Sabbatical Assistance Cover Letter And Questionnaire

Dear sister churches of SCARBC,

The messengers of SCARBC have voted to cooperate in providing assistance to churches who would like to give a sabbatical to their pastor but are unable to do so due to logistical limitations such as pulpit supply. As a local association, we are especially blessed to be able to help one another more easily due to our geographic proximity, and supplying pulpits is one of those ways in which we can be of help.

The churches of SCARBC will provide pulpit supply for up to five Sundays (not necessarily consecutive), to one church per year, for the purpose of helping that church to give their pastor a sabbatical. This would be accomplished in the following ways:

  1. The local church would continue to pay its pastor as usual during this time. The common fund of SCARBC would pay the honoraria and travel expenses of the preachers who fill the pulpit. Preachers would be paid $150 per sermon or teaching session, up
    to two on a Sunday. Travel expenses would be covered at $50 for travel less than 50 miles, and $100 for travel over 50 miles. If five Sundays were covered with two sermons and far travel, the maximum cost to the association would be $2,000 in one year.
  2. Any church desiring help from this proposal should complete the attached questionnaire and send it to the SCARBC chairman (scarbcchairman@gmail.com), typed in an email or as an attachment. The chairman will add any applications to the agenda of the
    final messengers’ meeting of the year, where the assembled messengers will choose a church to receive this help in the following year. In general, our intent is to give preference to churches whose pastor has labored the longest without a sabbatical.
  3. At the same meeting, after the selection of a church the messengers will commit their churches to supply the needed help on one or more of the requested dates. The person whom their church sends can be determined later.

Important Considerations

  1. This sabbatical provided by SCARBC should not be a replacement for the pastor’s normal vacation time which the church ought to give to him in any given year. The local church would be free to give their pastor a sabbatical which lasts longer, or to append his vacation time to it, but such arrangements would be their own responsibility to accomplish, logistically and financially.
  2. Regarding those who are sent to preach it is recommended that in addition to pastors, gifted brethren (meaning formally recognized gifted brethren) be given opportunities to participate. Churches are encouraged to be patient with the developing gifts of these men and appreciative of their willingness to help in this proposal.
  3. Churches must consider whether they need someone to lead their worship and administer the sacraments,1 and if so, whether they would permit a gifted brother to participate and preside in either of these actions.2
  4. Churches are encouraged to consider adjusting their schedule to increase the viability of this proposal. If a church ordinarily has two sermons and a Sunday School lesson on a given Sunday, it may be most efficient to cancel Sunday School for the duration of the Sabbatical, or to make other adjustments of a similar nature.
  5. There are various opinions about what a pastor should or shouldn’t do during a sabbatical. It is not our concern to determine this, and we leave it to each church to form their own opinions (the church may leave the nature of the sabbatical to the pastor himself). For now, we are simply concerned with the basic idea of giving sabbaticals to pastors through the collective efforts and resources of the association.

SCARBC Sabbatical Assistance Questionnaire

The purpose of a sabbatical is to preserve and prolong a pastor’s usefulness in the ministry. For some churches, a sabbatical is part of their normal culture and practice. For other churches, it may be unfamiliar or unknown. Because a pastor may be reluctant to bring a sabbatical to their church’s attention, since it might appear as a self-serving proposition, this questionnaire is intended to be a means of initiating discussion within each church. Preferably, someone other than the full-time pastor (such as a deacon or another pastor) should fill out the questionnaire, but with the knowledge and approval of the pastor. The intent behind this is to make it a discussion in the churches themselves and to free pastors from feeling that they must be their own advocates or that they are meddling in a decision to their own favor.

Question 1: Has your pastor ever had a sabbatical? If yes, when was the last one? If no, how long has the pastor served in the ministry, and how long in this church? Are there any special or extenuating circumstances that ought to be considered?

Question 2: If your church is unable to provide a sabbatical for your pastor, would you like SCARBC’s assistance to achieve this, under the conditions explained above in the Cover Letter?

Question 3: On what dates would your church request this assistance? How many services, and of what kind, would this include? Would you need someone to lead worship and administer the sacraments?

 

1 At the General Assembly in London in 1689, the following question was asked and answered: “Question: Whether an elder of one church may administer the ordinance in other churches of the same faith? Answer: An elder of one church may administer the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper to another of the same faith, being called to do so by the said church; though not as a pastor, but as a minister, necessity being only considered in this case.”

2 There is historical precedent for a church appointing a gifted brother to administer the Lord’s Supper in cases of
necessity, but a church may not agree with this practice.