News from the Interim Co-Executive Presbyters

“Jesus said, “The first in importance is, ‘Listen Israel: The Lord you God is one; so love the Lord with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy’.  And here is the second: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ There is no other commandment that ranks with these.” (Mark 13:29-31 The Message)
 
At our Presbytery’s recent COLE event, this along with another passage from Galatians, was the devotional I shared.  From this, I am developing a brief series of articles on this question:  Will you pray for and seek to serve the people with energy, intelligence, imagination and love”? (Directory of Worship W-4.0404 h)

Energy:
            Energy is the area of our service as officers and leaders with the church centers around our vigor, our drive, our vitality.  If we have no energy, we have no life.  If we have no energy, no drive, how do we serve the people of God?  This part of the question within our ordination, installation, commissioning vow gives us, no, orders us to practice self-care.  We need to rest, to be renewed, and recharge.  If we do not do this, we are not at our best when we minister unto others. 

If you feel guilty calling it self-care, call it your Sabbath Rest.  Think about this, what did God do after Creation?    HE RESTED!  Sabbath rest was important enough in early Israel, that it was listed in the Ten Commandments.  
 
“Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Work six days and do everything you need to do. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to God, your God. Don’t do any work—not you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your servant, nor your maid, nor your animals, not even the foreign guest visiting in your town. For in six days God made Heaven, Earth, and sea, and everything in them; he rested on the seventh day. Therefore God blessed the Sabbath day; he set it apart as a holy day.  (Exodus 20:8-11)
 
Now, many of you, congregants and church leaders, (and even Hoover and I) will say, “I don’t have time to rest, I work all week and then on the weekend, my to-do list is waiting for me.  Waiting is the key word.  Yes, we all have those weeks that never end.  We all have times our energy wans because our schedules are packed.  However, this is not sustainable living.  When we do not take time to recharge, we hurt more than ourselves: we hurt those around us that we love.

My question is: What is urgent?  Defining this can be enough to help begin finding Sabbath rest.  When one week has piled up, see what can happen in the next couple weeks to renew you.  Sabbath rest is displayed in many different ways.  For some it is making sure they have enough sleep.  For others it can be an outing for ice cream, or to sit on the beach and enjoy what God has given you.  Some of us might get energy being with our families, some might find that totally draining.  Sabbath rest begins when you take time to put down what consumes your life, and look around, taking in the world you have been graciously given.   

            My challenge to you all this month as Lent is beginning, is to begin a Lenten ritual of self-care that can continue past Lent.  Church Officers, make sure your Pastoral Leadership is taking Sabbath Rest.  Pastors, make sure that your staff and officers are taking Sabbath Rest.  It probably won’t be on a Sunday; however, find that day or days and recharge.  We wouldn’t let our phone battery get low, we don’t let our gas tank get low, why then is it okay to let our physical selves drain down to empty? 

            It takes energy to lead God’s people.  It takes energy to share our faith stories with others. It takes energy to love others as we love ourselves.
 
“If you don’t take a Sabbath, something is wrong. You’re doing too much, you’re being too much in charge.  You’ve got to quit, one day a week, and just watch what God is doing when you’re not doing anything.”                                               Eugene Peterson

Peace,
Olivia and Hoover 

MARCH 2025

Rev. Dr. Hoover & Rev. Olivia Haney