Pastor Kelley and Rhonda Lovelace have completed 7 years as church leadership at OCN, in fact, they are in their 8th year! As a Church Board we met for Pastor Kelley's review last December 2019 with our district superintendent and later collectively wanted to better serve our leadership team, by offering a Sabbatical for Pastor Kelley.  We were also notified by the District, which desires for each local church to provide a Sabbatical rest every seven years for the pastoral leadership. We prayed and concluded together that it was a good time to do it this Fall.  For the past several months Pastor Kelley, the Church Board and staff have been preparing for the sabbatical leave for Pastor Kelley and his family. The Sabbatical will be 7 weeks in length: Starting September 2nd, 2020 and ending October 21st, 2020.

What is a Sabbatical?

 It is an extended time away from routine ministry for the purpose of renewal, retooling, and receiving a fresh vision. It is meant to provide a time of special renewal for the pastor that will bring personal nourishment to his/her soul, a deeper relationship with the Lord, family renewal, and a clearer understanding of God’s vision for the church. A sabbatical helps prevent ministry burnout and may give the pastor a fresh perspective for his/her ministry.

Sabbatical comes from the image of Sabbath, the cycle of rest found in the scriptures. There is a weekly rest (Sabbath), a cyclical rest (through each of the feasts of the year), a year-long rest (for the land every seven years}, and a year of jubilee, where everything was restored in Israel - property, debts canceled, slaves freed, and a year-long celebration (every 5O years). Rest and renewal are deeply entrenched biblical principles. Jesus himself would often steal away to be with the Father, to refresh and restore his soul. In the same way, we want to provide rhythms of rest and restoration to our spiritual leaders.

What is the plan during Pastor Kelley’s sabbatical?

• Weekend Sermons: Great guest speakers

• Ministry Leadership: Church Staff and Church leaders

• Operations/Administration: Office Manager

• Congregational Care: Pastor Kyle

• Pray, encourage, and support Pastor Kelley and his family

• Pray and step-up at the church so the church is strengthened during this time:

o Attend regularly and invite others

o Give faithfully and generously

o Volunteer and serve consistently

• Respect the boundaries with the Lovelace’s

o Pastor Kelley will be traveling quite a bit, but also will not have access to his phone, email, or social media. Expect to see words of inspiration and encouragement from Pastor Kelley via social media, but know that it is all being prepared ahead of time. He is not to engage in any “ministry or work” talk during his sabbatical.

Sincerely,

OCN Church Board