An announcement: Sabbath Leave 2023

A wayside marker on the Olavsleden (St. Olav’s Way) in Norway

 

This week, I sent a formal letter of application to Executive Archdeacon Robert Camara to take a three-month renewal leave in June through August of 2023, with my annual vacation following in September.

You will probably hear me slip up and call this a “sabbatical,” but technically, that term is reserved for educational or study leaves of six months to two years, while the three-month option is called sabbath, refresher, or renewal leave. (Bishop Mary is currently in the middle of her own three-month sabbath leave.)

The concept of sabbath rest – one day in seven – is, of course, one of the Ten Commandments, and sabbaticals are familiar in academic circles, where professors traditionally receive a semester or a year off every seven years in order to complete research without the pressure of teaching and administrative work. Sabbath leave for pastors has also been customary in church circles for a generation or two. Sabbaticals are even being offered by some companies in the corporate world as a benefit in order to improve employee morale and retention. Frankly, I think that society should be set up so that we all get several months off every few years!

As of June 2023, it will have been fifteen years since my ordination to the transitional diaconate; and as of September, it will have been the same amount of time since I began my first full-time clergy job. During that time, I have never held the same professional position for more than four years (as I write this, I’m at four years and not quite four months at All Saints’) and hence my leave next year will be my first sabbath leave since beginning my career. Taking a renewal leave at the five-year mark is within the norm for the Diocese of Montreal’s policies, and I am deeply grateful to the Corporation and staff at All Saints’ for their generosity in approving the leave, and to our Honorary Assistant, the Rev’d Terry Hidichuk, for taking on the responsibility of serving as the supply priest while I am away.

During my sabbath leave, I plan to undertake several pilgrimages using carbon-free modes of travel, exploring what it feels like to travel and seek God at a preindustrial pace. (Sadly, of course, I will still have to get there and back from Canada via airplane … !) My planned itinerary is as follows:

July 8-17        Sailing as crew on the Brig Roald Amundsen from Hartlepool, UK to Fredrikstad, Norway

July 21-28      Walking the Olavsleden (St. Olav’s Way) in northern Norway, arriving in Trondheim, where St. Olav’s relics are enshrined in the cathedral, for the festival celebrated on his feast day, July 29

August 3-8    Riding horseback from Tui, on the Portuguese/Spanish border, to Santiago de Compostela

Before departing Hartlepool I plan to visit family in the UK; after arriving in Santiago, I plan to return to the Porto area for a few days of tourist exploration before traveling to the countryside outside Le Mans, France, to rest and recuperate with my colleague and friend the Rev’d Michelle Wahila at her retreat centre there. Knowing me, I will probably also visit a few cathedrals in northwest France before going home at the end of the month!

During June and September, my main goal is complete rest, to reflect on the last fifteen years of my life and career and refresh my spirit for the future. All Saints’ has always been very good about boundaries around my time off, so I’m not worried about spending those months at home in Lachine; I know that if I run into you in the grocery store or along the bike path, we have a quick chat that isn’t about church!

During my travels, I plan to provide periodic updates and travelogues on this blog, so that parishioners, colleagues, and friends can follow my journeys. At the end of the sabbath leave, I will provide a report to the Bishop on the renewal period as a whole.

The people of All Saints, led by Terry and the Wardens, will also be encouraged to engage in self-reflection and intentional rest during my absence – and when I return, we will be moving into high gear for our Year of Anniversaries in 2023-24 (125 years of St. Mark’s Chapel; 100 years of the Church of the Resurrection; and 5 years of All Saints by the Lake)!

You will hear much more about the details over the next six months, but if you have any questions, as always, you are encouraged to get in touch – and I appreciate being in your prayers as you are and will be in mine!

In God’s peace,

Grace+