PJ’s Page –
Last month I attended the Byberg Preaching Conference in Cannon Beach, OR. This annual conference for ELCA pastors in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Washington, and Oregon is always a treat – bringing in fine preaching instructors, thoughtful Bible Study leaders, and creative, faithful worship planners and leaders. It is funded largely from a grant from the estate of Jonas Byberg, who bemoaned the state of preaching in his Lutheran church and set up an endowment for this purpose. We stay at a simple Christian retreat center, and bask in the beauty of Creation found on the Oregon coast.
This year I followed the Byberg conference with a few days of personal spiritual retreat at Mt. Angel Abbey near Salem, OR. Mt. Angel Abbey is a Benedictine center and seminary, preparing Roman Catholic men for service as priests and monks and offering fine instruction to lay people as well. While I was there I prayed and read and slept and worshipped. Bells called us to worship several times throughout the day, which I found to be a lovely reminder to pray, even if the first bells of Matins rang out at 5am!
I am grateful for the provisions in my call to Luther Memorial that allow for each of these kinds of opportunities. Pastors are provided time for Continuing Education (2 weeks including Sundays) in addition to their vacation time. The work we do is blessed and holy, but no more so than what you do in your vocation. We are all called to work in the Kingdom. I think one of the differences is that the expectations pastors have of themselves and the expectations of the people we work for and with may be different than many other professions. It is easy to become weary and overwhelmed. It is easy to lose sight of the call to Word and Sacrament and focus on budgets and meetings and property challenges and personnel issues and meetings (yes I know I said that twice!) It is difficult to leave the work behind when we go home. It is a 24/7 job.
So, when I take care of myself, it also greatly benefits the congregation. Our ministries and mission are served far better by a pastor who is rested, spiritually grounded, and centered.
Elsewhere in this newsletter you will find information about a grant being written for a sabbatical leave. Having been your pastor for almost six years, it is good to consider how such a leave would be beneficial to us all. And it is helpful to remember that this leave is being considered because it is my intention to remain your pastor. A time of sabbatical leave would help us renew our sense of call to each other AND to this place.
While I was away in January I was able to walk on the beach in Cannon Beach and marvel at the creatures in the tide pools. At the Abbey, in addition to reading and prayer and worship, I also napped at the drop of a hat. One day I even napped right after breakfast. What I learned was that I was renewed. I was being re-newed. And I thought of the words of Scripture: The mercies of the LORD are new every morning.
I returned from that Continuing Education trip in January refreshed and restored by the time away. I promised myself that I would find time for small diversions each day, even if they were only to pause for a moment, perhaps at the hours when the bells would ring at the Abbey, and give thanks. Know that in that thanksgiving, I remember each of you and this place, where the Holy Spirit is moving in powerful and surprising ways each day.
-PJ+