When a minister or their congregational leadership starts to plan the minister’s sabbatical, it can bring up feelings of frustration for lay leaders who work hard at their non-ministry jobs with nary a sabbatical or even a lengthy vacation in sight. It’s true that sometimes the American work ethic appears to be close to “Never Stop Working, No Matter What…and Then You Die.” Sometimes frustration and fatigue lead leaders to ask, in jest or maybe not: “Don’t I deserve a sabbatical? I work hard, too.”
The short answer to this perhaps half-formed question is Yes! You deserve a sabbatical too.
Sabbaticals provide a much-needed time for renewal and reconnection with yourself and your reasons for doing the work you do. It’s a time to not have to worry about performing or achieving to the standards of someone else, or society at large. Sabbaticals help a person recalibrate their role, helping them better pinpoint where their next chapter of work can best be spent. Sabbaticals can offer an opportunity to explore an interest or new venture. And sabbaticals refresh and energize workers, and that makes them more effective at their jobs. Many forward-looking organizations are incorporating sabbatical leave into their benefit packages for these reasons; the UUA itself offers sabbatical to every full-time employee every seven years, for example.
If you’re lucky enough to have full-time work with benefits, maybe it’s time to take a look at how you might be able to add a bit of sabbatical into your work life, like your minister. After all, our congregations often serve as countercultural models for the way we’d like to see the world be. What if everyone did get a sabbatical? It might seem an absurd idea at first, but let it settle in for a bit. Would it be possible to talk to your organization about offering this practice? If that’s a nonstarter, could you manage to take some intentional, extended leave with the purpose of recalibrating?
There are many Americans who don’t take the leave they have, are unable to disconnect when they aren’t on the clock, and don’t have a clear sense of themselves outside of the workplace. If this sounds familiar, putting together some time for renewal might be possible and could be life changing. On the other hand, the work lives of so many in this country include very little time for rest, below-subsistence pay and very thin benefits. If your congregation has much to give, maybe you could support some rest for these workers, who surely need it. All of us deserve to have a chance to return to our whole selves from time to time.
Sabbaticals for Your Other Staff
Along with the sabbatical time offered to your minister, you have the ability to offer sabbaticals to other congregational staff--such as your religious educator, musician, membership director or administrator. To serve competently, confidently, and faithfully, staff must be intentional about their professional growth and should receive support and encouragement from their congregations for their ongoing formation. How might your congregation support them in their replenishment? How can your congregation ensure parity among its staff and make sure each of your employees get the renewal time they need to best serve your community? In addition to strengthening the ministries of the congregation, regular professional development averts burnout, amplifies professionalism, and reinforces collegial relationships through shared learning.
Find out more on our UUA Benefits Page.
Sabbaticals for Your Lay Leadership
Have you been working especially hard for your congregation lately, such as serving on the Board, on a Search Committee, or a building project? When your term is done, consider taking 6-12 months off before saying yes to anything that isn't an absolute joy for you, like singing in the choir, or getting the weeding done, or whatever you love to do. Can your congregation build this kind of renewal into its structures and culture? There is no reason to burn out your lay leaders after they’ve served the congregation so well. Learn to practice and model what it means to fully rest after a job well done, so your next project may be well done, too.
Sabbaticals for Your Congregation
Clergy sabbaticals aren’t just a bonus for the clergy – they help the congregational system renew itself in a lot of different ways. Taking time away requires us to share our duties with others, which expands the skill set of the leadership and invites new leaders; the person 'filling in' now has the knowledge and is learning the skills on a trial basis. It forces us to document our work, creating institutional knowledge in the process. Sabbaticals can also help break down power and knowledge silos, allowing everyone to see congregational systems with fresh eyes.
Most importantly, clergy sabbaticals ground the minister and the congregation and lets them all look ahead to the congregation's next faithful step. If the minister shares what they’ll be exploring on their sabbatical, it might be helpful for the congregation to do some intentional exploring of the same topics from their perspective, or otherwise create projects to maximize the time apart, so that when the minister is back, both the congregation and the minister have had a sense of renewal and fresh eyes looking towards the future.