Pastor Alf's Summer Sabbatical

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Sent Wed, Apr 26, 2023

Pastor Alf usually takes most of his vacation and study leave in the summer months each year. This year, however, he earned MDPC’s long standing Sabbatical Policy of three months for pastors who have served seven continuous years at MDPC. This time away to renew, refresh, and recommit will begin May 8, allowing Alf plenty of time to return for our Fall Kickoff on August 20. To see the specific plan he developed under the guidance of our Personnel Committee (and that the Session of MDPC unanimously approved at its February meeting), click here. It also contains coverage plans during this time frame by our amazing staff and lay leaders; and the welcoming back of both Pastor Emeritus Dave Peterson to preach on June 18 and Pastor/Professor Jim Singleton to preach on July 9.

Pastor Alf says of this time away, “Shari and I are humbled by this gift and the partnership in the Gospel of Jesus Christ it symbolizes, now and into the future.”   

Sabbatical 2023 Leave Proposal for Dr. Halvorson 

Submitted by Alf Halvorson
Approved by the MDPC Session Mon, Feb 27, 2023 

Having read through the MDPC Sabbatical policy and incorporating the FPCB (First Presbyterian Church of Bethlehem) ideas of renewal, reflection, and recommitment into the equation, I submit this proposal for the time frame of May 8, 2023-Aug 13, 2023, which includes the typical sabbatical three months period (plus two weeks of my 2023 vacation/study leave as well). These dates could change some as needed. 

Renewal: The Lily foundation, Louisville Institute, and advice from other pastors who have taken sabbaticals is not to go to Iona and study ‘prayer’ or catch up for three months on all the writings on ‘preaching’ since you graduated from seminary. They uniformly recommend (at least for the first month away) doing something as a radical departure from ministry and which offers clear separation from normal weekly pastoral duties, like building a sailboat and then sailing the boat on the St. Lawrence Seaway. Doing differently and just being with God.

To that end, during the first few weeks, I would like to go to the ECO Large Church Pastor’s meeting in MN; then spend a week in a silent retreat at St. John’s Abbey with a spiritual director in Collegeville, MN; and then meet my family at Zion/Bryce National Parks to enjoy/hike those amazing areas while staying in a VRBO with our kids/their spouses & Shari. I know that you might suggest I miss the ECO meeting this year, but I enjoy it, it does not seem like work to me, it is restorative, and it will get me to the area where the monastery is for my renewal retreat.    

This first part of the journey would allow me rest physically (you are always more tired than you realize), listen to God spiritually while reflecting on the past seven years of ministry & life and looking with a wide angle at the next seven years, and then enjoy my family relationally doing a bucket list item while forging a once-in-a-lifetime shared memory together. 

Reflection: Building on the time in the monastery, I would like to serve at one of our Global Partners like The Micah Project in Honduras for a week (not as a leader but as a helper in the kitchen or on the grounds) to further reflect on ‘call’ by helping the least, the last, the lost in relative anonymity; read deeply on some of the hot button ‘faith & culture’ issues as well as evangelism/apologetics (like The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self and Strange New World: How Thinkers and Activists Redefined Identity and Sparked the Sexual Revolution by Carl Trueman, Cynical (Critical) Theories: How Activist Scholarship Made Everything about Race, Gender, and Identity and Why This Harms Everybody by Helen Pluckrose & James Lindsay, A Secular Age by Charles Taylor, Political Visions & Illusions: A Survey and Christian Critique of Contemporary Ideologies by David Koyzis, Seven Types of Atheism by John Gray, Atheist Overreach: What Atheism Can’t Deliver by Christian Smith, and Making Sense of God: Finding God in the Modern World by Tim Keller just to name a few); and then journal on how gleanings from these experiences and works will impact how I lead when I return to MDPC. 

Recommitment: During the last month, I would like to do research and draft outlines for Fall Preaching on Jonah and Philippians, finalize the inaugural seasons of both the Faith & Work Fellows Program at MDPC and The Teaching Church Intern Program - both of which I will play key roles in during the upcoming Program Year. We will have a 20-hour-a-week staff member working on putting these programs in place with committee support. I will facilitate those meetings until I am away; and will follow from afar progress until I return.

