A Sabbatical Primer for Pastors: How to Initiate and Navigate a Spiritual Renewal Leave Paperback – February 19, 2014

Great book. My husband and I are getting ready to take our first Sabbatical and this helped tremendously. Recommed it highly.

Grateful for this primer. It has helped me prepare and plan my upcoming Sabbatical. It’s like a packing list from an experienced traveler.

This has been helpful for planning a sabbatical to recharge spiritually, emotionally and physically. I'm looking forward to putting these tips to work.

Many of the pastor's I know seem reluctant to seek a sabbatical to refresh from the 24/7/365 nature of ministering in a local church. I would recommend this book to any pastor who wonders whether a sabbatical is for them. David does a great job of describing the signs that you need a sabbatical. Beyond that this book does what very few books do, it gives the reader a blueprint to successfully prepare for and execute a ministry sabbatical. Beyond that it also gives a blueprint for an area that many neglect, re-entry into the ministry of the local church.

Excellent read. A great guide to practicing your first or second Sabbatical. Very informative. I highly recommend your pastoral team reads this so they won’t confuse you with taking a vacation.

I am early in my first pastorate, having started at age 50. Therefore, I am not coming to this book as a pastor of long experience, worn out and seeking help. I’m approaching it more from a place of looking forward and seeing what lies ahead and how to plan for it. While this book uses the sabbatical as hook, it is really about something much larger – pastoral health.The book is short enough to be easily tackled. The chapters and subject headings make it easy to grasp the structure and main ideas. I would not have minded a more complete treatment, but as the title suggest, it is a primer -- not designed to be the definitive statement on pastoral sabbatical. It provides an excellent and very accessible launch point from which to begin considering or planning your sabbatical. I look forward to the upcoming companion volume which I understand will provide a primer for churches. For the purposes for which it aims, I gave it 5 stars. It does a good job of what it sets out to do.David Alves speaks from direct experience, and with the voice of one who has been there. He is not finger wagging, but he is certainly putting up warning signs. He reminds us that we pastors are not the wellspring from which we derive our power to minister. Christ is the source from which we draw our own strength as well as the strength we pass on to others. Throughout the book David constantly encourages his fellow shepherds to drink regularly from the One True Source. His advice is practical and simple and I have already benefitted from it – even though I am years away from taking any kind of sabbatical.The good news, of course, is that by starting to prepare for it now, I can add sabbatical to my pastoral care toolbox and I will have years to prepare myself (and my church) so that everyone can receive the most benefit from it. I hope that by starting to lay the groundwork now, and by practicing some of the ongoing spiritual care disciplines, I can move into sabbatical at the right time, and from a place of need but not of last ditch desperation. David makes it clear that ideally, sabbatical should be one component of a larger plan. I feel fortunate that I am in a position to be able to execute it that way because I’ve come to this book at this point before it’s a do-or-die situation.The book also resonated with me because it also reflects my experience in other areas of my life. Being middle aged means that I am approaching many things in life differently. Being an amateur athlete (at least some of the year) I have learned to adjust my training for my changing body. The older body is quite capable of doing amazing work, but recovery is slower. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It simply means that the wise lifter takes care to build rest into the training schedule. By doing so, I find that while I may not be able to outrun younger athletes in the short run, I can outwork them over time. There is real grace in that my body is reflecting to me the truth that David Alves writes about in his book.I’ll be returning to “A Sabbatical Primer for Pastors” again to check on myself over the years. I recommend it to clergy from any tradition and at any stage of their ministry. This book is a blessing for the pastors and their churches.

I found this book to be a great launching place for a pastor and congregation to begin. Its concise and practical. Not meant to be a scholarly work, its a laymen's tool as appropriate for church boards as for pastors. Thanks David for making this avaialable.

As a Superintendent overseeing a number of churches in New England, and having served as a Pastor in Maine for 13 years, I know how demanding ministry can be. Studies and first hand experiences show us that Pastors are burned out, depressed, under spiritual attack, lacking friends and support. Many parishioners don't understand the demands of 24/7 ministry today.David Alves does a tremendous job of presenting the need pastors have for renewal, as well as the Biblical, and physical reasons for a time of rest. This book provides you with personal insights, and step by step guides for planning and getting the most out of your sabbatical time. I believe that this book is a must for anyone in ministry today, and I am planning on encouraging each of our Pastors to read this valuable resource. This will be a tremendous help to me as I prepare for my first Sabbatical in a couple of years.I gave it 5 stars for the quality of writing, as well as the value it will be to each and every reader!

Buy it for your pastor at least two years before their sabbatical. It will help them tremendously.