About 900 Presbyterian college students have gathered at the close of their Christmas break for the 2020 College Conference at Montreat. They’re here to rediscover the importance of keeping the Sabbath.
I received a text from a friend instructing me to “bring a yoga mat, blanket, pillow or whatever you’d like for resting comfortably on the floor.” I was going to be joining her at a nap ministry event.
Burnout. Just reading the word is enough to cause the shoulders to droop, the body to want to curl up in a ball and find somewhere to rest. For many church leaders it can be an ever-present companion in the life and ministry of the congregation.
During Tuesday morning plenary at the national evangelism conference “Sabbath Rest, Holy Surrender, Full Life,” 135 attendees were encouraged by Ryan McKenzie, director of program ministries at Zephyr Point Presbyterian Conference Center, to “silence themselves.”
In his opening remarks at the national evangelism conference at the Zephyr Point Presbyterian Conference Center, the Rev. Dr. Jason Santos shared a quote from The Sabbath, Abraham Joshua Heschel’s classic book on Jewish spirituality.
The Presbyterian Mission Agency Coordinator for Christian Formation, Jason Brian Santos, is leading this year’s Evangelism conference at Zephyr Point, Lake Tahoe October 15-19.
The Presbyterian Youth Workers Association, in partnership with Presbyterian Mission’s Ministries with Youth, wanted to do something about burnout. Together, they are hosting the first-ever Youth Worker Sabbath Day on Thursday, April 5. Currently, Sabbath group hosts are forming local groups across the country where youth workers can engage in Sabbath practices together.
Presbyterian Mission colleagues, the Rev. Dr. Ray Jones and the Rev. Dr. Jason Brian Santos in Theology, Formation and Evangelism ministries (TFE) at the Presbyterian Mission Agency have been asking each other questions about the practice of Sabbath such as, “What is it?”, “Why do we do Sabbath?” and “How do we depart, once we’ve participated in Sabbath?”
In December 2013 Steve Shive had a dream. Shive, general presbyter of the Presbytery of Wyoming, says that in the dream, he felt a strong sense to create a place where God’s people could come together to work on spiritual practices. “I saw our teaching and ruling elders coming together to learn from each other,” he says, “and to engage in the presence of their lives in Christ in community.”
