Five Reasons Your Pastor Should Take a Sabbatical

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The word “sabbatical” has different meanings depending on the context in which it is used. It has one meaning in the academic community, another meaning in its biblical usage, and still another in many secular settings.

For the purpose of this article, I define sabbatical in simple terms. It simply means time off for rest and/or study. The time can be a few days, a few weeks or, on rare occasions, a few months. The pastor is given paid leave for rest, rejuvenation and, perhaps, deeper study. I would love to see churches of all sizes provide this requirement of their pastor, even if it’s only for a few days.

I have the opportunity to work with lay leaders and pastors. I have a pretty good view of both perspectives. And I am convinced that more lay leaders need to insist their pastors take regular breaks even beyond vacations. Allow me to provide five reasons for my rationale.

  1. A pastor has emotional highs and lows unlike most other vocations. In the course of a day, a pastor can deal with death, deep spiritual issues, great encouragement, petty criticisms, tragedies, illnesses, and celebrations of birth. The emotional roller coaster is draining. Your pastor needs a break—many times a break with no distractions.
  2. A pastor is on 24-hour call. Most pastors don’t have an “off” switch. They go to sleep with the knowledge they could be awakened by a phone call at anytime of the day. Vacations are rarely uninterrupted. It can be an exhausting vocation, and a sabbatical can be a welcome time to slow down.
  3. Pastors need time of uninterrupted study. It doesn’t usually happen in the study at church or home. There is always the crisis or need of the moment. Church members expect sermons that reflect much prayer and study. The pastor’s schedule often works against that ideal. The sabbatical can offer much needed, and uninterrupted, study time.
  4. Pastors who have sabbaticals have longer tenure at churches. Though my information is anecdotal, I do see the trend. And while I cannot prove a cause-and-effect relationship, I feel confident that pastors who have sabbaticals are much more likely to stay at a church because they are less likely to experience burnout.
  5. Pastors who have sabbaticals view the time off as an affirmation from their churches. I have heard from many pastors who share with me a sentence similar to this one: “I know my church loves me because they give me a sabbatical.” Pastors need affirmation. Sabbaticals can accomplish that goal.

I estimate that only about five percent of churches offer sabbaticals. In almost every case where I am familiar, the relationship between pastor and congregation is very healthy. I do think at least one of the reasons is the sabbatical.

What is your view of sabbaticals for pastors? What would you add to my five reasons?

Posted on February 1, 2014


With nearly 40 years of ministry experience, Thom Rainer has spent a lifetime committed to the growth and health of local churches across North America.
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162 Comments

  • I googled “pastors sabbatical support” because I am doing research for a book I am writing about pastors’ wives sabbaticals. I have a ministry for the spiritual and emotional care for people in ministry called Tree by Water. Thanks for the article. I (a pastor’s wife for the past 18 years) took a sabbatical by myself last year when I found myself exhausted from many stressful years of ministry.

    It was the best decision I could have made. I am hoping to inspire many pastors and their families to take better care of themselves, to take time to attend to neglected areas of their life, and to help pastors take a sustainable pace for a lifetime of ministry.

  • A pastor's wife says on

    We are going on 30 years of ministry from youth to Sr Pastorates. The last 23 yrs have been in sr pastorates of churches under 125. Pastor of this size church wears many hats. If all he had to do was preach/ teach 4-5 a week, that would be great! No, he’s his own secretary, fixes toilets, calls repairmen, cleans shuts- in guns, puts in window air conditioners for elderly, helps people move, ask to terminate bugs, drives the van/ bus, visit shut- ins, visit hospitals, hospice, to name a few. Then there are those sleep interrupting phone calls that make your heart race, someone has been taken to the hospital or a bi-polar member has stopped taking his meds and thinks the thunderstorm is the Lord returning at 2am and this goes on all night!

    He carries burdens of members, they are dying and they don’t want anyone to know. Grieving the loss of another church member as you sit by their death bed, visiting them daily bc it could be the last time you see them on earth. Knowing this will make over 20 you have burried in your short tenor. The constant grief. Trying to encourage family, praying with them….it gets heavy. He can’t set it aside it goes home with him.

    Then there’s church budget concerns, repairs, administration, people problems, whiners, complainers, of big and little issues. Vision for the church. Keeping the “country club members” happy is exhausting and discouraging….so very discouraging! Churches are run by volunteers. You can’t make people do what you want them to. You can’t make them catch your vision.

    The pastor wakes in wee hours of the night. Not able to sleep. His BP is high. Not to mention personal issues that have nothing to do with church. But they all get tangled into each other bc there’s no “punching the clock” he’s on the job 24/7.

    Meanwhile his wife is laying next to him crying and praying. Asking God to protect him, encourage him, keep him from a heart attack. Wondering if we should just quit. No… this is our God given calling. This is our life. We can’t do anything else! God has called us to the ministry.

    So yeah….bring on the sabbatical! We’re tired!! A tired a week of vacation can’t fix, tried that. And we can’t retire, there’s no retirement. So I don’t think 1- 3 months is too much to ask in 30 years!

