Walk in the Spirit!

At our Town Hall meeting on March 5, The Bridge Church board informed the congregation that, beginning May 13, Pastor Aaron and Martha Harding and their family would be receiving a 10-week sabbatical!

Sabbatical rest is a biblical principal, and we are so thankful for our pastor and his family. Our church is blessed to offer the Hardings this time to rest and replenish their spirits.

Dear Church Family,

When we met on March 5th, I was happy to announce on behalf of the board a process to ensure the health and well-being of our pastoral staff through sabbatical leave.

It is well documented, and statistical evidence shows, that churches that allow sabbatical leave are stronger, more united, and their pastoral staff have longer tenures than churches that do not offer sabbatical.

Sabbatical is rooted in the word Sabbath, which literally means rest. God gave us His example in the creation story in Genesis 2:2 when God rested on the seventh day. Obviously, God does not need to rest. But what God was doing was giving an example of resting from our work to re-center, renew and re-energize our relationship with Him. God wants our hearts to be close to Him, but the nature of the world is to draw us away from that. That is why the idea of restful reflection, adoration, prayer, and focus can bring us back to a communion that God wants us to have.

Pastors live very stressful lives. The shepherd looks after the flock with care and wants to help guide us in our spiritual walk with Christ. As teacher, preacher, counselor, comforter, manager and cheerleader, our pastor gives of himself, selflessly.  Every funeral, marriage counseling, shut-in visit, grief comforting, budget meeting, crazy email and late night phone call, our pastors wear that like an empathy garment, because that’s what they are wired to do. But soon that garment gets heavy, and we must help to lighten the load.

I shared some statistics with the congregation and will list some of those here.

• 1500 Pastors leave the ministry permanently every month
• 90% work up to 75 hours per week
• 90% feel fatigued and worn out every week
• 91% have experienced some form of burn out
• 70% have a lower self-esteem than when they entered the ministry
• 70% fight depression
• The average seminary trained pastor lasts five years in professional ministry
• 72% only study the Bible when preparing their sermons for others
• 70% do not have a close friend
• 50% do not regularly meet with an accountability partner or group
• 44% do not regularly take a day off
• 85% have never taken a Sabbatical!
• 50% of pastors marriages end in divorced
• One in 10 pastors have contemplated committing suicide
• 80% believe their pastoral ministry has negatively affected their families and 33% said it was an outright hazard
• 80% of ministry spouses feel left out and unappreciated in their church
• 77% feel they do not have a good marriage
• 41% display anger problems in marriage (reported by the spouse)
• 50% admit to using pornography and 37% report inappropriate sexual behavior with someone in the church

These statistics are sad and scary, and we need to take care of the staff that God has placed here to lead us. The board unanimously voted to offer Pastor Aaron and Martha a 10-week leave of Sabbatical. This time frame will go by quickly but will also be a blessing for them and a benefit to our church, as well as keeping with God’s example. I was blessed and encouraged by the congregational support and the overwhelming positive comments, and I am sure Pastor Aaron and Martha were touched by them too.

As Brothers and Sisters in Christ we can all rejoice in being able to support our pastors in this way, Thank you for your love and care. If there are any questions please do not hesitate to ask anyone on the board, we would be glad to address any questions you have.

In Christ’s Love,

John Hagel
Chairman
The Bridge Church

Board Members:

Scott Davis
Tyler Dykes
Dean Horton
John Marantino

To Our Church Family,

On May 22, Martha and I will celebrate 19 years of marriage. Almost 13 years of those have been spent here at The Bridge Church serving the Lord and this community. Without a doubt, it has been our greatest joy!

April 26th will mark the eighth year of my tenure as Lead Pastor. Thankfully, my family and our church are doing well emotionally, physically and spiritually (though of course there is plenty of room for improvement in each of those areas!). It’s a good time for us to take an extended leave of absence to rest, refresh and recalibrate!

Rest was not something taken lightly in Scripture. God modeled this for us by resting on the seventh day after the work of creation was completed. Jesus also, often went off by himself to rest and be alone with God. In one instance, two sisters were contrasted. The older sister was distracted by many things she was doing for God, but Jesus told her that her younger sister, Mary, had chosen the better way…sitting at Jesus’ feet.

Here’s what Martha and I know: The greatest gift we can give to each other, our children, to you and the community God has called us to serve is intimacy with God. This ten weeks of rest for us will surely benefit us, but it will also be of great value to you as well!

So thank you! Thank you for loving us enough to ensure that we remain healthy so that we can return rested, refreshed & recalibrated and continue to connect others to the love of Jesus!
Martha & I love you all very much,

Pastor Aaron & Martha