Hello Villagers,

In a few weeks Layne and I will be headed out on sabbatical, and we wanted to share what God is inviting us into and offer some ways you can be praying for us.

First, at The Village our rule is for pastors to take a sabbatical every 7-10 years. This has lined up well with both where we are as a community and some of the desire I feel to spend some time resting. It has been almost 8 years since I was ordained as an elder at The Village. In that time, Layne and I have experienced a lot of ups and downs from the birth of our three children, to the loss of close friendships, and the complications of pastoring in quarantine during the COVID pandemic. I found myself feeling very weary and wanting to isolate toward the end of last year, which impacted the ways I entered into ministry and family relationships. Engaging with my wife, fellow pastors, and pilgrim group, as well as some care outside The Village, has been very rich and healing, especially over the last six months. Alongside that process I have been meditating on our community liturgies and have been wanting to put together a book to collect some of those prayers and rhythms we practice at The Village. This is one of my projects for sabbatical. I am grateful to be in a community that is offering me time to rest, seek care, and work on something for which I wouldn’t normally have space or time.

Second, as we have walked through ministry and become parents, Layne has found it more and more difficult to be working, both in the stress of her job and the practicals of being a mom and a pastor’s spouse. The last couple years especially have weighed on our family in the unpredictability of Layne’s job and the anxiety it produced. We long to have Layne be able to be home with our kids and for both of us to have more space for pastoral care through hospitality in our home. Through a long season of prayer and seeking God, we have decided that Layne will be leaving her job at the end of June. We are excited for Layne to not be working as we head into sabbatical and will be spending time during sabbatical developing new family rhythms. However, this situation significantly affects our lives, especially with the loss of income—$1500 a month—and the health insurance that Layne’s job provided. To partly mitigate this, The Village is increasing my salary by $8,400 a year ($700/month). This adjustment helps keep us below certain income thresholds, allowing us to apply for AHCCCS (AZ state health insurance). We understand that this isn’t a long-term solution to our insurance needs, and The Village is exploring various ways to provide health insurance without dramatically impacting our income. When we prayed with the elders and their spouses in December about our situation, we sensed God calling us to risk and trust Him to care for us as our Provider. We are nervous to be stepping into the uncertainty of this new season, but are confident that God will provide in new and abundant ways.

There are many other stories that we could share about this process, like the songs we sing with our kids, God providing through the generosity of our community, and the Holy Spirit speaking in leadership meetings. For now, however, we know that we are in a community that prays for its pastors and their families, and we deeply long for those prayers now. Here are some ways you can pray:

1. For rest and restoration during our sabbatical, for a deep meeting with Jesus. As Paul says in Ephesians, that we, “being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

2. For family rhythms and schedules, so that both Layne and I have space to spend time sitting with Jesus and investing deeply in our children. In addition, pray for time, inspiration, and creativity for my writing.

3. For our finances. We believe that God is calling us into this, but we are nervous and we still have some things to work out along the way.

4. For Pastor Eric, Pastor Sue, and all of the leaders at The Village. As you pray for our leadership during my sabbatical, I hope that you will be asking for ways to support and care for them.

Thank you all for joining Layne and I in prayer and for being on this journey with us. Please feel free to talk to us if you have any questions or would like to know more. We are excited for what God is doing and as you pray, we would love to hear anything you feel the Holy Spirit has to offer.

In Christ,
Mark and Layne
(and Saoirse, Thomas, and Orla)