Dear Oceanside Sanctuary members,
We (Pastors Jason and Jenell) have a personal favor to ask. But first, some background. Over the past year, we have been in conversation with OSC Board and leadership about the possibility of taking a sabbatical leave in 2027. As you may know, clergy commonly take a sabbatical every 6-7 years for a season of personal spiritual reflection and renewal. Doing so also instills a healthy long-term rhythm for the church, deepening our collective resources for resilience, creativity, and cooperation for shared mission.
We have now faithfully served OSC for 10 1/2 years without a sabbatical. While this has been the most joyful and rewarding period of our 30-year ministry, it has also been an intensive period of renovation, transformation, and growth for the church. Today, our congregation is not only much larger in number; more importantly, it is healthier, more resilient, and more impactful than ever before.
With this in mind, we are proposing to take a 3-month sabbatical during the summer of 2027.
During these three months, we plan to visit sacred sites, embark on a 500-mile holy pilgrimage, and explore our individual ancestral roots. We expect to dig deeper wells of identity, belonging, and calling to nurture our ministry mission for the years ahead.
While we are gone, the entire OSC congregation will be invited to explore similar themes here at home: “sacred sites,” “holy pilgrimage,” and “ancestral roots.” How might we all – individually and collectively – dig deeper wells of identity, belonging, and calling for the road ahead?
That brings us to the favor: Could you please take a few minutes to share your thoughts on this plan below? Your input is so very important to us. We are also writing a grant request to the Lilly Foundation to fund this sabbatical leave and your input would be incredibly valuable for securing this grant.
Sincerely,
Revs Jason & Jenell Coker