(Largely borrowed from sabbatical policies used by Triumph Lutheran Brethren Church, Moorhead, MN and Hope Lutheran Brethren Church, Barnesville, MN.)