    • Just a Christian says on

      I think it is very important that you and your family talk to your staff and assistant pastor (if you don’t have one then start praying that God showes you who should take over for a month or 2 and teaching one to follow the vision and the direction that God has showed you for the church) being on constant call and constantly going in 50,000 directions and not focusing on your marriage. And family isn’t healthy. God wants us to focus on him first then our marriage and then our children then the church. Put God 1st and take a week for just the 2 of you then if you have children take a week with them. Then a week fixing or doing things that have been neglected at your home. Take the last week and just study and ask God to give you a new and updated vision for your sermons. Turn your phones and emails on do not disturb and ask your assistant pastor to take the calls for you. I have seen pastors take these before and often wondered why but then I thought to myself they need this time to focus on what God is trying to show them for the church. It has nothing to do with being a snowflake as I have read in some of the other comments it has to do with what God has called us to do and the roll he wants for you. Even Jesus went away to pray by himself. God wants us to be in health (our marriage too) to prosper and our soul to prosper (how can your soul prosper if you don’t have that one on one time with God to really dive deep into his word without constant distractions?) praying for you and this entire situation

  • I will post other reasons a pastor should take a sabbatical at my site http://www.callednchosen.com. I would love to have some visits. I’ve been serving in the capacity of lead pastor for 12 years. I took a course with A.R. Bernard at Nyack Theological Seminary and the sabbatical was one of the discussions we had. It gives us a time to re-fuel, reconnect, recommit to this great call.

    • Carole Miller says on

      Pastor Tee, I clicked on your site and saw no entries after the year 2014. I was looking for your posting about the reasons for sabbatical leave.

  • The number of negative comments, from people who aren’t pastors, is amazing. How can you claim your job is as stressful as a pastors….when you haven’t spent a day in the ministry?

    For many years, I was a firefighter. On call 24-7-365.
    For the past 13 years, I’ve been a pastor. On call 24-7-365.

    There is no comparison between the stress levels of the 2. None. Defending temporary property is one thing. Defending eternal souls is quite another.

    People have commented, “I’m a CEO and that is as stressful as pastoring”. With all due respect, are you kidding me? Your focus on statistics will never be as demanding as a focus on souls.

    • Just a Christian says on

      I am not a pastor nor am I in leadership but I think that it is very healthy for pastors to take one. It gives them time to do what God has called them to do. Focus on your wife or husband first, then kids, then things that have gone neglected due to having no personal life time to get it all done then take a week or how ever long the rest of your time off is and really dive into what the word says pray fast what ever it takes to get a new focus and vision for the church. If you are constantly going how can you truly have time to just seek God by yourself? If you don’t feed yourself properly then you can’t feed the church properly. I say take the time you need

    • Just a Christian says on

      And for those who want to try and Say aren’t you being contradictory when you say take a week for your spouse and then a week for your kids and then a week to play catch up then God gets your last week or 2….I say I’m not contradictory at all these pastors have been putting God first by working none stop to preach teach and dealing with constant 24/7 running back and forth trying to please everyone but his or her own family for how ever long they have been preaching without a sabbatical. When you have a problem or are sick they come to your aid, half the time they had other plans with their immediate family that they put on hold to be there for you. Give them a break this is the time they need to refresh and bring a new word from God. Try being understanding that this is what they need to refocus and learn from God without any other places to be or any one else’s problems. This time away is much needed for them to focus on family alone and God

  • Just a quick clarification from the few comments I read: does everyone understand that a sabbatical isn’t “extra vacation”? Sabbaticals are meant to be a time where a pastor can attend a Biblical study conference or further their Biblical and preaching education in some way. For all those making “real world vs pastors” comparisons, it’s less like extra time off and more like sending an engineer from your company to a month-long training conference to understand a new technology in your industry so that when they come back they can add even more value to your company due to their increased training while away. So many other vocations do things like sabbaticals–they just call them things that sound more stressful like “training seminars.” Sometimes I think a title-change would make many people instantly more OK with the idea of their pastor taking some time away to train and come back with fresh, exciting material to teach them.

  • There are particular challenges and stresses to every single calling in life. And there are also benefits and “perks” to every calling. And I say “calling” because I believe each of us is “called” to our particular place in life whether we are a janitor or a stay at home mom or a doctor or a pastor etc. If we are truly being obedient in our individual callings, all of our callings have eternal significance.

    Everybody, regardless of their calling, needs Sabbath. God must have known that as he actually made it a commandment. I believe multiple callings can bring a person to the point of exhaustion and burnout and disillusionment. If we are wise, we will not go down the road of “my life is harder than yours” or “I need a sabbatical more than you.” That is unproductive and bitter.

    I say, if you truly need a sabbatical, regardless of your calling, find a way to take one. But bear in mind, that your doing so will likely increase the work load for others and that, if your sabbatical is paid, others will have to continue to work to pay for your time of renewal. Be gracious toward those who need a sabbatical and don’t have that opportunity. And I challenge those who need a sabbatical and believe that it is of God, to take an unpaid one or accept a reduced salary for the time that you are away – and watch God provide. I am confident he will.

