If you have served on a committee this spring, celebrated graduations, prepared for summer missions, organized a VBS, prepared for a move or pastoral transition, attended Annual Conference, or simply show up to worship faithfully week after week, you may be feeling tired. And you are probably not alone.
Summer can feel like a natural exhale, but for many church leaders and volunteers, the calendar barely slows down. That is why this is a good moment to talk about something the church has always known but sometimes forgets to practice: sabbath.
Sabbath Is a Gift, Not Another To-Do
In the busyness of church life, it is easy to treat rest as something you earn when the work is done. But the work is never quite done. Sabbath reframes that entirely.
Sabbath sits at the heart of Wesleyan spirituality not as a rule to follow, but as a practice that shapes who we are. When we stop, regularly and intentionally, we are making a statement of trust: that the world does not depend on our constant effort, and that God is at work even when we are not. In a culture that prizes productivity, that is a countercultural act.
Sabbath Is Not Just for the Individual
Here is something worth sitting with: sabbath in Scripture was never only a personal practice. It was communal. The command to rest extended to households, to workers, even to the land. That means sabbath is not just a spiritual discipline to figure out on your own. It belongs to the church as a community.
What would it look like for your congregation to practice sabbath together? Not just individually, but as a body?
What Does Sabbath Look Like in Real Life?
Whitney R. Simpson, a United Methodist deaconess and spiritual director, put it plainly: we do not simply need a day off from work, we need margin in our lives and rest around the edges. She also offered this: sabbath can be a five-minute meditation, and it does not have to be in a perfect, blissful, ideal place. It is what works in your life. (UMC.org)
That is permission worth receiving. Sabbath does not require a retreat center or a cleared schedule. It requires intention.
One Practical Step: Rhythm for Ministry Teams
One of the most concrete ways a church can build sabbath into its culture is through intentional calendar rhythms. That means building rest into the life of committees, ministry teams, and volunteer groups, not just encouraging individuals to rest on their own time.
Consider trying one of these this summer:
- Designate one month (August may be a natural fit) as a no-new-meetings month for standing committees. Let teams rest between program seasons.
- Build a deliberate pause between major events. After VBS, after a big mission project, after a summer kick-off celebration, name it: “We rest now.”
- Invite your volunteer teams into a short sabbath practice together, a brief moment of quiet before or after a meeting, rather than jumping straight to business.
- Plan ahead so rest is actually possible. When the fall calendar is set, block recovery time the same way you block major events.
Digging Deeper
For those ready to go deeper, two books are worth your time. Walter Brueggemann’s “Sabbath as Resistance: Saying No to the Culture of Now” is short, accessible, and widely recommended in United Methodist circles. It makes a compelling case for why sabbath is not just a personal practice but a prophetic stance. Andrew Root and Blair Bertrand’s “When Church Stops Working” takes a different angle, arguing that church health does not depend on more programming or innovation but on learning to stop and actively wait for God to act. Together, they make a strong pairing for a leadership team, a book study, or a pastor looking for theological grounding on rest and rhythm in ministry.
Your One Step This Week
You do not have to overhaul your schedule. Start with one thing:
- Name one time this week when you will stop. Put it on the calendar like any other appointment.
- Invite your team or small group to do the same and check in about it next time you meet.
- Bring the question to your church council or leadership team: where does our church calendar make room for rest?
- Consider a congregational conversation about sabbath rhythms in the fall planning season.
Rest is not the opposite of faithful ministry. It is part of it. You were not made to run without stopping. Neither was your church. This summer, let sabbath be less of a concept and more of a practice. Start small. Start now.
Resources and Referenced Articles
Want to explore sabbath further, personally or as a congregation? These are good starting points. They are also articles/books we’ve referenced and/or used when writing this resourcing article.
- “Sabbath Rest Isn’t Just for Sundays” (UMC.org)
- The United Methodist Rule of Life (Discipleship Ministries)
- “Do United Methodists Observe Sabbath on Sunday?” (UMC.org)
- Sabbath as Resistance: Saying No to the Culture of Now by Walter Brueggemann
- When Church Stops Working: A Future for Your Congregation beyond More Money, Programs, and Innovation by Andrew Root, Blair D. Bertrand
AI was used to brainstorm and polish this article.