David W's Sabbatical (Summer 2014)

I am very grateful to have been given an opportunity at my request to take a 2-month sabbatical beginning May 25 and ending July 25.  

A sabbatical is a rest or break from work often lasting two months to a year. At the beginning of the year, I sensed the Lord nudging me to take an extended break from my normal routine to re-focus on him and spend extended time in prayer and thought. I have been hugely blessed by the supportive response to this idea from our leadership team, our church family, and my peers. So many of you have celebrated this opportunity with me and encouraged me to take it. Your response has been life-giving, honoring, and freeing. Thank you.

The purpose of my sabbatical is to create space for three things:

• Extended times away with the Lord
• Time resting with and focusing on my family
• Time with non-Christians in our city (secondary but one I am excited about!)

In the Bible, God called people away from their normal routines to focus on spending time with him and preparing for new seasons. Moses, Jesus, and John the Baptist spent extended times in the wilderness to prepare for seasons of ministry. After a fast start in the ministry, Paul spent an extended period away from ministry tasks before launching into years of church planting across Turkey, Greece, and Spain.

Last year, our church responded in obedience to several clear prophetic words from God to become a multi-site church with a vision for expanding beyond the Fenway to impact neighborhoods throughout Boston. Living out this expanded vision that seeks to plant multiple sites in the city will require new patterns of leadership and disciple-making. Those new patterns require apostolic imagination to form and develop. With the extended time and space my sabbatical will provide, I am looking forward to imagining those patterns and strengthening my own relationship with the Lord.

During my sabbatical, I will  be away from Boston for several periods of time and will cease from all of my current church responsibilities.  I am excited to see what God does in our church while I am gone!  

The following leaders will be serving in pastoral and administrative capacities and can be reached out to at any time. Their contact info will be available at our Sunday gatherings and via our weekly email. You are in good hands with these men and women who I trust deeply.  In addition, our community group and serve team leaders will continue to serve and lead us.

Pastoral Oversight

Jayan Koshy

Pastor Dave Hill (Abundant Grace Church)

Site Contacts

Paul McFarthing - Fenway

Casey Marques - Allston

Staff Contact

Betsy Slate - community@fenwaychurch.org

If you have any questions about this sabbatical, please feel free to contact our staff team at the email above. I really do appreciate your support so much, and I welcome your prayers for me and my family during this season.

Grace,

David W.