Pastoral Renewal Leave
November 16, 2021
Dear members and friends of Church of the Pines,
This letter is from me, the Staff Parish Relations Committee (SPRC), and the Ministry Council. During the past few months, the SPRC and I have planned a Pastoral Renewal Leave for me in 2022. A Pastoral Renewal Leave is an extended period of time, up to 12 weeks, spent away from the church. This is a time for a pastor to focus on resting and rejuvenating his/her body and soul to return to a more vital ministry in the local church.
2022 will mark 20 years that I have served churches as a pastor, 10 of those at the UMCOP. In that time, I have been a part of thousands of worship services and sermons, hundreds of funerals, countless hours of pastoral care, untold numbers of meetings, and much more. All of these take a lot out of a pastor physically, emotionally, and spiritually. In 20 years, I have developed skills and abilities that help me serve you as a pastor, as well as tendencies, habits, and routines, not all of which are beneficial.
All vocations are demanding, and pastoral ministry is not unique in this regard. However, I have found that the last couple of years have been especially difficult for me. As I worked with SPRC this year, we realized that I was struggling with significant burnout. It is impacting my personal and spiritual health and my professional performance. So, in September, we began to seriously explore a three-month Pastoral Renewal Leave to address this.
The Renewal Leave will be from January 4, 2022, to March 26, 2002. While three months is a long time for me to be away from my regular pastoral duties and responsibilities at the Church of the Pines, it is not just an extended vacation. Yes, there is time for rest and relaxation, but this is a time for me to be reinvigorated as a pastor so that I am better able to serve you.
First, I will care for myself physically and emotionally, creating healthier habits and activities to increase my resiliency. Second, I will spend time nourishing my soul and growing my own spirituality to nourish you better and help you grow spiritually. Third, I will participate in continuing education classes to improve my professional and leadership skills and pastoral caring skills. Finally, we are also planning an intentionally staggered return to ministry over the last four weeks of the leave to carefully implement new plans and routines.
As a result of my Renewal Leave, I am not the only one who will benefit; it will also provide the congregation with benefits. You can expect that I will return from my leave with a renewed energy, spiritual commitment, and vision for the UMCOP. Additional benefits include:
The SPRC and others in leadership positions in the church will ensure a smooth transition into the time of the Renewal Leave and again during my return. For each of my daily tasks, a person from the UMCOP has been identified to perform those tasks in my absence.
The SPRC has prepared a list of anticipated questions and answers about the Leave. These Q & A’s accompany this letter.
This time will be a different experience for all of us, but it will be meaningful. So again, I thank you all for your generous support. I especially thank the members of SPRC and others that have put in significant work to plan and make this opportunity possible.
Pastor SPRC Chair Ministry Council Chair
Dear members and friends of Church of the Pines,
This letter is from me, the Staff Parish Relations Committee (SPRC), and the Ministry Council. During the past few months, the SPRC and I have planned a Pastoral Renewal Leave for me in 2022. A Pastoral Renewal Leave is an extended period of time, up to 12 weeks, spent away from the church. This is a time for a pastor to focus on resting and rejuvenating his/her body and soul to return to a more vital ministry in the local church.
2022 will mark 20 years that I have served churches as a pastor, 10 of those at the UMCOP. In that time, I have been a part of thousands of worship services and sermons, hundreds of funerals, countless hours of pastoral care, untold numbers of meetings, and much more. All of these take a lot out of a pastor physically, emotionally, and spiritually. In 20 years, I have developed skills and abilities that help me serve you as a pastor, as well as tendencies, habits, and routines, not all of which are beneficial.
All vocations are demanding, and pastoral ministry is not unique in this regard. However, I have found that the last couple of years have been especially difficult for me. As I worked with SPRC this year, we realized that I was struggling with significant burnout. It is impacting my personal and spiritual health and my professional performance. So, in September, we began to seriously explore a three-month Pastoral Renewal Leave to address this.
The Renewal Leave will be from January 4, 2022, to March 26, 2002. While three months is a long time for me to be away from my regular pastoral duties and responsibilities at the Church of the Pines, it is not just an extended vacation. Yes, there is time for rest and relaxation, but this is a time for me to be reinvigorated as a pastor so that I am better able to serve you.
First, I will care for myself physically and emotionally, creating healthier habits and activities to increase my resiliency. Second, I will spend time nourishing my soul and growing my own spirituality to nourish you better and help you grow spiritually. Third, I will participate in continuing education classes to improve my professional and leadership skills and pastoral caring skills. Finally, we are also planning an intentionally staggered return to ministry over the last four weeks of the leave to carefully implement new plans and routines.
As a result of my Renewal Leave, I am not the only one who will benefit; it will also provide the congregation with benefits. You can expect that I will return from my leave with a renewed energy, spiritual commitment, and vision for the UMCOP. Additional benefits include:
- The involvement of more lay people in the day-to-day running of the church.
- Time for the congregation to reevaluate ministries and where it wants to go.
- I will return with more energy, effectiveness, and a renewed vision for the UMCOP. I will have developed new skills to help the congregation implement their goals for the future of the UMCOP while embracing the accomplishments of the past.
- A renewed understanding and appreciation of the pastor’s role in the church.
The SPRC and others in leadership positions in the church will ensure a smooth transition into the time of the Renewal Leave and again during my return. For each of my daily tasks, a person from the UMCOP has been identified to perform those tasks in my absence.
