Todd, you came back!

Todd Bumgarner, lead pastor of 2 Pillars Church, on his return from sabbatical:

But do you want to know how the overwhelming majority of people have responded? They’ve said, “We didn’t think you would come back.” I’ve had—no exaggeration—over 15 people say something like that.

Fortunately, Todd did come back. But, as he explains, it isn’t always a bad thing if a pastor doesn’t return to “ministry as usual” following his sabbatical:

Pastoral sabbaticals (whether the pastor is paid or unpaid) are a regular, normal, and healthy thing for healthy churches.

And even when a pastor comes back from a sabbatical and quits… that’s still healthy because the sabbatical revealed the fact that that pastor wasn’t healthy. Something was off. Whether it was his health, his pace, his marriage, his walk with God, or his calling—something was off. And the healthiest thing for that pastor could be, to step back (and possibly down) in order to address that lack of health.

Glad to see you back in the saddle after a restful season away, Todd. Welcome back.

---

---