Sabbatical 2023

Join us for a season of rest and renewal!

Deeply imbedded in the Judeo-Christian faith life is a sense of sabbath rest.

We hear in our ancient stories the importance of letting the land lie fallow, the animals rest from labor and, of course, God instructing humanity to join in this life-giving cycle of work and rest.

In this spirit, we will be embarking on a season of sabbatical – sabbath rest – for several months in 2023 [June – September]. Our pastor, Elizabeth, will step away from her responsibilities in order to live in a different rhythm of life. And as a congregation together, we too will enjoy a sabbath renewal.

Together we will embrace the theme: Building Resilience, Creating Joy, Doing Good.

·      Building Resilience: how do we individually and collectively transform trauma into strength? Through a workshop with Elizabeth Lewis, gifted speaker and author on the subject of resilience, we will develop healthy responses to the challenges we face in life.

·      Creating Joy: how do we remind ourselves that there is much to celebrate and that what we pay attention to shapes how we understand God and faith? We plan to host arts-related events open to the neighborhood, such as jazz concerts and a folk dance workshop.  And incorporate the arts in worship as we redesign the visual art in our worship space.

·      Doing Good: how do Resilience and Joy strengthen our faith practices and joyfully expand our connection to and service for the world? We will build on our church’s strong history of supporting both our local community and those in need across the globe for example, creating disaster relief kits to deliver to UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief).

During this sabbatical our worship services will be led by gifted members of the church community who will preach and lead worship. In addition, we will host 

·      Alex Awad, a pastor, former missionary and scholar specializing in Palestine

·      Rod Peppiatt (and his wife Cathryn), a Uniting Church pastor from Australia who will be with us for 6 weeks

·      Jeff Sievert, a local pastor retired from the Presbyterian church who will join us for 5 Sundays.  

There are many exciting ways to connect with community and we hope you will take advantage of them. Come join us for a season of rest and renewal!