Sunday, June 01, 2014

DE Ponderings by Kevin Kessler

The District Leadership Team has graciously extended to me the opportunity to take a period of Sabbath rest beginning July 7 and ending September 7 this year. It is important that I communicate to the district that I will be absent from my responsibilities during this period of time.

A plan and people are in place to care for duties that I regularly attend to. The detailed plan is on file in the district office and the Leadership Team is aware of and supportive of the plan. I will in this brief article provide information from the plan that will be helpful to the district, such as who to contact for specific purposes, what boundaries are in place, and a few of my goals during this time.

The District Office will continue to be in operation under the capable leadership of Administrative Assistant Beth Carpentier. Her hours remain the same, Monday through Friday, 8:00am to 12:00pm. Beth will be monitoring my email account, although I will set my email to provide an automatic response indicating my brief absence from district related work.

All matters of pastoral placement and ministry transition are being handled by Mark Flory Steury and Gil Crosby. Mark will cover the Northeast and Northwest regions of our district and Gil will cover the South/Central region. Mark can be reached by phone at 630-701-5348 or email at mflorysteu@aol.com and Gil by phone at 309-694- 4569 or email at crosbygm@juno.com.

Boundaries I have set during the sabbatical are as follows:
  • I will not worship in any district congregations.
  • I will not receive district related communication except in the case of crisis or emergency.
In case of crisis or emergency, Beth Carpentier and Mandy Rahn, Leadership Team Chair, should be the first contact. There contact information is as follows:
For matters related to various district teams, please contact team chairpersons. This information can be obtained from the District Directory, which every congregation has received, or calling the District Office (309-649-6008).

Sabbatical is a time for rest and renewal and also for growth and development. To achieve these things, I have set some goals, a few of which are listed here:
  • Focus on patterns, disciplines, and practices of prayer
  • Spend one week on a Brethren Disaster Ministries work site
  • Worship in a variety of Christian traditions, possibly other faith traditions
  • Work on writing a drama based on the Apocryphal book of Susanna
  • Read a series of books authored by Eugene Peterson on pastoral work
  • Spend time with family
  • Rest (includes travel, hobbies, hiking, biking, etc)
I am grateful to have this opportunity for renewal. I look forward to sharing about my sabbatical experiences and returning with renewed energy for the ministry and work that lies ahead.

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