Sabbaticals for Ruling Elders

[Hamalas]

Has your church ever done sabbaticals for Ruling Elders? Our church would like to begin this practice (I have four elders, at least three of whom have served for 15-20 years at our church with no sabbatical) and we'd like wisdom on how best to make this a blessing to our leadership and our church.

• If you have done this, what was most valuable?
• Were there things you wish you'd done differently?
• How long were the sabbaticals?
• What rules or guidance did you put in place to make sure that elders actually take a break?

 

[RamistThomist]

Our church does three year rotations for active serving elders.

 

[Jack K]

They don't attend elders' meetings during their sabbatical and are not given any of the assignments that tend to be handed out in an elders' meeting (budget committee, etc.). They are also given a break from any shepherding assignments that involve member visitation or keeping up with certain members. This usually relieves about 90 percent of the workload and stress of being an elder.

In my church, some elders may have teaching assignments that are not necessarily connected to being an elder. For example, they may teach a Sunday school class or lead a small-group study. They can choose to take a break from these responsibilities during their sabbatical, or they can choose to continue.

 

[Jake]

Our church has had rotations for a while. Somewhat recently the term was reduced from 5 years to 3 years with at least a one year required break. The ARP FoG actually requires the one year break between terms when using the terms system, but it also allows for an indefinite term, interestingly enough.

After a break, an elder must be re-elected to the office. Some folks have ended up taking breaks of longer than 1 year.

Similar to Jack, elders on a break do not participate in Session meetings, have committee assignments, regularly participate in helping with the administration of the sacraments, or have shepherding list (we have lists we assign out the members of our congregation to an active elder). That said, inactive elders often still participate on committees, teach in various capacity, and may be asked to help fill in for, example, administering the Lord's Supper.

 

[AOB]

Our church has had rotations for a while. Somewhat recently the term was reduced from 5 years to 3 years with at least a one year required break. The ARP FoG actually requires the one year break between terms when using the terms system, but it also allows for an indefinite term, interestingly enough.

After a break, an elder must be re-elected to the office. Some folks have ended up taking breaks of longer than 1 year.

Similar to Jack, elders on a break do not participate in Session meetings, have committee assignments, regularly participate in helping with the administration of the sacraments, or have shepherding list (we have lists we assign out the members of our congregation to an active elder). That said, inactive elders often still participate on committees, teach in various capacity, and may be asked to help fill in for, example, administering the Lord's Supper.

This is reflective of what our congregation (also ARP) does as well.

 

[TheInquirer]

When I served we did max two 3 year terms for an elder and then a required one year break before being considered again. I thought the system was helpful.

 

[Hamalas]

Thanks all. What about those that are convicicted (as our church is) that life-time service is the best practice? We don't want to adopt terms for elders, but we do want to give our guys a break. What has that looked like for churches that don't adopt a term system?

 

[fredtgreco]

We don't have terms or mandatory sabbaticals. We allow our officers the option of a one-year sabbatical after three years. We also try and stagger these so we don't have too many sabbaticals at once. For elders, a sabbatical means not having to come to meetings or do other work beyond basic shepherding. Sabbatical elders keep their shepherding group to keep contact, but the pastoral staff can deal with most issues to lighten the load.

 

[arapahoepark]

Our church has rotating Sabbaticals of three months where they are staggered (i.e. no two elders at once).