From the Parish Priest

A sabbatical - what’s that?

As I begin this autumn’s sabbatical, it’s a very fair question to ask. It’s not, as some have suggested, a medical operation and neither is it a piece of electrical equipment being added to my computer.

The word Sabbatical comes from the same source as the word Sabbath, and it has a similar meaning - a break. In Jewish understanding the Sabbath, from sunset on Friday to sunset on Saturday, is a complete break from work. Strict Jews will not cook, clean or even turn on an electric switch during those 24 hours, which recalls the time God took a break after the Creation. This idea of an imposed break was carried over to the Sabbatical Year which took place every seven years, and according to ancient Israelite tradition, was the time when slaves and debtors were released.

Today clergy are granted sabbaticals, or study leave, by their Bishop as a chance to move away from parish life, to spend time in prayer and study and to travel. This time is offered once in a Priest’s ministry and it is expected to last anything between three and six months. It is a great privilege that the Bishop of Portsmouth has offered me three months study leave, which I plan to split into two parts.

I will spend the first six weeks exploring pilgrimage - the reasons why people undertake a journey of faith and some of the places to which they travel. The main emphasis of this time will be my own pilgrimage to Walsingham to discover from other pilgrims what they are seeking and why they need to journey away from home. So that my exploration can be shared with the Church family at St. George’s, I hope to use the material to write a Lent course on the pilgrimage theme. It is hoped to arrange a Parish Pilgrimage to Oberammergau in 2010, which, together with the annual Pilgrimage to Walsingham, will keep my study and the resulting Lent course firmly rooted in reality.

For the second half of the sabbatical Lynda and I are travelling to New Zealand to explore the people and the scenery of both North and South Islands. The time will culminate in a week’s holiday at the Bay of Islands before returning home in time for the Christmas services and celebrations.

I am grateful to Fr. Ray Chapman, whose offer to lead the worship at St. George’s Church has allowed me to take up the Bishop’s invitation and also to the Churchwardens, PCC and other Church members, all of whom are taking on extra responsibilities during the study leave, which runs from September 16th to December 16th.

Fr. Mike