A message from our minister

Our minister will be on sabbatical from 22 June to 20 September. Here she explains what that means for her and for the church.

From next Monday, I will be on sabbatical for three months. "What is a sabbatical?" you might ask. Well, it is the usual practice in Baptist churches that every seven years, ministers are eligible to take three months away from their usual ministry.

It is in part an opportunity for an extended time of rest, because while ministry is a joy and a privilege, it can be pretty intense and tiring too. It also creates space for the kind of deeper reflection that is so easily crowded out by the practical demands of the role.

I will be starting my sabbatical with a silent retreat in the Welsh countryside, which I hope will give me a bit of clarity around how to spend the rest of the time. At the moment I have lots of ideas and a 'to read' pile nearly as tall as me, so I need a bit of focus!

Most church activity will continue as normal, with the church trustees and members of the congregation keeping things going, although house group will be taking a break. Sabbaticals are a good reminder that everyone can get stuck into the life and ministry of the church.

On Sunday mornings, we will be visited by a number of guest preachers, some long time friends of the church and some new faces. I am particularly pleased that several services will be led by members of the congregation, with some folk leading for the first time. 

We don't ask our guest preachers to share written reflections for the blog, as everyone prepares for sermons differently, so there won't be the usual weekly blogs, but there is an almost eight year archive of blogs you can dig into, and you'll find some highlights on our resources page.

I am in the incredibly fortunate position of being able to say I would want to be a member of this church even if I wasn't minister here, and this is my family's church too, so I won't disappear completely - although I do reserve the right to say "that's not my right now"!

I hope this will be a really blessed and fruitful time for both me and the church, and I will return to the blog in late September.

Blessings,

Leigh