SmorgasBoard: March 5, 2026

Originally referring to a regular (every seven years) break from farming to allow fields to be restored, the concept of a sabbatical is rooted in the Old Testament. In modern times, it refers to the practice of granting professionals time away from their regular duties for rejuvenation and exploratory learning. Ministerial sabbaticals are common in Unitarian Universalism. Our senior minister’s contract allows accrual of one month of sabbatical time each year, and in the past several years First Universalist ministers have taken sabbatical leave.

This year, we have an exciting opportunity to apply for a Clergy Restoration grant from the Lilly Foundation. These grants provide financial support for congregations and their ministers in creating a sabbatical experience that will enrich both the clergy member and the congregation. It is intended, as the application says, to support us in activities that “will make our heart sing.” The Board and Rev. Jen, with terrific logistical support from member Ralph Wyman, are proceeding to complete an application next month to support a total of six months of sabbatical activities in 2027 and 2028. These will be spread out in 2 3-month blocks over the two years.

The theme of the application is “The House That Love Built.” Since our founding, we have sought to build beloved community within and beyond our walls. As our wider community has evolved over those 160+ years, our concept of beloved community has also evolved. In recent years we have strived to expand the circle of love to be truly multi-racial, multi-cultural, and multi-generational. We have also, using the Intercultural Development Inventory as a tool, learned that as a congregation we tend toward minimization, meaning that in the face of cultural difference, we focus on commonalities and universal values. This focus on what we share, while admirable in many ways, can make it hard to recognize and value important cultural diversity, and be a barrier to building authentic and inclusive community across cultures.

While plans are still in early sketch form, we anticipate activities for the minister and the congregation that will allow us to build on the work we have been doing on intercultural development and belonging. We will each, separately and together, seek to better understand our heritage and ourselves so that we can better navigate the tension between minimization and creating an ever-expanding circle of love in our quest to live out our visionary goal of building beloved community. We also anticipate an opportunity for activities of restoration and renewal as we wrestle with the aftermath of congregational and community trauma. Should we receive the grant, we will likely bring together a Sabbatical Team to help plan the congregation’s activities related to the sabbatical. Importantly, the grant will provide funding for additional pastoral time and visiting ministers during the sabbatical to minimize the impact on current staff.

The deadline for submission is March 18. If you have suggestions for activities we can include in the application, please send your ideas to Board President Marc Gorelick at boardchair [at] firstuniv.org.