Three More Days.

It is hard to believe that twelve weeks have come and gone. On Sunday, September 1, 2013, I will be back in church and will begin a new season in my ministry. This fall will mark the completion of 8 years with First Presbyterian, Lexington and 22 years of ordained ministry over all.

It has been a good summer. Even with all the traveling that I did, the sabbatical was a welcome respite from the weekly preparation of sermons and the pressing demands of ministry. I was able to step back and reflect on my years of ministry past and dream about my years of ministry into the future. I spent some much needed time with my immediate family and had the freedom to be with  Brooke's family during the illness and death of her father. While my time with Stan Ott was cut short, the time I did have with him was extremely profitable. I plan to spend time with him as a mentor every year from now on.

My one dissappointment with the sabbatical was that I was not able to spend the kind of time I wished to on song writing and recording. Part of this was due to unexpected family obligations, and part was due to the amount of time it took to prepare to go on trips and then come home from them.  Fortunately, the sabbatical grant has money set aside for me to project the experience into the future for a few months. I am still going to get some of my songs recorded and make these available for the congregation.

While I continue to reflect on what I am bringing back with me from the sabbatical, here are three big take aways from my sabbatical time:

ONE:
My trip to explore the roots of the Presbyterian Church helped me fully appreciate the courage that it took the reformers like Calvin and Knox to lead the reformation. They were convinced of the importance of their reforms and risked their lives to stand firm in the face of those who wanted to stop them. Life in the world today requires courage. Ministry in the world today requires courage. It takes courage to follow God's will, and I will be praying for God to give that kind of courage to me.

TWO:
I am even more convinced of the importance of taking care of myself spiritually, physically, and emotionally. It is so easy to allow the demands of life and ministry push aside good habits. It is so important to maintain a balance.
Last year I was introduced to the concept of ones "work portfolio." There are seven types of work and we must balance these in a work portfolio to remain healthy and happy.  They types of work are:

Wage Work: This refers to our jobs that we receive pay for.
Fee Work: This refers to work that brings in extra money that is not necessarily connected with our Wage Work. For example, a person make get compensation for free lance writing done on the side.
Home Work: This refers to all the work we do at home that we are not compensated for - cooking, cleaning, fixing, pruning, etc.
Gift Work: This refers to all the work done for free outside of the home for the community or other organizations.
Study Work: This refers to work put toward learning a new skill or interest.
Soul Work: This refers to the time we put into nourishing our soul through relationships and faith.
Wasted Work: This refers to the time that we waste. For example: playing hours of "Angry Birds" or watching too much television.

Our work portfolio is that ratio of all these types of work to each other. Our portfolios (or ratios) often accumulate by chance. When this happens, we can begin to get unbalanced and our happiness and effectiveness can suffer. Without deliberate choices, our portfolios can become too full. Instead of accumulating by chance, they must accumulate by choice. We can manage our time and how much of each we need and don’t need. We can give some more priority and others less priority. We can say "no" to some things, and "yes" to others.

I am going to make a more concerted effort to balance my work portfolio so that I remain effective in life and ministry.

THREE:
My time with Stan Ott gave me some excellent ideas in three areas: Leadership, Planning, & Discipleship. I will not go into detail right now, but I am planning on applying these ideas immediately upon my return. These will help me be more effective, and my prayer is that the church will benefit from them quickly.

I want to thank the congregation for gifting me with this time away. It has been restful and renewing. I am excited to get back into the pulpit and into leadership.I have missed each of you, and I look forward to rejoining you for the journey of faith.
I also want to thank the Lilly Endowment for the clergy renewal grant. What I accomplished this summer would not have been possible without the grant. Their gift has enabled me to prepare for the next phase of my ministry.
I want to thank Rob Evans for the great job he did leading the congregation during my absence. I could not have asked for a better summer interim pastor. It truly is a blessing to have a new friend in ministry, and I am sure he will be back to supply preach on occaision.
I also want to thank our staff for welcoming Rob and working so graciously with him. They made the summer go smoothly, and the sabbatical would not have been successful without them.

Grace and peace to all,
Pastor Lee