See a letter below from Pastor Lauren McFeaters about the plans for her upcoming sabbatical. Lauren’s sabbatical begins on Monday, May 22.
Beloved Friends, I am writing to let you know of my sabbatical plans for this summer of 2017. With deep gratitude for the support of the Session and our Human Resources Committee, I am marking the conclusion of my 16th year as associate pastor of Nassau Presbyterian Church with a sabbatical. Sabbatical 2017 will begin after Confirmation on May 21st and will last through Labor Day weekend.
The focus of my sabbatical study finds its home in the words of Paul’s Letter to the Galatians: “Bear one another’s burdens and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ” (6:2) and in an old Jewish prayer which asks God to help us “Walk with Sight among Miracles.” To this end I will:
- Study the monastic healing practices that attend to soul care with solitude and silence. I will travel by train to Le Monastère des Augustines in Quebec City to study at the Augustine Sisters’ monastery, established in 1639, where their motto for 378 years has been, “Neither hunger, nor cold, nor isolation would prevent them from establishing a haven here to heal the bodies of an entire people.”
- Michael and Josie and I with travel to Washington’s Whidbey Island, Seattle, and onto Tonasket in the Okanagan Fruit Valley for a family wedding. We will return for Josie to leave on Nassau’s mission trip to Tennessee with the Appalachian Service Project and onto a musical theater camp at Westminster Conservatory.
- Then comes library time for study and research on behalf of the Deacons and the creation of a broader educational experience in the areas of ministry serving persons experiencing losses related to aging, persons needing long-term care, and persons experiencing grief in its many forms.
Dave Davis, Joyce MacKichan Walker, Len and Andrew Scales, and the Deacons will look after the pastoral care of the church. I am forever grateful for this sweet sabbatical chapter where I may study, explore new realms of pastoral work, spend time with my precious family, and continue to give thanks for Nassau Church. It is my deepest prayer that through renewal and study Nassau and I can find rejuvenation for heart and soul, continue to serve our Lord together, and “walk with sight among miracles.”
With deep and abiding love,
Lauren
Lauren J. McFeaters