    And finally, if your calling continues to suck you dry, perhaps it’s time to ask God for a new one. Maybe try the calling on the other side of the fence that looks so much more attractive.

  • Married to the Ministry says on

    As a Pastor’s wife for 10 years, I can attest to the benefits of a break to my husband. As part of his contract he gets up to 1 week and a maximum of $1000 to spend on a seminar, or conference, or spiritual retreat per year.
    As to some of these other posts, I would like to know if the alleged CEO lives a house owned by his Board of Directors. Does Mr. CEO get criticized about the way the lawn is mowed, where he parks his car, and how tall the weeds are? Does he feel personally invested in each and every person that works for him?
    To a pastor who takes his job seriously, his job is to serve his congregation, with the emphasis on serve. My husband and I pour ourselves out on our people. Part of my exhaustion comes from keeping him balanced. Part of his exhaustion comes from people in the church who are more worried about the landscaping than the outreach work the church is doing.
    Thank you for letting me unload.
    May God bless all of you, and I do mean all of you!
    The point I want to make is this:

  • Lonely Pastor says on

    Let me just say that those who are commenting on a Pastor not needing this time off, you are part of the reason Pastors have to live in fear of being terminated unexpectedly and for no reason simply because they didn’t go to a hospital 100 miles away to check on your uncle’s wife’s sister’s brother-in-law’s 4th cousin’s boss’ secretary.

    You have an unrealistic idea of what your Pastor does because, though you don’t say it, deep down you have a picture of your Pastor that includes him working only 1-2 days a week and the rest of the week is spent lounging about and making a couple of visits.

    I deleted an epistle’s worth of writing to simply say this… there is absolutely no other occupation in this entire world that places this much pressure on a man as Pastoral ministry. We are called to encourage community and fellowship among our people and yet we are forced to watch much of it happening from the outside. We are the most isolated and lonely group of any occupation. Many of us have little to no real friends with whom we can talk and just relax. Our only friendships come from other ministers, which is fine, but seeing them and enjoying those friendships is rare to none as they are just as occupied as we are…

    We are the only profession in which a cost of living raise at minimum is considered something for which we should throw ourselves prostrate before the church and thank them for pitching us a couple of pennies. Quote from a member of our personnel committee “We don’t want to give you a raise each year of any kind because we wouldn’t want you to come to expect it.” (and I didn’t ask for one either)

    In your “real world” job you can ask for a raise and may get turned down but no one will accuse you of being worldly or greedy for asking… not so with us. We are expected to raise a family on next to nothing.

    I am thankful to have read comments from some Pastors on here who are being cared for spiritually and financially by their churches but that is not the case for me unfortunately… and any mention of making changes where we can to help that is looked on with shock and repulsion..

    I suppose I am going to be considered whiny and ungrateful for this post and so even now I believe I will post it anonymously as to avoid any backlash from a church member that might see it…

    Sabbatical? ha… I’ll settle for a vacation where I don’t receive phone calls and emails every day from disgruntled members, an obnoxious secretary, or notice that a member is about to or has died.

  • Over the last 25 years I have served in 3 different denominations in 4 different states (coast to coast literally) in full time ministry positions such as college, youth, assimilation, interim, and then church planter as lead pastor. I’ve experienced a number of different ministry scenarios as well as brothers and sisters across states and denominations who also serve in full time ministry. During this 25 year period, I served full time 12 years straight then went into secular managerial work for 4 years. During that time I worked for a southern California based company that was very successful and highly results driven. Though I was on 7 days a week (24 hours a day on call) for 4-6 weeks at a time, the toll that it took spiritually, mentally, emotionally even physically was nothing compared to staff pastoring or especially lead pastoring. Though that transition (break) was great (refreshed and renewed) and Spirit led, God was leading me back to full time ministry once again.
    Though I have never taken a sabbatical (unless taking 4 years off from full time ministry and working a secular position would be considered that by some), I cannot agree more that a sabbatical is critical to the renewal of a pastor. Since my 4 years “off” working a secular job, I’ve been in full time ministry for 7 years during which I’ve planted a church. I know that I am in need of a sabbatical (a time to step away and set aside the daily expectations of ministry) and will be presenting it to my board within the year.
    With all due respect to other vocations, after having served in both secular and full time ministry there are very few jobs that take the same toll on a person spiritually, mentally, emotionally etc as full time ministry, and they can not be equated. The statistics have proven for decades that full time pastors need extra time off if they are going to make their calling a life time vocation.

  • I’d be interested to see what you think of my pastor taking a 6 week sabbatical to tour Europe and take a Mediterranean cruise with his wife? They are going to visit cathedrals and important historic Christian sites. I think this will be good for them, that they deserve it and that he will bring back wisdom and insight from it to impart to the rest of us. I know though that others don’t like it, wether out of envy, thoughts that it’s a poor/selfish use of funds, or that it could become a stumbling block for some-such that they feel their leaders are pursuing the material things of the world. I think God perceives the intentions of the heart here and I believe my pastor has good ones.

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