January 2021 – Rev. Dr. Sandra Fees

As we begin 2021, I’ll be on sabbatical. It’s an interesting time to take a sabbatical. I’ve been spending time thinking about these coming months and how to spend this time in ways that provide spiritual, emotional, and intellectual renewal.

I’m looking forward to some simple pleasures – like cooking more, putting together puzzles, and playing cribbage. I expect to read more novels and write more poetry, as well as take an online writing class. However, I do expect to spend far fewer hours on zoom! I hope to paint my home study, but first I’ll need to settle on a color, which is part of the fun and a project in and of itself. And while I won’t be doing any international travel, I do expect to have a few adventures locally and regionally, including spending some time at an ashram in the Catskills. So much, of course, depends on the pandemic and the weather. The truth is I’m content to live in the now, finding my way in the months ahead, putting the pieces together as I go.

As I begin this sabbatical, I do so knowing that the congregation is in capable hands. We have incredible leadership in our Board, M&O, committees, and staff. Rev. Sage Olnick, our part-time sabbatical minister, will provide a trusted ministerial presence. This will be a time of growth and learning for the congregation, a time when you all come together even more than ever to engage the ministries of the church.

I’m truly grateful for this time to catch my breath and to be. I’ll miss you. And I’m hopeful that upon my return – or soon after – there will be ways for us to gather in person once again either in small groups or even possibly larger ones.

Yours in faith and love,

Rev. Sandra