For this sabbatical I'm going to call it the Kam/Sam effect named after Kam Olson & Sam vonSchrader. Kam and Sam have both grown six inches in the past year. A year ago they were looking up at me. Now I'm looking up at them. Each time I see them I ask, "So how many inches this week?"
That's the vantage point from which I will study, examine, listen, perceive and write about being and doing church, pastor, and ministry in today's world. Rather than judge it, bemoan it, ignore it, wish it differently, or call it a fad, I"m going to dig in deep in reading notable authors, attending leadership workshops, and contemplating and writing what I see and understand from their vantage point. These books and workshops will be my step ladder to get to this different level and perspective so I might see church, pastor, and ministry for what it is today.
Oh - there's another Kam and Sam factor. I will spend a week with them in the Beartooth-Absaroka Wilderness in July. They can't buy hiking boots yet - their feet are growing too much. So I'll also take time to get in shape since I will be needing two steps for everyone of theirs. That's what this sabbatical is about - taking time for myself so I can "get in shape" in order to do, be, and lead for the pastor, church, ministry needed in today's world.
This is another Kam/Sam factor for this sabbatical - it must be concrete, real, applicable and relevant for specific people, in a specific place, and a specific time, i.e. Tomahawk, WI in 2016. Not conjecture and wishing, wondering, hoping, but how are WE to do and be pastor, church, and ministry for Kam and Sam and for all the other 9th graders in Tomahawk and beyond them - all the age
That's the vantage point from which I will study, examine, listen, perceive and write about being and doing church, pastor, and ministry in today's world. Rather than judge it, bemoan it, ignore it, wish it differently, or call it a fad, I"m going to dig in deep in reading notable authors, attending leadership workshops, and contemplating and writing what I see and understand from their vantage point. These books and workshops will be my step ladder to get to this different level and perspective so I might see church, pastor, and ministry for what it is today.
Oh - there's another Kam and Sam factor. I will spend a week with them in the Beartooth-Absaroka Wilderness in July. They can't buy hiking boots yet - their feet are growing too much. So I'll also take time to get in shape since I will be needing two steps for everyone of theirs. That's what this sabbatical is about - taking time for myself so I can "get in shape" in order to do, be, and lead for the pastor, church, ministry needed in today's world.
This is another Kam/Sam factor for this sabbatical - it must be concrete, real, applicable and relevant for specific people, in a specific place, and a specific time, i.e. Tomahawk, WI in 2016. Not conjecture and wishing, wondering, hoping, but how are WE to do and be pastor, church, and ministry for Kam and Sam and for all the other 9th graders in Tomahawk and beyond them - all the age