Musical Prelude and Service.

Scripture – Exodus 20:8-10 and John 17:1-11
Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Six days you shall labour and do all your work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God, you shall not do any work, your son, or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and consecrated it.
This is but one of many different passages of scripture that discusses Sabbath or the importance of taking time for a sabbatical. I thought it important to talk with you about what I am doing with my upcoming Sabbatical and why.
As I have mentioned in various conversations with many of you, as I have discussed in committee and board meetings over the past many months, and as I noted from the pulpit the last few weeks, I will be on sabbatical, beginning on June 1. I will be away from my duties here as minister until the end of August.
The United Church of Canada allows for clergy to take a three-month sabbatical after they have served a community of faith for five consecutive years. It is intended to be a time of rest; of rebuilding and of learning.
So, basically, I am supposed to develop a plan for learning, but also be certain to allow for a time of rest. A time to restore a weary body, mind, and soul.
There is a great deal of discussion of Sabbaticals that reference scripture to help explain the importance. Something I think is important, not just for clergy but all people regardless of vocation. I feel quite blessed that I am in a place where I can take this time for my mental, my physical and my spiritual health.
Gospel scriptures recount Jesus being pushed out into the wilderness to spend 40 days fasting and reflecting on his call away from all others. Before he is arrested Jesus takes time by himself in prayer confronting what is about to happen.
And finally, what you also find in Exodus is a further description of another form of Sabbath.
For six years you shall sow your land and gather in its yield; but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, so that the poor of your people may eat, and what they leave wild animals may eat. You shall do the same with your vineyard and with your olive orchard.
God sees a need for all of creation to rest. For all the world to find time to restore and rebuild. To become new and whole.
I won’t burden you with tales of my exhaustion. All of us are exhausted. All of us are worked to the point of exhaustion. But I have been given this opportunity. I see it as valuable and good for my health. It is my hope all of you find a way to take the rest, the care, and the opportunity for your own renewal. It is an act of faith and devotion; to yourself, to your community, t your relationship with God and creation.
So what are my plans?
Ellie and I have scheduled some time away from home. It is a chance for us to explore parts of the world that we have dreamed of experiencing but have not had the chance to do so to date.
It is a chance to explore some of the history and stories that are part of our roots.
I am looking forward to the chance to actually take some time to improve my golf game.
But I am also making plans to learn. And I wanted to share with you some of those goals and plans. As I have made clear over the years, I have a love of history. I love the stories that are attached to history and I have a strong belief it is our shared history and our stories that are part of that history that are crucial to the building and maintaining of community. As such I also believe that when we neglect or forget that history, we lose a substantial part of who we are as a community.
But communities are not meant to be closed systems. People sadly pass in and out of communities. We lose members of our community, but hopefully new people join and become part of our family. But we then have a responsibility to share our stories, to bring them into the ongoing, the living story of who we are as a community.
But how do we preserve our story? How do we pass that story on?
I want to start a project of gathering that story. I want to hear the stories of Grace and of Dunnville. And so, I have begun the task of reaching out to members of the congregation. I want to hear your stories of your memories and your experiences of Grace. I want to hear the stories of people from Dunnville.
It is my hope people will agree to me capturing those stories on video. They don’t have to be long. They don’t have to be comprehensive. You may not find some of your memories all that interesting. But I believe that they are precious and beloved.
Finally, I want to create an archive that will make those memories accessible to all of you. I don’t want these stories to be locked away, only to be viewed with special permission. And I want this archive to be created in such a way that this project can be continued by others. That the people of this congregation can continue to watch this collection of memories, of stories, this chronicle grow and evolve. Because, like the community of faith that it grows out of, it is alive and vital and ever-changing.
So, I want to extend my gratitude to this community, for the opportunity to explore, to learn and to rest. And I am looking forward to talking with many of you; of listening to your stories, and hopefully preserving those stories so that they may continue to be shared by this community and the wider community over the years to come.
Thanks, by to God. Amen
Rev. Warner Bloomfield

Music provided with permission through licensing with CCLI License number
2701258 and One License # A-731789