Ecumenical Explorations. That was the theme of our sabbatical grant proposal. We would be exploring different denominations each Sunday and would be learning about the Christian traditions that came about through the Protestant Reformation. Our travel component was 7 weeks and split into 2 segments: 3 ½ weeks in Europe and 3 ½ weeks Stateside.
We flew to Prague and visited a dear friend, Becca, who attended our church during high school and is now a missionary in Prague; it was wonderful to see firsthand how God is using her there. We also went on a tour to learn about the pre-Reformation pastor, Jan Hus, who lived about 100 years before Luther.
After a few days in Prague, we headed to Germany, where we traced the steps of Martin Luther. History came alive for us. We had been teaching the kids about the Reformation in the months leading up to our trip, so they had some context for Luther, but God’s work through Luther became real to them, and to us, through this experience.
We saw where he was born and died; we had our picture taken in front of the famous Castle Church doors in Wittenberg; we saw the room where Martin and Katie had their famous “Table Talks”; but most importantly, we learned and experienced how God used a pretty ordinary man to accomplish the extraordinary task of setting His church back on course.
Last April, just before our Sabbatical began, I attended a workshop where the speaker suggested having your kids “rub shoulders” with important figures in Christian history.
I thought of that often as we traveled and as I observed our children interacting with these heroes of the faith. It was beautiful to see; their hearts were stirred, and I pray that God continues to plant those encounters deeply in their hearts, inspiring them to serve Him, no matter the cost. [There was an incident with one of our children: a fever and a night terror and possibly too much Martin Luther exposure—just a teaser for you but a great story!]
After our week in Germany, we stayed in a sweet and relaxing cottage in Salisbury, England. It was a wonderful reprieve from the busyness of the first two weeks, a chance to recap and to enjoy God’s creation in another part of the world.
While there, we also encountered two of our spiritual heroes: George Herbert, an Anglican pastor and poet who has been very influential in Jason’s life as a rural pastor; and Anne Steele, a Baptist hymn-writer whose devotion and service to God has been profoundly influential in my life. I have written tunes for a number of her hymns, and it was fulfilling to see the town and home where she lived and the beautiful surroundings which influenced her hymnody.
We then headed to London, where we took in some sight-seeing (and increasingly more playgrounds — kids can only handle so many old buildings!). Our travel agent had arranged a John Wesley tour. Being “big fans” of both John and Charles Wesley, we loved seeing John’s home, Wesley Chapel, and learning about their lives and their faithful pursuit of serving Christ and making Him known.
Once we finally made our way home, we spent one night in our house and then drove off the next morning to visit family in Pennsylvania and attend our denominational conference. We visited long-time ministry friends in Ohio, then went to Tennessee.
My grandparents live in west Tennessee; my Papaw has been a Baptist pastor there for much of his adult life and is still serving in this role. This was the first time our kids had been to their home, as it is very far away from us and difficult to make it there under ordinary time constraints. It was such a blessing to watch my Mamaw and Papaw (who are in their 80s and still as vibrant as ever) interact with my children and to be reminded of the sweet heritage of faith that has been granted to us through them. We ended our time in Tennessee across the state, visiting my brother and sister and their families, as well as my home church.
Finally, we made our way to Massachusetts, where we spent a week doing a self-guided New England spiritual heritage tour. We walked along the Freedom Trail in Boston, went to Plimoth Plantation, saw the Devil’s Footprint (my 3rd child’s foot was a perfect fit–yikes!) in Ipswich, and went to Pulpit Rock, where the children sang a hymn on top to see if we could hear them as well as the crowd would have heard the Wesleys’ friend, George Whitefield.
Coming home was bittersweet of course, but by the time we started back to church on September 1st, we were ready. We had a very busy fall and were thrust right back into ministry, which overall has been very good. God gave us some vision for the future: a renewed commitment to prayer (2018 will be a year focused on different aspects of prayer) and the re-birth of our youth ministry are among those changes.
I imagine we will take a sabbatical again someday, probably not as extensive as this one, but a sabbatical nonetheless. Rest, reflection, and renewal are important, and a sabbatical is a prime way to achieve them.