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 Our Senior Pastors are on sabbatical
Senior Pastors David and Alison Flowers are taking a sabbatical for a few months and Ben and Kate Newman will be acting Senior Pastors during this time.
A sabbatical is an extended break from the usual pastoral responsibilities. Many churches offer a 3 month sabbatical to their senior clergy – usually every 7 years. For David & Alison this has taken longer to arrange because David also runs a business and needed to negotiate time away from that too. In addition the Vineyard is a relatively autonomous community without the resources to call on a big staff or a locum. Therefore we have planned this carefully over a couple of years.
 The Lord has made wonderful provision for the sabbatical in a number of ways – not least by releasing Ben & Kate Newman to take on the role of acting senior pastors. Ben & Kate were already part of the General Leadership Team and were the obvious candidates to stand in for David & Alison during the sabbatical. The miracle was for Ben’s employer, BT, to generously second him to the Vineyard for 6 months. Kate is already on the Vineyard staff part time.
This has meant that we haven’t had to find the money to pay someone for a few months to take the pastoral roles from David & Alison. Ben & Kate are able to apply their time without financial restraints. Thus the Vineyard can press on with its vision to extend the kingdom of God into our community and region. Recently the church has also generously given additional funds which will allow us to implement some significant community-based activities as part of our Reach Out. Ben & Kate will therefore not just be leading the pastoral care of the Vineyard but will also be researching and planning a Debt Advice Centre and a Family Support Service (or two).
David & Alison are taking a sabbatical for four months: partly because they need an extended break after over 10 years’ of church planting and bivocational work; but also because they would love to have the energy and vision to put another 10 years into the life and growth of the Vineyard. David said, “We see this sabbatical as an opportunity to be refreshed and repaired but also to be prepared for another season of ministry. There is so much to do and there are so many exciting opportunities opening up ahead of us to which we feel called. We have a wonderful group of people with whom we can work and it is important for us to be replenished and equipped so that we can grasp the future enthusiastically with both hands. We have every confidence in Ben & Kate and the rest of the General Leadership Team (David & Sally Wallace, Alex & Karen Griffin) to not simply place the church in a “holding pattern” but to continue the journey with enthusiasm.
From a day-to-day perspective nothing much will change. The business of the Vineyard will continue absolutely as normal. Emails and telephone calls that are usually directed toward David & Alison should now be directed toward Ben & Kate.
As Alison comments, “This community is full of capable, committed people who can do the work of the kingdom. But, more importantly, our reliance needs to be on Jesus not on any one individual. It is so important that David and I are not deemed irreplaceable or indispensable. We really don’t want people to put things on hold for us to deal with when we return!”
David & Alison will be travelling in the USA for three weeks, going on a retreat for pastors, staying with friends and visiting some Vineyards in New York. They will also take a month to drive round Europe in a generous friends’ campervan exploring and chasing sunshine. They will also be at home for some of the time catching up on a few years’ of sleep and home repairs; doing some painting (Alison) and reading some books (David).
David says, “Although we will miss seeing our good friends in the Vineyard it will be better for us (and for Ben & Kate) if we keep well out of the way over the next few months. It would be hard to meet up and not find ourselves talking about the Vineyard. For that reason we have also asked people not to take the initiative in contacting us. There are arrangements in place for communication should something important happen.”
David & Alison will see everyone again at Weekly Worship and the Gathering on Sunday 5th September 2010 - which will be our first Sunday events after the August break. David will be back in the office on 2 August.
If you have any questions about the sabbatical please talk to Ben & Kate or David & Sally or Alex & Karen.
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David Wallace, 07/04/2010 |
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