Our Vicar goes on Sabbatical

The Revd Canon Chris Burch

Our Vicar, Chris Burch is due to go on sabbatical on February 20th. Chris Florance, our community worker spoke to Chris about what a sabbatical is about and what he will be doing over the three months he is away from us in Braunstone.

CF: Chris, you are going to be away from the parish shortly for about three months on a sabbatical. Could you tell me what a Sabbatical is?

CB: The term Sabbatical comes from the Greek word for Sabbath, sabbatikos which means a rest and to spend time with God. As human beings we are wired up to need regular rest periods. A sabbatical is an opportunity to do other things without interruption. Some people use their time to undertake some research or to study and perhaps combine it with some travel or to undertake a pilgrimage. The Church has always believed that it also important to use some of the time to have a rest, and to take some time away from the parish and recharge the batteries. It is time for rest, retreat and renewal.

CF: Have you had a Sabbatical before?

CB: Yes last time I spent some time in South Africa with the Church of Southern Africa’s social charity called Hope Africa and saw some of the work they were doing and I was able to explore some of the wineries around the Cape. It was there where I was able to really learn how to relax and enjoy myself without feeling guilty.

CF: What will you be doing this time?

CB: I will be spending a month in the United States, where I shall be going on retreat for a period of concentrated prayer. I shall be staying in a Trappist Monastery called Gethsemani in Kentucky. (where the well known monk, writer and mystic Thomas Merton was based) I shall be taking part in some of their worship, going for walks and thinking. I will then be travelling to stay with a distant cousin who is the Bishop of Alabama (He visited St Peter’s after the Lambeth conference in 2008) and will visit friends and do some research into a nineteenth century family railway there.

I will then be spending the second part of the sabbatical in London and will be enjoying a musical Easter with some of the central London choirs taking part in concerts and having further music lessons.

For the last section of the Sabbatical will a include a family holiday and I will be spending some time composing music, which will include writing some psalm settings for use in St Peter’s. I will also be doing some serious railway modelling!

CF: You will then be returning to work at the end of May?

CB: Yes, I shall be back on Pentecost Sunday. We are advised to go back work gently and let the afterglow to last as long as possible and I will have to produce a short report or reflection of those three months.

CF: Thank you very much and I am sure that everyone at St Peter’s wishes you well.