Staff Sabbaticals 2023
A Sabbatical is a biblical concept based on the Sabbath. In Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, we teach that a weekly Sabbath is a time to STOP, REST, DELIGHT, and CONTEMPLATE - a time to rest and to disconnect from working and striving so we can focus on being with God. A Sabbatical is simply an extended Sabbath.
Pray for Jason & Robin
Daybreak has always been “God’s Family on God’s Mission” and the past two years have been quite an amazing adventure for our family! One of our goals has been to see the impact of the gospel multiplied. We have definitely experienced that with record numbers of people being baptized, cared for, and engaged in discipleship here at Daybreak. At the same time, we’ve been short-staffed in several areas. Two of our staff, in particular, have carried a lot of extra responsibility during this season. While they have risen to the challenge and done a great job, we want to follow the example of Jesus by giving them an opportunity to rejuvenate this summer before another busy ministry season begins in the fall.
As many of you are aware, one of our goals as a church is to be emotionally and spiritually healthy. Based on that goal and advice from members of our Governing Board, we will be giving both Jason Fickes and Robin Kaplin some Sabbatical time this summer. We want to provide them with the space to stop, rest, delight and contemplate with God so they are more prepared for a fruitful season of ministry this fall.
Jason’s 8-week pastoral sabbatical will start on 6/5, and he will return on 8/5. Robin’s 4-week staff sabbatical will begin on June 11. She’ll add some vacation time onto the end of her sabbatical and will plan on returning on 8/7. Please honor their Sabbatical time so that it can be a time of Sabbath for them.
Throughout his Sabbatical, this music playlist will share how Jason is interacting with God and will be a good way to know how to pray for him:
You can pray for Robin's Sabbatical prayer requests as they are added to this list:
While summer ministry is generally less busy, there is still a lot of ministry, onboarding of new staff, coordinating weekend services, and strategic planning to do. The remaining staff will be covering some of the critical functions that Jason and Robin typically cover - but due to their absence, you may notice that we take more simple approaches in some areas. We ask that you give our staff some grace as we all work together for God’s Kingdom, while giving a much needed rest to a few of our staff members.
