{"id":8318,"date":"2024-11-25T15:19:48","date_gmt":"2024-11-25T20:19:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/?p=8318"},"modified":"2024-11-25T15:22:04","modified_gmt":"2024-11-25T20:22:04","slug":"rev-lee-on-sabbatical-until-april-1st","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/rev-lee-on-sabbatical-until-april-1st\/","title":{"rendered":"Rev. Lee on Sabbatical Until April 1st"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dear members, friends, & visitors to WellSprings,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The day is here: my four-month sabbatical begins this Sunday, December 1st<\/sup>. As I said in my most recent message<\/a>, I love you all, and I will miss you during this time away. A sabbatical is a wonderful privilege of serving in ministry, and I do not take this gift lightly. After all the challenges of the past few years, it means so much to me that you are offering me four entire months to renew my own spirit. Thank you. I intend to return to you more grounded and whole \u2013 prepared, rested, and ready for all that is to come in the years ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As mentioned in our Sabbatical FAQ<\/a> this summer, I\u2019ve made some plans for my time away, and set some goals with our Board of Trustees. I will be taking a few out of town \u201cmini-retreats\u201d that will help me focus on study, reading, reflection, and rest. I also plan to lean into and strengthen my self-care habits, so I\u2019ll have a well-established routine when I return in the Spring. I\u2019ll be attending a few worship services led by other growing, mission-aligned faith communities in our area to see what I can learn from our neighbors. Finally, I\u2019ll also be completing a formal training program related to faith-based community organizing, and joining a local music program \u2013 for fun, and further development of my own skills coordinating our music program here at WellSprings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now is a good time to share with you one final reminder as well, which is that to achieve the goals of a sabbatical \u2013 deep rest, and time away from the work of ministry \u2013 I really need to be out of touch with members of the congregation. Yes\u2026 that means even on Facebook, or Instagram DMs, or Messenger, or text messages. Yes, even if all you\u2019ve sent me is a funny meme or a photo of your new tattoo\u2026 I won\u2019t be responding. My identity as a pastor is absolutely at the heart of my relationships, with every single one of you. That\u2019s just how this profession works. When I connect with members of my congregation, I\u2019m always Rev. Lee, never just Lee. Every time I\u2019m in touch with you, I have a responsibility to show up as your minister \u2013 and that\u2019s a responsibility that\u2019s very important to me. So I will be out of contact for the entirety of my four months away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now if we happen to pass each other on the street, you don\u2019t have to pretend I\u2019m a ghost! If you have a therapist, you\u2019re familiar with the idea that when you run into them at Wawa, you don\u2019t stop right then and there to have an impromptu session. But a smile and wave \u2013 or even a quick hug and a \u201cI\u2019ll see you in April!\u201d \u2013 is more than welcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I recognize though that with the upcoming holidays, the emotions that often accompany the winter season, and everything that\u2019s going on in the world around us \u2013 this is a time when we really do need each other\u2019s support. So I encourage you, for a million reasons, please<\/em><\/strong> stay connected<\/em> to our community<\/em><\/strong>. Keep coming to Sunday services. Along with our Intern and lay preachers, we have a wonderful schedule of guest ministers from local congregations coming to join us, over these next few months. Plus, this is a great time to make sure you\u2019re joining us in worship so you can connect with each other, deepen your friendships, and get to know all the new faces who are filling our seats each week. These newcomers need you too, just as much as you all need each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you feel the urge to reach out to me over these next four months, don\u2019t just stifle and stuff it down: reach out to Nick<\/em><\/strong>.<\/em> Our Ministerial Intern, Nick Sanchez, truly loves this congregation, and he would love \u2013 and will learn so much from \u2013 the opportunity to be a minister to each and every one of you in this time. Take a moment to save his info in your phone right now: (267) 634-3569 (call\/text), nick@wellspringsuu.org<\/a> (e-mail).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m so glad this community is here, and that we\u2019ve been practicing for years what is most needed in these times\u2026 gathering together, growing in strength and compassion, singing our song, and caring for each other\u2019s hearts, through it all. You all have what you need, WellSprings \u2013 and I\u2019ll be back before you know it. <3<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take so much care \u2013 with yourselves, and with each other,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Rev. Lee<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dear members, friends, & visitors to WellSprings, The day is here: my four-month sabbatical begins this Sunday, December 1st. As I said in my most recent message, I love you all, and I will miss you during this time away. A sabbatical is a wonderful privilege of serving in ministry, and I do not take this gift lightly. After all the challenges of the past few years, it means so much to me that you are offering me four entire […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8319,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[115],"tags":[98,112],"class_list":["post-8318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wellsprings-news","tag-bot","tag-staff","ctfw-has-image"],"featured_image_urls":{"medium":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Rev.-Lee-sabbatical-e1732566052852-300x239.jpg","large":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Rev.-Lee-sabbatical-e1732566052852-1024x817.jpg","thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Rev.-Lee-sabbatical-e1732566052852-150x150.jpg","medium_large":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Rev.-Lee-sabbatical-e1732566052852-768x613.jpg","1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Rev.-Lee-sabbatical-1229x1536.jpg","post-thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Rev.-Lee-sabbatical-e1732566052852-720x480.jpg","saved-section":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Rev.-Lee-sabbatical-e1732566052852-1440x1050.jpg","saved-banner":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Rev.-Lee-sabbatical-e1732566052852-1440x400.jpg","saved-square":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Rev.-Lee-sabbatical-e1732566052852-720x720.jpg","saved-square-large":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Rev.-Lee-sabbatical-e1732566052852-1024x1024.jpg","saved-square-small":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Rev.-Lee-sabbatical-e1732566052852-160x160.jpg","saved-rect-medium":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Rev.-Lee-sabbatical-e1732566052852-480x320.jpg","saved-rect-small":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Rev.-Lee-sabbatical-e1732566052852-200x133.jpg"},"appp_media":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8318"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8318\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8321,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8318\/revisions\/8321"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellspringsuu.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}