A Journey of Faith and Family: About my Sabbatical

A time to rest, renew and recharge.

In 2007 the Vestry of St. Paul’s voted to grant Bob a three-month sabbatical. It is customary in the Episcopal Church and in other denominations for clergy and lay ministers to take this time for rest and reflection every 7-10 years. This will be Bob’s first sabbatical in his 30-year career.

The Cowperthwaites already had a general idea of what they wanted to accomplish during this time which included taking classes through St. George’s College in Jerusalem, traveling as pilgrims in Great Britain, exploring family roots in Scotland and Italy, mission work, and relaxing with family.

St. George’s College Jerusalem is a continuing education center of the Anglican Communion. Since 1962 clergy and laity from 92 countries and 96 faith traditions have attended for either short-term or long-term courses. Bob will take two courses here: "Paul and the Early Church" and "The Palestine of Jesus." Susan will join him for the second course.
Traveling as pilgrims will include time spent with the Iona Community in Scotland and/or the Northumbria Community in northern England.
Exploring family roots will also be part of the journey in Great Britain (Bob’s family) and in Italy (Susan’s family).
Mission work is dear to both Bob and Susan. Options for this endeavor are still being explored.
Time for family is planned at both the beginning and end of the sabbatical.

So when does all this happen? In July 2009 Susan will retire from University School of Nashville. The sabbatical will start shortly thereafter. Bob will be gone September through November. His will officially return to St Paul’s on Sunday, December 6th. At this time, the only firm dates are those of the two courses in Jerusalem. Susan will join Bob in late September. As things are finalized, Bob’s itinerary will be posted on the sabbatical website.

This sounds expensive.

It is. A preliminary budget put the cost at just over $40,000. We submitted a grant proposal to the Lilly Endowment’s National Clergy Renewal Program and received $40,922. This money has already been transferred to St. Paul’s. Money had also been budgeted in 2008, some of which was used to register for the St. George’s courses.

Here’s what you really need to know.

Once Bob leaves at the end of August 2009, he won’t be back until after Thanksgiving. The Sabbatical Committee was firm on this. Even a short visit home would disrupt this time away. He will not be here for funerals, marriages or baptisms. That means no phone calls or emails either. But rest assured that our congregation will be well taken care of by Ann, Monna, Sally, Donna, and Claire. We are blessed to have such great resources.

Those three months are a sabbatical of sorts for the members of St. Paul’s as well. We’ll get to know the other staff better. We’ll probably get to know one another better too. And as Bob and

Susan’s journey takes them from place to place, we’ll follow along. Our formation classes will compliment their travels. Bob will carry a laptop and blog about his experiences so that we may all share in his time away.

The Sabbatical Committee:

The Rev. Bob Abstein
Dewees Berry
Sally Chambers
Francee Preston
Tom Stearns
Josh Sutherland
Cindy Thomsen