Sabbaticals for our ministers
Barry Gritters makes a pastoral case for sabbatical leave in Reformed churches, arguing that overworked ministers become ineffective servants despite their best intentions. Through a detailed breakdown of ministerial responsibilities, he demonstrates that pastors routinely work 70+ hours weekly and advocates for church consistories to implement rest policies that would allow ministers to recover and serve more faithfully. This practical article addresses the intersection of church polity and ministerial wellbeing in the context of the PRCA and sister Reformed denominations.
Tired ministers are not useful ministers. Weary, they will not do the good work we have asked them to do, Christ requires them to do, and they themselves want to do. Pastors become weary because of many factors, some they can control and others beyond their control. And often they do not get enough rest. Our churches, with consistories at the lead, may examine how they give rest to their pastors. In Reformed churches like the PRCA and our sisters, pastors have colossal pressures put on them....
Full article available on sb.rfpa.org