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Q&A: Youth Ministry Sabbatical

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Question: I get to go on sabbatical this summer for 2 months! Any ideas on churches I should visit while I'm away to get refreshed and renewed?

Answer: First off - wow! How exciting, I've never had one of those so I'm insanely jealous! What a great gift your church is giving you. As for churches, I would obviously stop at Saddleback (not that I'm bias or anything) and I know we've been to Northpoint and Willow in recent weeks brainstorming and being challenged with their teams.

I would also consider Bay Area Fellowship, Mosaic, Fellowship, New Life Church, The Journey, LifeChurchTV and Mars Hill as possible candidates.
Have an opinion or a youth ministry visit suggestion? Comment it in! Got a question? Send me an email and we'll figure it out. Here's my heart behind these posts.

JG



posted by Unknown @ 1:18 PM |

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9 Comments:

At 5/14/2007, Blogger brian c. berry said...

If I had a 2 month sabbatical as a pastor, the last thing in the world I'd do is go to a grip of churches. I'd find a mountain retreat, some good books, a hammock, some coffee, and go get out of dodge to be restored.

My only question is, can you really go to various churches in a season of rest an renewal and honestly just soak it up? I'd be analyzing everything trying to learn and apply as much as I could during those visits.. which would kinda defeat the purpose... I think.

But for what it's worth... If you feel the tug of Jesus to go around to some churches... I'd go to Saddleback and then take Josh to lunch every day for 2 months.

 
At 5/14/2007, Blogger Unknown said...

Lunch! JG

 
At 5/14/2007, Blogger Unknown said...

Just got this email: Anyway, a church you need to visit is Newspring Community Church in Anderson, South Carolina. (Tony Morgan’s new church) My wife and I went up there last night (only about 70 miles north) to check it out and loved every minute of it. They gave a house to a single mom! It was one of the most moving services I’ve ever been a part of. Also, I would love to visit Mark Batterson’s church in Washington D.C. (National Community Church).
Good ideas! Also Granger Community Church in Indiana is great, too!

JG

 
At 5/14/2007, Blogger Dan said...

I second New Life...awesome people! They are very unselfish with their time. Vineyard Cincinnati is another great church.

 
At 5/14/2007, Blogger Joel Snyder said...

I think I would like to go to all those churches but I would also try to find some churches who have the same demographics as my church - if that is what you are doing with your sabbatical. I get kind of discouraged when I go to the mega churches and know that I can't do a lot of the things I see. My church is in a town of about 800 with about 8 churches with 3 miles of each other. Even if we get everyone in the town to our church, there are just some things we can't do. My advice, if you are looking at churches, is to find successful churches that have basically the same resources as you do.

 
At 5/14/2007, Blogger Nick said...

I kind of agree with Brian...I had a pastor that took a Summer sabbatical and visited all kinds of churches...when he returned he tried to implement the best of each church, and well...it was bad. He never really took a "Sabbatical" in the first place.

If you are going to visit churches, my suggestion would be to visit churches that have a similar model of ministry ("Purpose Driven," "Willow Creek," "7 Checkpoints, North Point," Etc.) I attend conferences from a wide variety of ministry models, but during a sabbatical it may be best to stick to 1 model.

New Spring Church in Anderson is an awesome church. Their student ministry is really in a transitional time, and I am sure you could gain some great insight from them for your ministry, they are about 2 hours from me!)
www.newspring.cc, www.perrynoble.com, www.unleashconference.com - Enjoy!

 
At 5/15/2007, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Highly recommend Faith Baptist in Lafayette, IN!!!

 
At 5/15/2007, Blogger Pastor Jeff said...

I agree with Joel on checking out churches with similar demographics. OUr Senior pastor is currently on Sabbatical and fininshing his Doctoral Dissertation. He is attending churches experienceing similar things as ours as part of his research for his dissertation but also looking to help move our church forward. Be careful not to come back and change everyting at once. Come back and experience your ministry as others see it. What are the good and not as good areas of your own ministry? If you were a visitor what would it look like? My feeling is that your Sabbatical should benefit you in spiritual growth and focus but also benefit your church for their generosity.

 
At 5/15/2007, Blogger Pastor Jeff said...

Found what I think is an excellent definition of what a Sabbatical is. I think it is from Boston U.

"What is a Sabbatical?

A sabbatical is an extended period of time granted for professional development and spiritual renewal away from normal ministerial responsibilities and in a manner that is not possible during the busyness of a typical work year. Sabbaticals are not vacations, but carefully planned periods of time devoted to study, reflection, rest, and renewal. They frequently become a path to understanding one’s vocation in new ways or as a vehicle for a transformed sense of pastoral identity."

 

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