Opening Paragraph—Setting the Stage.

The sabbatical grant writing team has been hard at work. Here is a glimpse at our draft first paragraph…

What does a church do when there is a healthy relationship between pastor and congregation, but the two have become so comfortable with each other that creative tension no longer exists? Are we so complacent that the church is in danger of becoming “lukewarm” like the church in Laodicea (Revelation 3:16)? We do not want to let that happen. We see a sabbatical as a time to reflect, redefine and revive our purpose as Evergreen Presbyterian Church.

The “Rationale" -- Beginning Thoughts.

At our last meeting we brought together our individual thoughts on the “rationale” for the sabbatical. We are convinced that the sabbatical will be beneficial for Pastor Lance and the congregation. They will be working on different sides of the same coin (so to speak).
Although the ideas were stated differently, they all pointed to a similar theme: the need for leadership development for the church and a need for Lance to acquire some management/delegation skills.

There was discussion about what needs to happen at the church, in terms of specifics - and the conversation kept coming back to developing leaders in the church; developing a sense of ownership and responsibility in the elders; a sense that the ball is in their court and they need to run with it; of starting the ball rolling rather than waiting until someone else starts it.

At the church leadership retreat in March, there will be a time to discuss the sabbatical, particularly the following two questions:
1) What would be the benefit of Lance being gone for a time - both for the church and for Lance?
2) What are your main concerns about Lance being gone on sabbatical? It was suggested that the second question, particularly, be given ahead of time and that the responses be written. Someone could then compile the concerns and they could address them at a later time in the retreat (or at an additional gathering). This would help keep the conversation within a reasonable time frame.

The Cast of Characters

Here is the list of the team members that are working on the Lilly Clergy Renewal project along with the skills they bring to the team.

Brenda: Brenda is a CPA that specialized in not for profit audits while working for a huge accounting firm. She is currently employed by World Vision and works in grant compliance (she looks at lots of grants and grant proposals).

Glenn: Glenn is an educator and elementary school principal. He has taken classes in writing grants and was successful in getting a grant for his former school. The grant was to enable the students to broadcast their own daily “news” program over the school’s television system. Glenn is very creative (it was his idea to have a blog for this process). Glenn has served as an Elder at Evergreen Presbyterian Church.

Tony: Tony is a lawyer by education and served in various capacities in the Washington State Senate (from being legal counsel to the Senate to being the highest non-elected person in the Senate). He is a critical thinker and a dedicated Presbyterian. He is currently employed by our Presbytery. Tony has been an Elder at Evergreen and is our clerk of Session (keeps the minutes).

Joy: Joy is a journalist by education. She is a skilled writer and a critical thinker. She has served on the local school board for several terms and has seen many grant proposals. Joy is the office administrator at Evergreen.

Lance (that’s me): I am the pastor at Evergreen Presbyterian Church. I have been at the church for 11.5 years. I am a visionary who gets bogged down with the details. I feel that I am the least skilled for this process of the whole team. I bring the unique perspective of being the pastor of the church.

The beginning steps in the journey.

This journey began at Evergreen Presbyterian Church’s annual congregational meeting in January 2007. Pastor Lance had left the meeting while the congregation reviewed his terms of call (Presbyterian lingo for compensation package). A member of the congregation suggested that the church should begin the process of talking to Pastor Lance about having a sabbatical. The Session (Presbyterian lingo for church board) was giving the task of looking into the possibility of a sabbatical.

In November 2007 the Session met as a working group of Session (not an official Session meeting as Pastor Lance was out of town due to a family emergency). The idea of a sabbatical was discussed at length. The Session was very supportive of the idea of a sabbatical for Pastor Lance.

In December 2007 the Session voted to endorse a three month sabbatical for Pastor Lance in 2009. The Session looked at the 2008 National Clergy Renewal Program by Lilly Endowment Inc. A team was to be assembled to help write the proposal.

During the January 2008 congregational meeting the proposed sabbatical was discussed, as was the possibility of a Lilly National Clergy Renewal Program grant.

The proposal writing team has been hard at work. The deadline for the completed proposal is may 14, 2008.

Join us for the journey!!

Evergreen Presbyterian Church has started the process of planning for sabbatical for its pastor—Pastor Lance (that’s me). This blog is intended to:

• Document the process of developing a clergy renewal program grant proposal;
• Keep the congregation informed with the most up-to-date information about the proposed sabbatical;
• Elicit comments from the Evergreen Presbyterian Church family;
• Allow interested person from across the globe to follow our progress, learn from our process and give comments and recommendation on this project.

Thanks for joining us on this journey!