Renewal Leave Next Year

“I have so much to do that I spend several hours in prayer before I am able to do it.” John Wesley

There is an old story about a young man who approached the foreman of a logging crew and asked for a job. The foreman said, “That depends. Let’s see you fell this tree.” The young man stepped forward and skillfully felled a great tree. Impressed, the foreman exclaimed, “You can start Monday.”

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday rolled by. Thursday afternoon the foreman approached the young man and said, “You can pick up your paycheck on the way out today.”

Startled, the young man replied, “I thought you paid on Friday.”

“Normally we do,” said the foreman. “But we’re letting you go today because you’ve fallen behind. Our daily felling charts show that you’ve dropped from first place on Monday to last place today.”

“But I’m a hard worker,” the young man objected. “I arrive first and leave last. I even worked through my coffee breaks!”

The foreman, sensing the young man’s integrity, thought for a minute and then asked, “Have you been sharpening your axe?”

The young man replied, “No sir, I’ve been working too hard to take time for that!”

As a pastor, I have the privilege of requesting and planning a period of time each year to sharpen my axe. Our Annual Conference has recognized how important this is and has adopted a policy to provide for a pastor’s renewal. It is based on our Book of Discipline (¶351) and states that clergy persons shall be allowed two weeks each year and one month each quadrennium (four years) for continuing education and spiritual growth.

I proposed to the Leadership Board that I take my leave from January 14 through February 11 this next year. This would return me to work on Shrove Tuesday (Mardi Gras). Lent begins the next day, on Ash Wednesday.

I had intended to use this month long leave back in February of 2012 to work on my doctoral dissertation. Unfortunately, when I had the time to get back to writing, the school informed me that, between starting a new church and then serving a congregation that had been flooded, too much time had elapsed since I finished the original course work. Therefore, I needed to take more classes before finishing the dissertation. The cost of more classes made this impractical.

While I was not able to finish my doctoral dissertation, I still hope to write about Salem’s experience and what it means to be the church in the midst of disaster. Salem is the focus of an upcoming story for Duke's Faith and Leadership Magazine. I sat down with the writer and shared stories for a couple of hours. She has kindly shared the recording of that interview with me which should be quite helpful when I start writing.

Furthermore, because of the flood, the first few years of my appointment to serve Salem were quite wearisome emotionally, physically, and spiritually. I have recognized it is time for me to sharpen my axe!

Therefore, I am planning to use this renewal leave to write and to grow spiritually. I will spend a week at the New Melleray Abbey near Dubuque and then three weeks writing and continuing the practices of prayer from the monastery.

I am grateful for this opportunity, personally, and know it will make a difference in my life and in my ministry.