ATLANTA (ABP) — Tom Stocks, the pastor for 17 years at Rosalind Hills Baptist Church in Roanoke, Va., never thought he would need a sabbatical. But in January — after recent staff changes, three church fund-raising campaigns in five years, building a new facility, and adding an early Sunday worship service — he reached a breaking point.
“I woke up exhausted and out of gas emotionally, physically, mentally and most definitely spiritually,” Stocks said. “I just simply wanted to go away and not be responsible for anyone for a while. I knew I needed to heal to recharge my batteries.”
Stocks applied for a sabbatical grant through the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship's Initiative for Ministerial Excellence, a program launched in 2003 with nearly $2 million in grant funding through the Lilly Endowment.
He used the grant to get away, in fact a whole continent away. Having spent 10 years as a missionary kid in Africa, Stocks returned to the place he said is in his blood and soul. He spent three weeks of his three-month summer sabbatical in Kenya helping CBF missionaries Sam and Melody Harrell, who are partnered with the Rosalind Hills Church.
Stocks helped Sam Harrell with manual labor, which allowed Stocks the refreshing experience of seeing immediate and direct results from his labor. The apex of his experience came while digging a hole by hand to prepare footers for a child-development center.
“As I drew the dirt out with my hands, I began to cry and felt as if I filled the hole with my entire woundedness,” he said. “When I was able to stand, I felt renewed and ready to engage again.”
The sabbatical gave Stocks the chance to heal and return to his church “a healthy pastor once again,” he said. “My energy was back. I have … put into place some healthier boundaries to take better care of myself. The better I take care of myself, the better pastor I am for this wonderful church family.”
The CBF's sabbatical grant project, completed earlier this year, provided stipends for 100 congregational ministers, including those specializing in music, education, youth and children's ministries.
About 70 of those were taking their first sabbatical, some after as many as 25 years of ministry service, said Mike Harton, Initiative for Ministerial Excellence regional coordinator. CBF also helped more than half of the churches involved develop sabbatical policies for future ministers.
“The sabbatical grant project has produced some wonderful stories from ministers who have found new energies, new inspiration, renewed sense of calling and strength for their continued journeys,” Harton said. “Through the Lilly-funded IME, the Fellowship has had a tremendous impact on churches and ministers.”
In addition to the Lilly Endowment, other partners in the program were Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond, Baylor University's Truett Theological Seminary, Campbell University Divinity School, Mercer University's McAfee School of Theology, Logsdon School of Theology at Hardin-Simmons University, and the Center for Congregational Health.
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