Month: May 2012

So what now? That’s another good question.

1. Personally, I need to re-engage with church life and ministry. I need to get back in harness and up to speed with what God is now doing. I’ll gradually ease back in over the next few weeks.

2. We want to keep the current spiritual momentum going. God’s Spirit is at work. We’re not going to press rewind and play. The church has moved on. I have moved on. I have changed and grown. Other people have too. It’s time to keep moving forward. The Lord said to Moses, “Get up and resume the journey, and lead the people to the land I swore to give to their ancestors, so they may take possession of it (Deut.10:11).” There is a time to stop and reflect on past and present issues, dealing with them appropriately and learning the lessons we need to. Then there is a time to get up and resume the journey – to move forward from where you are.

3. Finally, I need to give more attention to my leadership of the church, considering my role and the best contribution that I can make for everyone. That will be a major part of my focus over the next few months as I seek to provide better clarity of our future vision, which includes who God wants us to be as a church, what he wants us to do, and where he wants us to go.

In conclusion, I am extremely grateful for this sabbatical period. I feel really well – refreshed, rested, rejuvenated and ready for this next season. I know that I am called to lead this church. I feel content and at peace. I am really excited about your future and the opportunities God is placing in front of us (e.g. the recent purchase of the 4 acres of Eastlink land in Knox is just one example). Our best days are truly ahead of us!

Thank you for your support and encouragement. I really appreciate it.

What did I learn during my sabbatical?

In many ways, I see this moment and season as a significant crossroads for my life and ministry. The Lord once said to Jeremiah, “Stand (stop) at the crossroads and look around; ask for the ancient paths (the old, godly path), ask where the good way is, and walk in it (travel its path), and you will find rest for your souls (Jer.6:16)." In many ways, I have tried to do just that – stop, look around, ask and then walk.

I have had numerous thoughts about my life and ministry. Here are just a few of them:

1. I need to slow down the pace of my life. I need more stillness and time waiting on God. I need to learn from the eagle who is never flustered or frantically flapping its wings. Rather it leans into the power of the wind and learns to flow with it (see Isaiah 40:31). I need a better and more enjoyable life rhythm, one that honours God and my family. I need to do a better job of embedding the principle of Sabbath into my life. Don't worry, I will continue to work hard and have a passion for fruitfulness in ministry but I must not allow productivity to become an idol that controls my life.

2. I need to look after myself better, in every dimension – physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and socially. I want to enjoy life more and not feel so stressed and stretched all the time. This will require me to stop allowing my work to fill my entire week. I need to switch off more in the evenings, when possible, and on my Day Off (including not checking email). Eliminating (turning off or at least turning down) some of the things that I have allowed to become distractions will help too. Jesus calls us to a burden that is 'easy and light' and one that enables our soul to experience rest (Matthew 11:28-30). The best gift I can give those who I influence is me being a healthy leader – in every way.

3. I need to focus more on being (relationships) than doing (tasks). I need to learn to be and not just do. For me, it's much easier to be a Martha than it is a Mary. This is not just personal but affects my leadership of the church too. Most churches need their leaders to clearly define what they believe God wants them to be (values, culture, DNA), not just where they need to go (vision and goals) or what they needs to do (ministries, activities and programs). This is the focus of Jesus, Paul, and the other New Testament church leaders - being the church of Jesus Christ in the world. It’s about identity and a direction more than a destination.

4. The inflow of God's Word and God's Spirit into my life has to increase significantly. I lead, speak and minister much better out of overflow. Quality time in prayer and the Word was the focus of the early church leaders (see Acts 6) and they refused to allow other things to cause them to neglect these God-given priorities.

5. I am very aware that there is an enemy persistently at work, subtly seeking to undermine God’s work in my life. There is a strong spiritual warfare dimension to our lives that we need to be much more aware of. 

6. I believe that I am called to lead our church at this time and for this next season, but maybe in different ways. I need to focus more on what God wants me to do for the church. What is his call and priorities for me as a senior church leader? What does he expect from me? Moses’ example (Deut.1) is key here, as are the apostles (Acts 6). I need to focus on my best contribution to the church, delegating the rest, and saying ‘no’ to opportunities outside of that (which means less travel).

Click here for Part 4.

So what did I do on my sabbatical? Good question. The truth is that I determined not to focus on doing too much of anything during this season but rather more on simply being. The last thing I needed was another list of tasks or projects to accomplish. 

Nevertheless, here are some things that I did do:

1. I focused a large portion of my time on personal recovery. I desperately needed some spiritual refuelling, some emotional replenishment, some physical energy renewal, and some personal refreshing. Over 27 continuous years of church ministry life take its toll. Ministry is highly rewarding but it can be stressful too. I was feeling a "tiredness that normal holidays weren't fixing" (to borrow a phrase from Eugene Peterson). To be honest, investing this much time in my own well-being wasn't easy to do. At times, especially in the beginning, I felt guilty for even having the time off, especially when everyone else was still working so hard. But I needed it and ultimately I believe that the best gift I can give God and our church is for me to be in as healthy a place as possible. After all, self-care is important. 

2. I invested a lot of time in personal reflection. I took time to read all of my old journals, to read all of the prophetic words I have received over the years, and to think about the seasons and stages of my life so far. Often it is easier to discern God's finger prints in our life when we take time to look back – sometimes even more than in the present time. 