The SPRC has prepared a list of anticipated questions and answers about the Leave. These Q & A’s accompany this letter.
This time will be a different experience for all of us, but it will be meaningful. So again, I thank you all for your generous support. I especially thank the members of SPRC and others that have put in significant work to plan and make this opportunity possible.
Pastor SPRC Chair Ministry Council Chair
Click below to read answers to some of the questions you may have after reading the letter.
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LOCATION
415 Chippewa Street (corner of Hwy 51 North and Chicago Ave East) PO Box 144 Minocqua, WI 54548 715-356-3041 OFFICE HOURS
Monday - Thursday - 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Friday - 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Other times by appointment. Please call the church administrator or pastor at 715-356-3041 in advance to ensure that someone is available to assist you. Call 715-356-3041 Merry Jorgensen - Ext. 2 office@umchurchofthepines.org Pastor Mark Gilbert - Ext. 4 pastor@umchurchofthepinesorg |
Living Christ's Love Now
In light of concerning data about the Delta variant of COVID, the Infection Control met on Sunday, August 1, 2021, to discuss the data and the latest CDC guidelines.
The following was approved for immediate implementation by the Ministry Council of Church of the Pines.
Essentially, the recommendation is to keep the church and worship open at the same level currently with a return to requiring masks for all people and encourage more physical distancing. We also recommend that while we can still offer time and space for fellowship, serving coffee and refreshments presents a high risk as people would not be wearing masks.
We realize this is a step back from the opening process that we recently began, but the situation around COVID has changed significantly. ICT continues to feel that it was good to open as we did, yet we still need to care for one another and limit the spread of this virus. However, the data indicates that the Delta variant is highly contagious to all ages. While vaccines effectively mitigate symptoms and lower hospitalizations and death, vaccinated people are still getting it and can spread the virus to others.
We encourage everyone to continue wearing face coverings, to practice physical distancing, and to get vaccinated.
The following was approved for immediate implementation by the Ministry Council of Church of the Pines.
Essentially, the recommendation is to keep the church and worship open at the same level currently with a return to requiring masks for all people and encourage more physical distancing. We also recommend that while we can still offer time and space for fellowship, serving coffee and refreshments presents a high risk as people would not be wearing masks.
We realize this is a step back from the opening process that we recently began, but the situation around COVID has changed significantly. ICT continues to feel that it was good to open as we did, yet we still need to care for one another and limit the spread of this virus. However, the data indicates that the Delta variant is highly contagious to all ages. While vaccines effectively mitigate symptoms and lower hospitalizations and death, vaccinated people are still getting it and can spread the virus to others.
We encourage everyone to continue wearing face coverings, to practice physical distancing, and to get vaccinated.
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EVERYONE is invited to participate in our Church of the Pines' THIRD ANNUAL CHRISTMAS SHOEBOX CAMPAIGN! We had a great turnout of adults and children who filled shoeboxes with gifts during our Christmas Shoebox Campaign two years ago. There were 32 boxes blessed during a worship service. Last year, because we were all at home abiding by the governor's stay-at-home order, we were able to go online to build shoeboxes that were sent to children worldwide to brighten their Christmas and let them know that God loves them.
This year, you can pick up a Christmas shoebox at church and take it home to pack it full of fun toys, hygiene items, and school supplies. You can add a donation of $9.00 per box to cover shipping costs. If not, maybe someone else from the congregation can help by covering the shipping cost. There is also a way that you can learn the destination of your shoebox! All filled boxes need to be dropped off at Church of the Pines no later than November 15th, and we will see that the boxes get delivered to the local processing location.
Or, you can choose to go online to Build Your Shoebox. Go to the following link, sampur.se/3aBzTdz, and with just a few clicks, you can select items to pack and then personalize your shoebox with a note and a photo. Samaritan's Purse will do the rest. If you don't have access to the internet, you can send a check to Church of the Pines for $25 (write Christmas Shoebox in the check memo, and we'll build a box for you). Our goal is to build 30 Christmas shoeboxes before Christmas Eve. Please let Merry know if you Build a Shoebox online, by sending her an email at office@umchurchofthepines.org or call 715-356-3041 to let us know that you did this so that your name can be included with the others who donated to the Christmas Shoebox Campaign for 2021. THANKS!
This year, you can pick up a Christmas shoebox at church and take it home to pack it full of fun toys, hygiene items, and school supplies. You can add a donation of $9.00 per box to cover shipping costs. If not, maybe someone else from the congregation can help by covering the shipping cost. There is also a way that you can learn the destination of your shoebox! All filled boxes need to be dropped off at Church of the Pines no later than November 15th, and we will see that the boxes get delivered to the local processing location.
Or, you can choose to go online to Build Your Shoebox. Go to the following link, sampur.se/3aBzTdz, and with just a few clicks, you can select items to pack and then personalize your shoebox with a note and a photo. Samaritan's Purse will do the rest. If you don't have access to the internet, you can send a check to Church of the Pines for $25 (write Christmas Shoebox in the check memo, and we'll build a box for you). Our goal is to build 30 Christmas shoeboxes before Christmas Eve. Please let Merry know if you Build a Shoebox online, by sending her an email at office@umchurchofthepines.org or call 715-356-3041 to let us know that you did this so that your name can be included with the others who donated to the Christmas Shoebox Campaign for 2021. THANKS!