Should Pastors Take Sabbaticals?

My family and I just returned from a wonderful vacation which was much enjoyed and thoroughly encouraging.  It was a time which our church gave to us from a heart of love and we truly are grateful for this time away.  But during this time away we met up with some friends for lunch and during our conversation they stated that their Baptist church now requires each staff member to take a three month paid sabbatical every seven years.   

The idea of a sabbatical is not a new one to us, but one that I have been reticent to address publicly.  You see, I have known many IFB pastors who have burned out themselves and their families thinking that it was spiritual to sacrifice themselves for the cause of Christ.   But is that a right way to think?  Should pastors “burn out for Christ,” should they step away for extended sabbaticals, or should we find an alternative? 

To add to this discussion my wife recently told me of a blog being written by a fairly young pastor’s wife who was writing about her husband’s year long sabbatical from the ministry and how that it was the greatest time of refreshing she had ever experienced.  This pastor was an IFB pastor for less than ten years and I remember thinking that this must be an isolated idea as I had never heard of such a thing.  However, as mentioned above it is not as isolated as I thought and upon further study I found that over the past thirty or so years pastoral sabbaticals have become a normal practice in many places and mandatory in some groups not named “independent fundamental Baptist.”  I even found articles written about tax breaks for pastors during their sabbatical time away from ministry.  So this got me thinking….should pastors take sabbaticals or not?  

The idea of taking a sabbatical seems to have started in the academic world as teachers would often take a sabbatical to learn new material and do research.  But the term and length of the “sabbatical” actually appears to come from Scripture where in Leviticus 25 God commanded that the land be given rest every seven years and He also commanded the priests to take turns in the Temple.

After almost thirty years of ministry the idea of stepping away from the ministry just to recharge, sounds at first mention - to be honest - carnal in nature.  I mean if God has called me to minister should I not minister?  Should I not seek God’s strength each day and not allow the burdens of ministry to wear at me?  But then it also hit me - how can I minister if I am worn out emotionally, spiritually, and physically?  My flesh likes the idea of taking a few months away but is it only my flesh that desires it?

When I did my research, I found that those who advocated for pastoral sabbaticals said things like “Sabbaticals prove the love and concern of a church for their pastor’s well being” and “Pastoral vacations seldom go uninterrupted, thus simple vacations are not restful for pastors.”  So the idea of a sabbatical, at least to some, appears to be genuinely founded in concern and not necessarily carnal laziness.

But are pastoral sabbaticals biblical?  Really this should be the basis for the discussion.  So let’s go to God’s Word not a pseudo-biblical blog or book.

1. Sabbaticals seem to isolate the pastor from their people.

Jesus clearly encouraged His disciples to take time away.  In Mark 6:31 it was said that Jesus and the disciples were so busy “they had no leisure so much as to eat” and so Jesus said, “Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while…”  Clearly Jesus knows that those who minister need time away to “recharge.”  However if you read further in that passage in Mark 6, you will find that the people followed Jesus and the disciples into the desert and according to verse 34, “…Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things.”  Thus He ended His “vacation” to minister to the needs of the people.  I am reminded of the times where my family was one vacation and we either ended vacation early because of some tragedy in our church family.  During our just ended vacation we fielded at least six or seven calls about church issues and answered numerous texts and emails from people who were back home dealing with ministry issues.  I our minds that’s the privilege of being in ministry.

I guess I am concerned that this idea of sabbatical completely removes a pastor from his church and I cannot find that in Scripture.  But to be honest this is not just a “sabbatical" concept as many pastors give instructions to their church to never call them on their “day off” or to call the church office instead of the parsonage when they need to make an appointment.  Is this really what Jesus had in mind in Mark 6?

2. Sabbaticals place a great burden financially on the church.

Most IFB churches run on a very tight budget.  Some even require their pastors to earn outside income because the church is either small or financially not able to support a full time pastor.  So how can a church like this support a sabbatical time anyway?  Many pastors who are bi-vocational cannot afford a vacation let alone a sabbatical.  Is a church more spiritual or caring if they can afford a sabbatical?

Now I understand that if a church is large enough and financially strong enough to support a sabbatical then I guess that is their call, but is it really a biblical use of God’s resources?  I firmly believe that God has called churches and pastor to be stewards of His resources and that if a man is going to take extended time away from his ministry then it should be his responsibility to support that time away not the church’s.  I know that’s an opinion but it seems to me that the Apostle Paul never one time asked his supporting churches to give so he could have an extended sabbatical.  Instead he made tents to supplement his support in Acts 18:1-2.  I fear that we have secularized our view of ministry vacations and too many are looking for positions and benefits not ministries or callings.

3. Pastors may need time away, but sabbaticals may be harmful to his ministry.

My wife and I celebrate our birthdays within two weeks of each other and so this past year (2016) our church family gave us a vacation to ride roller coasters.  I know to some that would not be a vacation, but to our family it was the best gift a church family could give, as we love the idea of being turned upside down and spun in circles together.  This was the vacation we just returned from and we are ready to “get back to work” here in New York.  You see, the time away was not about being away from our church or leaving behind our people but about being together as a family and ministering to each other.  My first ministry is my family and the healthier my family is spiritually, the healthier we can be in serving our church.  Pastors MUST take some time away, but not to stop ministering, just to focus on who they are ministering to.

In my opinion, if a pastor needs a sabbatical away from ministering then he probably is in the wrong “line of work.”  In 1 Timothy 3, the first qualification for a pastor (bishop) is the desire to be a minister and thus it should be a desire not a burden.  Jesus NEVER got away from ministering to people as even on the cross He sought to care for His mother (John 19:26).

I know that this post is just a brief view of the issue of a sabbatical and that some will disagree with its conclusion, but I feel we need to have an open discussion about the idea of pastoral vacations/sabbaticals and I hope this article starts that for some.