Sabbatical 2026 Starts Here....

 Well, it's been a long time coming (seven years in fact), but the time for my Sabbatical has arrived. Officially as of Monday 13th April 2026, I will be released from my regular Ministerial Duties for three months to do... what exactly?

There are more ways of having a Sabbatical than there are people taking them, but in the Methodist Church the idea is that once every seven years you're given the opportunity to spend that time doing something different - ideally, something that will refresh you spiritually, giving you a break but also hopefully an oppourtinity to explore something different that will enrich both yourself and the churches that you will be returning to. You're not supposed to treat it as a three month holiday - although rest and recuperation is part of what it's there for.

My first Sabbatical, back in 2019, saw me looking at Cinema and Theology. So yes, in a way it was an opportunity to go to the pictures - but I did some academic reading as well, and reflected briefly on what I as a Christian Minister noticed in the films I watched. It was interesting to watch for example the Elton John film Rocket Man; he literally starts the movie checking into Rehab dressed in a Devil Costume, and ends it dressed in pure white singing "I'm Still Standing!" Or there was the Rob Brydon film "Swimming with Men" - not much remembered, hardly a classic, but enjoyable enough and with that arc of redemption in it that always takes me back to the story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15. 

So what am I doing this time?

Well, some things are still happening and need me, regardless of Sabbatical. I'm continuing with the New Superintendent's Course for example, and will be attending one of the Super's Conferences that the Methodist Church runs every year; I'll also be travelling to Queens in Birmingham to meet with them ahead of our Probationer Deacon arriving in the Circuit from September.

My main focus though is going to be about Pilgrimage. I want to engage with it, go on some Pilgrimage Trails, but also think about my own personal journey. I intend to go to places where I have lived and worked, and reflect on the places and people that have shaped me. I intend to do some reading and listening around the subject - one of the books being the one there's a picture of here, "The way under our feet" by Graham B. Usher. I also want to explore other kinds of Pilgrimage - one of them being to go to Bushy Park, the site of the original Parkrun, and take part in it - something that's described by some as doing the Bushy Pilgimage! 

And there will be other things too along the way. I'm going on a Retreat at Wydale Hall. I'm intending to visit Epworth for a Guided Walk described as "The Wesley Way". And there are some other, more personal things that I'm planning to do - such as booking a day's tuition in Woodturning.

I'm intending to update this Blog once or twice a week, so if you want to  keep up to date - just keep an eye on https://tellingchurchstory.blogspot.com/ and you can see how I'm getting on!

God Bless

Rob