Mary Katherine Robinson’s SABBATICAL
June 3-September 6, 2022
Message from the Personnel Committee
Having completed seven years of service at Black Mountain Presbyterian Church, Pastor Mary Katherine will take a three-month sabbatical from June 3- through September 6. The sabbatical is in line with the rules spelled out in the BMPC Personnel Manual, the Presbytery of Western NC’s sabbatical guidelines and in congruence with examples we see in Scripture. In Leviticus 25:4, we see that God’s command to his people was that “during the seventh year the land shall have a Sabbath rest, a Sabbath to the Lord” and in Genesis 2:2 we see that after God completed creation, “He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.”
The Personnel Committee is excited to unanimously extend this opportunity to Pastor Mary Katherine. While away on sabbatical, Pastor MK will travel, read, rest, and refresh. Associate Pastor, David Carter Florence, will serve as acting Head of staff and Parish Associate, Bob Tuttle, will be leading our member care with our wonderful deacons!
Our seminarians will preach three out of the twelve Sundays and Dr. Lewis Galloway will preach a six week sermon series on the Parables in late July and August. Other Sundays will be filled by retired clergy in our congregation.
What will Mary Katherine be doing on Sabbatical?
(Answered by MK)
The intention of the Sabbath Leave is to provide renewal and rest as I prepare for faithful witness in the next 5-10 years of ministry. I am very aware of the changing and challenging social context within which congregational ministry is lived within the USA. However, Christian communities in Canada, Ireland, and Great Britain have been engaging communities of agnosticism and “nones” for decades. It is my intention to learn from our Christian brothers and sisters in Canada, Great Britain, and Ireland about how they have come to engage the “un-churched,” “spiritual-but-not-religious” populations in their midst. Also, the Presbyterian Church USA shares a cultural and theological heritage with these communities which will provide a common framework and vocabulary from which I may address these topics.
Furthermore, I have been encouraged and influenced by George Hunter’s work, “The Celtic Way of Evangelism;” I will seek ways in which these Celtic Christian communities are presently engaging in evangelism and try to apply those approaches to welcome and hospitality in our Western North Carolina geographical landscape (that were formed by the descendants of Ireland and Great Britain). It is my hope that engagement with these communities of belonging, along with the refreshment of travel and planned times of retreat and reflection, will renew my energy, intelligence, imagination, and love.
Timeline of Mary Katherine’s Sabbatical
(answered by MK)
The goal of the Sabbath Leave is to afford time and space for me to step aside from the perpetual drumbeat of ministry and management. I will engage with diverse places and communities of belonging and their leaders in the USA, Great Britain, Ireland, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland. This renewal of mind and imagination will help me discover new ways to enable the future of both my ministry and the congregation of BMPC.
These geographical landscapes and the ministry partners I will meet with along the way will facilitate theological discussions and exploration. Also, I have close friends and family in Inverness, Scotland through the Munro Clan. We will visit these communities and discuss the unique Celtic culture that informs their Christianity. We will explore Northern Ireland, where so many Scots-Irish fled to America and settled in Western North Carolina. While there, we will engage in Northern Ireland’s history of violence, colonization and trauma for insight on generational trauma expressed in the mountain communities of North Carolina. I would love to have significant time to talk with people outside of the church and identify their “places of belonging.”
Alternating retreats with visiting communities of belonging should allow time to absorb what is being learned while relaxing and enjoying family and beautiful natural surroundings. I truly believe that this sabbatical will rejuvenate me and that I will return ready and eager to face the challenges of our future.
June 3 - June 17
College exploration with Sarah Wren
June 18 - July 18
Ireland, England, and Scotland
July 18 - July 30
Visiting museums and places of belonging in the United States
August 1 - August 20
Maine, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland
August 20 - September 6
Family Time
What if I need to reach Mary Katherine during the sabbatical?
Mary Katherine’s sabbatical begins on June 3rd and she will return to the church on September 6.
She will not be checking email during her sabbatical and she will not read emails from the time she is away. All emails sent during her sabbatical will be deleted prior to her return.
She will not be answering texts. She will be out of the country and unable to respond.
She will not be attending any BMPC worship services.
She will not be attending any church functions or be involved in any church business.
Please remember to reach out to staff members, Session and Deacon members with questions, especially with any pastoral concerns you may have.