I do not recommend a ‘formal interim’ Sr. Pastor in my absence. We have an incredibly strong team, especially after our reorganization and growth in our Lead Group. And MDPC is a complex church system. By the time an interim was up to speed, the sabbatical would be over. To supplement our current pastoral staff with preaching help, I could arrange for one phenomenal preacher each month if helpful and needed, like Dave Peterson (scheduled for Jun 18), Jim Singleton (scheduled for Jul 9), etc. Click here to view the full preaching schedule.

Coverage during my Sabbatical:  

1. Session: May and June Meetings will be led by our Lead Team, with the support of our Executive Ministries Coordinator, Jennifer Vajdos. [This has happened in the past, and our associates with COO have done beautifully and were well received by our elders.]
2. Weekly Program/Pastor Meetings: Our meetings are more informal in the summer than during the regular Program Year. These meetings will be led on a rotation basis and convened with those in town and with the purpose of covering programs/needs, communication, and coordination. [This has been our precedent, and several people have taken these leadership roles in the past with positive results.]
3. Hospital/Emergency/Funeral Coverage: We have a system in place all year round with one pastor being on call every day of the year (24/7). That will continue with our seven associates. Also, we have three retired pastors, Rick Myers, Harry Slye, and Barbara Retzloff, who would do a tremendous job if called into duty, and a strong Pastoral Care Department, Deacons, Hospital Visitors, as well as Stephen Ministers to supplement coverage. I would do the rarest of funerals if it was determined that was essential; I have two weddings scheduled for my time away already; and I am preaching/teaching over the July 2nd weekend in MI. 
4. Building or Grounds Crises: Our COO, Marcus Vajdos, and our Facilities Manager, Carter Bliss, plus their teams and lay leaders have and can solve almost all issues that might come their way. If and where they needed extra wisdom or help, our Lead Team and possibly the entire Session is ready and able to guide, pitch in, bring in consultants, and solve issues.
5. Alf’s Normal Committees: Nearly every committee I resource has at least one other staff member (and often more) who attend and serve as resources. Before my departure, I will meet with each chair to deal with known issues and deliverables during my absence. 
6. Staff Conflict Needing Resolution: Our Staff is not Conflict-Avoidant and normally deals with issues directly and professionally. If employees get “crossways” and there is no agreed upon solution, I recommend that Lead Team arbitrates. If they run into problems, I propose that the Chair of Personnel (Gerald Bennett) and the other two Personnel Elders be consulted as necessary. One Lead Team Member will serve as point each month of my absence as a final arbitrator if necessary: Marcus (May and August), Beth (June), and Rachel (July).
7. Worship Coverage/Guest Preachers: Our normal staff and committee meetings should provide the support needed during this three-month period. We typically have an extended period in the summer of associates and others offering Preaching Leadership, so that is not new. It would be a few weeks longer than normal, and I am happy to invite a few heavy hitters to supplement our current stellar team if helpful; however, we have many gifted preachers and teachers on our staff or in our congregation to cover, in my mind. 
8. And I will not be on another planet. If issues emerge where it would be helpful for me to be a sounding board or weigh in, I would be available on an emergency basis. My hope would be that this would be infrequent, or the sabbatical would lose its effectiveness; and one positive of my absence is that our younger or less utilized leaders would have the chance to grow and live out the results of their deliberations and decisions.
9. I have had two previous Sabbaticals in my 30-plus years of ministry and, if handled well, which we are putting everything in place so that that is the case, the time away not only benefits the person on sabbatical, but the rest of the staff who step up in leadership, as well as the entire organization. Organizations grow best through stretching and using new muscles. Cross training and succession planning are necessary activities (demonstrated over and over in Scripture) in strong, adaptive, and vibrant expressions of the Body of Christ. MDPC will come out of this summer a healthier and more vibrant church.