Bryan's Sabbatical 2024
Growing up as a medically fragile child, God was always my companion. I don’t remember a time when I doubted God’s existence. That is not to say that I did not have moments of irritation and anger towards God, but never doubt. This is what brought me to ordained ministry. While I like to say I got the call in a class on Hinduism and Buddhism and the way it made me understand my traditions, what really got me excited was Barth’s theology of the Missio Dei and that God calls us into mission with God. That theocentric focus has carried me through the most difficult of times, yet I am at a point where I am struggling to see God.
This is not about doubting the existence of God. It is my awareness that I am missing the connection and comfort that I used to have with God. This is a connectedness that carried me through some of the most difficult moments of my life. This broken relationship has also brought me to a place where I feel as if at times my ministry is merely going through the motions with my role being a provider of services over being a fellow journeyer with my congregation and the people to whom I minister.
Thus, for my sabbatical, I am setting off on a journey to find God. OK, not really; rather my hope is to rediscover that companionship with God through renewing relationships and building new ones as I travel through the United States and talk to people about who God is to them. I want to go to communities that are not often represented or are underrepresented in faith studies and ask the simple question, “Who is God to you?” and see what happens. I plan to do this by going to public places, bars, events, etc., and engaging people, then ultimately asking if they would participate and then record their responses.
I did a similar approach with my doctoral project, “Changing congregational discourse through the telling of faith stories,” where I gave no instruction beyond the question “Who is God to you?” Magically, that approach allowed the responders to cut through the political answer because I was not looking for the correct answer, I was looking for their answer. This sabbatical will allow me to do that. For me, listening to how others engage or don’t engage with God will help me to find and renew my relationship with God.
From this point, I also want to create an Adult Education Curriculum where I can take these videos, organize them, and present them in a way that would allow churches to move beyond particular theologies and dogmas and rediscover God for themselves.
I plan on doing my sabbatical in one continuous journey from April 1-October 1, 2024. As indicated in my outline of the renwal program, I plan to traverse the United States in this journey of reconnecting to God. Being that I am following the spirit I also realize that the particular route I have proposed will probably change due to weather patterns and schedules of others which is why the last three months of the trip are left more flexible.
I will spend about 20% of my time on the “Who is God?” interviews. Another 20% of my time will be time to intentionally re-engage some relationships that I have let go due to the work of my ministry. As a single pastor, it is easy to let church work overwhelm. I have allowed some of my best friends to slip away. In my travels, I want to reengage and build back some of those relationships before they are lost forever.
I want to spend about 30% of my time getting lost. Many years ago, I had the opportunity to travel with a group of clergy to Spain, and we purposefully only had a beginning and end. The rest of the time was made up choosing our path through talking with others and finding out what is best to do next. For me, one who often schedules my life to the minute, I think that I miss a lot of God moments because I am so focused on what needs to get done. I am not spending enough time being present in what I am doing.
While I plan on limiting my digital connectedness, I do plan on spending about 10% of my time giving updates on social media, cataloguing my interviews, and making daily vlogs about my journey. 10% of my time will be travel, and I am planning on 10% of the time to be focused on contemplation and spiritual activities (i.e. worship, prayer, meditation).
This is not about doubting the existence of God. It is my awareness that I am missing the connection and comfort that I used to have with God. This is a connectedness that carried me through some of the most difficult moments of my life. This broken relationship has also brought me to a place where I feel as if at times my ministry is merely going through the motions with my role being a provider of services over being a fellow journeyer with my congregation and the people to whom I minister.
Thus, for my sabbatical, I am setting off on a journey to find God. OK, not really; rather my hope is to rediscover that companionship with God through renewing relationships and building new ones as I travel through the United States and talk to people about who God is to them. I want to go to communities that are not often represented or are underrepresented in faith studies and ask the simple question, “Who is God to you?” and see what happens. I plan to do this by going to public places, bars, events, etc., and engaging people, then ultimately asking if they would participate and then record their responses.
I did a similar approach with my doctoral project, “Changing congregational discourse through the telling of faith stories,” where I gave no instruction beyond the question “Who is God to you?” Magically, that approach allowed the responders to cut through the political answer because I was not looking for the correct answer, I was looking for their answer. This sabbatical will allow me to do that. For me, listening to how others engage or don’t engage with God will help me to find and renew my relationship with God.
From this point, I also want to create an Adult Education Curriculum where I can take these videos, organize them, and present them in a way that would allow churches to move beyond particular theologies and dogmas and rediscover God for themselves.
I plan on doing my sabbatical in one continuous journey from April 1-October 1, 2024. As indicated in my outline of the renwal program, I plan to traverse the United States in this journey of reconnecting to God. Being that I am following the spirit I also realize that the particular route I have proposed will probably change due to weather patterns and schedules of others which is why the last three months of the trip are left more flexible.
I will spend about 20% of my time on the “Who is God?” interviews. Another 20% of my time will be time to intentionally re-engage some relationships that I have let go due to the work of my ministry. As a single pastor, it is easy to let church work overwhelm. I have allowed some of my best friends to slip away. In my travels, I want to reengage and build back some of those relationships before they are lost forever.
I want to spend about 30% of my time getting lost. Many years ago, I had the opportunity to travel with a group of clergy to Spain, and we purposefully only had a beginning and end. The rest of the time was made up choosing our path through talking with others and finding out what is best to do next. For me, one who often schedules my life to the minute, I think that I miss a lot of God moments because I am so focused on what needs to get done. I am not spending enough time being present in what I am doing.
While I plan on limiting my digital connectedness, I do plan on spending about 10% of my time giving updates on social media, cataloguing my interviews, and making daily vlogs about my journey. 10% of my time will be travel, and I am planning on 10% of the time to be focused on contemplation and spiritual activities (i.e. worship, prayer, meditation).