Pastor Jeremy Returns from Sabbatical
In case you didn’t know, our church provides our Associate Pastor a Sabbatical every 7 years. Pastor Jeremy has served RGBC for 7 years and so it was time for his Sabbatical and he took it in November 2023. This Monday marked Jeremy’s return to the office. While we are excited to have him back, let’s hear how his Sabbatical went!
First off, I am just so grateful and thankful for our church providing this sabbatical time. It is definitely a gift that I and my family are super thankful for. Thank you for caring and investing in your pastors in this way.
My normal pattern for a given week was to read and study in the morning, enjoy eating lunch everyday with Marsha (and any kids that happened to be around), and do various projects in the early afternoon. It was such a blessing to be able to read the Bible slowly, prayerfully and reflectively. Having large chunks of time to read was definitely encouraging and rejuvenating. Some of my favorite activates were playing card games with the family, putting up 3.5 cords of wood (with the kiddo’s help of course), cooking, and taking a little get-away trip with Marsha. The biggest blessing for me overall was being able to spend extended time with family. Before going on sabbatical, I read about how others used their sabbatical and how to manage their time etc. It was repeatedly stated that you only get one sabbatical with kids still in the home, so make the most use of that opportunity. I took that to heart and cherished time with our family.
One of the things taking a sabbatical reinforces in your life is that God’s kingdom work moves along just fine without you. Taking a step back from regular ministerial activities helped me see this in a very practical and new way. It has also helped me to be reminded and see more clearly how serving in the church is a gift from God. I am grateful to God for this opportunity to minister and be a part of RGBC. And I’m glad to be able to jump back in and seek to serve this church!
Be sure to greet Pastor Jeremy extra kindly on Sunday morning! We praise the Lord for Pastor Jeremy!
Pastor Jeremy and his wife Marsha travelled down to Huntsville, AL to see their oldest son Jeremiah graduate from University of Alabama – Huntsville in December!
Jeremy and Marsha on their trip to Canada! They’ve been married 25 years!