3. I had extended devotional time most days – praying, reading my Bible and journaling. It’s nice to simply pray and read the Bible with a total focus on knowing God more … without any need to prepare a message or get anything productive out of the time.

4. I spent a lot of time with my family, including 10 days holidays over the Easter period. The free time on weekends and evenings was bliss. At our church, we have been doing Saturday night meetings for over 10 years now (actually, 2 Saturday church meetings for many of those years). I had under-estimated the cumulative effect of weekends being mostly full of ministry activity – with me often involved with 4-5 church meetings. Needless to say, this sabbatical was a huge blessing to my family. 

5. I spent time with friends and some mentors. I even had a hit of golf a few times – something I haven't done for a long time.

6. I did some training: attending a Bill Hybels mentoring event in Sydney for church leaders and a Halftime Experience with Bob Buford (50+ is my ‘second half’ of life). 

7. I even saw a counsellor. We talked about my emotional world, learning to live more fully in the present moment, and some of my task-driven tendencies.

8. Near the end, I spent some time refocusing. This was a kind of life and ministry review. It involved thinking about God's calling on my life, our church, my role, and the best contribution I can make to our future. 

Well, hopefully that gives you a bit of an idea as to what I have been up to.

Click here for Part 3.

Let's face it, most people don't look forward to their holidays finishing and I must admit I wasn't looking forward to my sabbatical finishing either. I had such an enjoyable time. But it is nice to be back … and to see everyone again.

I realise that there are a variety of expectations that people may have as I return from my sabbatical: that I will bring revival with me, that I will have a new vision for the future of the church, and some may have thought that I wouldn't come back at all! The reality is that I had a very good rest, which is what 'sabbath' is all about. It was a rest that was much more than merely a holiday. It was a time of not doing a whole heap of ministry tasks for an extended period of time. As a result, I truly do feel well, refreshed, refuelled and looking forward to getting back into church and ministry life.

While I was away, everything has gone exceptionally well. In fact, so well that I honestly thought of taking more time off … or that maybe I had become redundant 🙂 All credit to our church and its leadership team. Well done! [I know that this time has been a learning and growth opportunity for others too] There is obviously some excellent spiritual momentum in our church right now, which is great. God is always at work and he's never dependent on any one person – including me. So, as I return, I look forward to seeing all that God is currently doing continue … and accelerate as we move through the rest of this year. 

One of the best things I did during my time off was to disengage from pretty much all technology. I de-activated my Facebook, avoided Twitter, didn't do any church or work related Email, engaged in very limited Internet surfing, and stayed off my BLOG for the entire 12 weeks. It is amazing when you STOP all of that inflow how much your head clears and how much you realise that your life can easily be filled with the clutter of a lot of trivial things, to the point where it becomes all-consuming and even addictive. 

As I now re-engage, I have decided to stay off Facebook. Keeping up with 3,500+ 'friends' is an impossible task and many of them were only acquaintances or people I had never even met. A recent article in the Melbourne Age only confirmed my decision. I'll continue to use Twitter and to write a few BLOG posts each week, but I have turned off the comments section on the BLOG, as it takes a lot of time to read and respond to them all. Finally, after clearing over 2,900 emails yesterday, I 'unsubscribed' from a heap of newsletters … most of which I never get around to reading, but simply clutter up my Inbox. Hopefully, all of this will help keep my head a little clearer and enable me to be more fully 'present' … to God and the people I interact with.

Click here for Part 2.

It is hard to believe that my 12-week sabbatical is now history (click here to read some background to my sabbatical). I had a very enjoyable and refreshing time. I am truly grateful to God and our church for this season. I am feeling so much better and look forward to re-engaging with our church community and leadership team this week, as we continue to move forward into all that God has in store for us.

In the Old Testament period, God's purpose for the Sabbath was to help his people avoid making 'productivity' into an idol. It's a reminder, that while we rest, the universe still runs – and without our contribution! That's something I sure learned. Our church community continued to experience God and see the kingdom advance – without me. That's good news.

Right now it is autumn here in Melbourne and I love this season. Sure, it's a bit colder but the colour of the leaves on all of the trees is amazing. [You'll notice that my BLOG design has been changed to reflect this] In many cultures, autumn is also typically a time of harvest, fruitfulness and thanksgiving. May it be all of that for you.

In the next few days, I'll share more about my sabbatical – what I got up to, what God did, and what I learned. It's amazing what you see – about God, about yourself and about our world - when you slow down for an extended period of time. 

I pray that you enjoy your week and that sometime today you are able to take a few minutes to heed the words of the Psalmist: "Be still and know that I am God (Ps.46:10)."

    Be still and know that I am God.

    Be still and know that I am.

    Be still and know.

    Be still.

    Be. 

[Click here for Part 1 of my Sabbatical Reflections]

[Photo by Nicole Conner]

Okay, so since this is my BLOG, there are a few things you might be interested to learn about me. 

Click here to begin reading. Posts cover topics such as my favourite food, the music I love, my studies, my favourite technology, and my experience with journalling. You can also read about my sabbatical, which finishes soon. Once I'm back, there will be some new BLOG posts coming your way.

Enjoy your day!

Mark Conner