by Director of Learning & Family Ministries Dawn Star Sarahs-Borchelt
In agreement with Rev. John and the Board, I will take a three-month sabbatical from April to June 2026. While I’m away, I will be doing some rest, some learning, and some practical action. See more about that below.
While I’m away, you, as a congregation, will be fine. You’ll have good programmatic and other kinds of support from the Children & Youth and Adult Faith Development Committees; from Yvette McDonnell, who will spend some of her internship time on faith development matters; and from our new Faith Development Program Assistant, Anaiah Cupe.
I learn best by learning fractally: first in myself, then in my personal life, and only then being able to bring what I have fully internalized to my communities and those I serve. My goal for this sabbatical is to explore themes of rest, building resilience and sustainability, and creating systems for community survival through personal reflection and exploration, study with colleagues, and practical engagement in my home and family. For example, I may spend time in deliberate rest and meditation or on personal retreat; work on “hardening” my home for thriving through climate-related emergencies; improve my community connections with neighbors; review recordings of the 2024 Fall LREDA conference on Radical Rest with Rev. Leela Sinha; form study groups with colleagues around such titles as Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity During This Crisis (and the Next) (Spade, 2020), Holding Change: The Way of Emergent Strategy Facilitation and Mediation (Brown, 2021), Rest Is Resistance: A Manifesto(Hersey, 2022), or Survive and Thrive: How to Prepare for Any Disaster without Ammo, Camo, or Eating Your Neighbor (Fulton & Devon, 2023); or connect with colleagues in Transylvania around some of the lingering questions I have from my participation in the Pilgrimage in summer 2024. This time of focus on these themes would prepare me to bring new ideas, energy, and resources back to the congregation.
While I think we’ve built some pretty good capacity and redundancy into systems this year, if you’d like to offer extra help in any area related to faith development or family ministry while I’m away, please reach out and I can connect you with the right folks.