ATLANTA (ABP) – The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship will award 45 sabbatical grants for pastors in 2006.
Made possible by a $1.9 million Lilly Endowment grant, the Initiative for Ministerial Excellence program awarded 20 grants in 2004 and an additional 35 recently, said Terry Hamrick, the Fellowship’s leadership development coordinator. CBF is receiving applications for the 2006 grants.
The $2,500 awards, designed to raise awareness of the benefits of sabbatical leave for pastors, will be given to pastors who have been in the same ministry setting for at least seven years and have been approved for leave by their congregations.
“Sabbatical leave is not indigenous in our churches,” said Hamrick. “It’s been relegated to the academic community. But the need for renewal goes beyond that.”
Hamrick said the number of grants awarded has increased each year as more congregations have embraced the idea. Ranging in length from four to 13 weeks, sabbaticals have given pastors the opportunity to finish writing projects, take mission trips, complete doctoral degrees, or just relax. Several theological schools are providing resources for the program.