Next May will mark ten years since I became your pastor. I am very glad for those years with you! When I first came on board, we worked out a vacation schedule. As you know, my work as your pastor is officially a half-time position, so I am very grateful for your generosity & care for me & Sue over these nearly ten years.
Church of the Brethren guidelines entitled me to five weeks of vacation because of my number of years in ministry. I negotiated with the church for an additional two weeks with a reduction in the salary to account for those two weeks – that was to be seven weeks in total. An additional week was involved with Annual Conference. This arrangement helped since our children live so far away from us. My plan was seven of those Sundays to be during my weekly vacations & one other being during Annual Conference.
For the first few years, we usually took all of those weeks with a minimum of two visits to each of our children. We went every year to Annual Conference & used the other weeks for vacations & special visits to friends & relatives. The COVID pandemic changed all that!
For a while, none of us could travel & we did services online with a limited number participating. During that time, Sue & I only had one visit to our family in Colorado during a break in COVID, but had to cancel a trip to our Florida family during another surge of COVID. Because of my perception of the need for continuity, I did not take any other extended time off during that time. This because a bad habit.
The Pastoral Relations Committee has gently let me know that this is not healthy behavior. Sue’s illness & increasing inability to travel made this worse. The committee suggested that I plan one Sunday a month off. During these four additional Sundays, I will only take the Sunday off & will work within my regular office hours & other availability during the week. The Committee will secure speakers for the monthly Sundays with John Wenger volunteering to coordinate finding speakers from both inside and outside the congregation.
I have to acknowledge that the Pastoral Relations Committee was correct that I needed to be more diligent in taking time off for both my health & Sue’s health. I hope this explanation helps all of us to share a common understanding of the time-off plan for me as your pastor.
I am honored to be your pastor. Thank you for being you!