Six years ago, the Christian Church in Arizona gathered for a special Regional Assembly to elect your new Regional Minister and President. It was a beautiful day for me, as I got to meet many of you for the first time. Over the next 6 months, before Covid shut everything down, I was able to worship with every congregation and sit down to a meal with every congregational pastor in the Region. I was fortunate that my very first weekend coincided with the Disciples Women’s Retreat in Prescott, where I was able to meet 70 Arizona Disciples women over the course of 2 days. It was a wonderful gift, as I then found friendly and familiar faces welcoming me when I visited your congregations. You have all enriched my life during these past 6 years.
While I am truly blessed by relationships with all of our clergy and congregations, I am also grateful that the Region recognizes the need for rest and renewal by providing for a 3-month sabbatical every 5 years. As soon as General Assembly ends on July 15, I will begin a period of sabbatical rest and renewal. I will return to the office (and email and phone) on October 16. Read on for more information about my plans and about Regional leadership while I am gone.
I have scheduled 2 major experiences during my sabbatical. Dawn and I will spend the month of August in Scotland. This is a major bucket list trip for me. We will begin with a week at the Aigas Field Centre, doing daily walking trips to learn about the wildlife of the Scottish Highlands. We then go the Isle of Skye for a few days, drive to Edinburgh for the Tattoo and the Fringe Festival, take a train to Glasgow to attend the World Bagpipe Band Championships (no – I am not playing), and then finish by walking the West Highland Way, a 7-day, 75 mile walk from Ft. William to Inverness. Starting and finishing the trip with a week outdoors among God’s beautiful Creation was a priority for us.
Two weeks after returning from Scotland, I will fly to Costa Rica for 3 weeks of language immersion school. Given that 40% of Arizona Disciples speak Spanish, I have worked hard on my language skills for the last 6 years. I hope that 3 weeks of intense instruction and immersion will help further my ability to communicate and at least somewhat lessen the pain I cause to our herman@s when speaking their beautiful language.
In between the 2 trips, I will be sitting in a dentist’s chair having a tooth implant, visiting my doctor for my annual check-up, and resting and recovering.
While I am gone, your primary contact for anything involving Regional ministry is Matthew Clark, our Regional Ministry Administrator. If your pastor resigns, if you want to request a grant, if you want to celebrate something, if you need information, contact Matt. Matt will know whom to contact and how to proceed. We have a great moderator team – Kerry Swindle and Martin Tapia – who will be in regular communication with Matt. We also have a “Regional Minister on Call” whom Matt will contact if needed.
I invite you to pray for me during this time of sabbatical, and I commit to praying for each of you. I also invite you to check your own congregation’s personnel policies and encourage your own pastor to be able to take a sabbatical time of rest and renewal. In the meantime, I hope to see many of you in the next few weeks and in Memphis at the General Assembly.
Dios les bendiga!
Pastor Jay
Regional Minister and President
