What is Renewal Leave?

To all my church friends, family, and anyone interested: I'm starting this blog as my personal journal for my upcoming study/renewal leave. As a United Methodist Pastor I am able to take a good rest from the constant duties of my calling every seven years or so. I've reached that point and am looking forward to nine weeks of combined study, travel, rest, and, all total, renewal.

Last Sunday my puppet friend Lamb Chop thought this sounds like something one does with a library book. Not exactly, but the result is the same. When I have a good book from the library that I'm not finished with, I can renew the check out to have more time with it. In the same way, I hope both St. Paul's congregation and I will enjoy a "renewal" that gives us more time together. When I'm done I expect to be spiritually rested, renewed, focused, and ready to reunite with my wonderful congregation.

Details on my leave: I'll be active as St. Paul's pastor through Sunday, July 3. We'll have two services that day, one in the morning at 10:30 and the second our monthly Rockommunion service at 6:00 p.m.. When I walk out the doors Sunday evening I'll be officially on leave until I return on my birthday, September 6. During my absence St. Paul's will have a full slate of summer activities geared toward families, including outdoor worship, a church campout on the grounds, story telling, hobby sharing, mission presentations, and celebrations of church camping. A great slate of guest preachers and speakers will be here throughout the summer. My clergy friends will be on call for pastoral emergencies, but most other kinds of home and hospital visits will be handled by our well-trained Stephen Ministers and Guardian Ministers.

Meanwhile I'll take a couple of weeks of uninhibited rest before launching cross country with my family to explore America and check out colleges for my oldest son. Our family route will take us first to Devil's Tower, then to the Badlands of South Dakota, onward to the heartland and eventually to New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C. before wending our way back to the west, spending some time in Denver, and then to Idaho Falls. We'll have season passes to Six Flags parks and look forward to some full-fledged play several times along the way.

My study focus will be on American stories and mythologies, kind of a historical/spiritual/theological reflection on what it means to be an American Christian. I'll post my reflections, along with our travel adventures, on this blog and hope very much that you'll stay tuned.

Pastor Dan