OM Sabbatical Reflection Questionnaire

Please set aside at least 30 minutes to reflect on your recent sabbatical experience. Your reflection will help us to guide others through the creation and implementation of a sabbatical process that is suited to the various needs of those working within OM. Please feel free to answer those questions which seem most helpful and to skip those that don't seem relevant.

You’ll receive a copy of your responses by email when you click “Submit.”

Name

First Name

Last Name

Support from Organization

Prior to your sabbatical, what kind of support did you receive from your organization(coaching, funding, planning, communication about expectations, communication with donors)? What kind of support didn’t you get that would have been helpful?

What about at the end of your sabbatical, before re-entering ministry?

Support from others (family, co-workers, friends, spiritual directors)

What kind of support did you have from other people? What was helpful? What would have been helpful that you didn’t have?

Expectations

Why did you feel you needed a sabbatical? Why did you take it? What expectations did you have going into sabbatical? Which of them were met, and which weren’t? What didn’t happen that you wish would have? What positive things happened that you didn’t expect? Is there anything that would have helped you shape more accurate/realistic expectations? What helped/would have helped you be open to God’s movement in your sabbatical?

Breakthroughs

What was the hardest thing about starting sabbatical? Ending? Is there anything that could have helped that be easier?

What helped you break into the heart of your sabbatical—the place where you were both at rest and saw God at work?

What helped you to enter into rest? What prevented you from resting?

Is there anything you could have given yourself permission to do (or not do) that would have been helpful? What permission would you want to give to others beginning a sabbatical?

Family

What was your sabbatical like for your family? Is there anything that could have made that easier/better? How/did your sabbatical help your family grow? What helped that? Were there any challenges that sabbatical surfaced for your family? What helped you address them (or would have helped you address them)?

Takeaways

What have been the key things that you’ve brought from sabbatical back into regular life? What helped you do that? What was challenging?

How are you maintaining a practice of rest?

What has been the fruit of your sabbatical, and what has helped nurture that fruit?