August 1, 2025
Beloved of God,
Some of us tend to work too much. Some of us tend to work too little. Whatever our inclinations, God wants us both to work and to rest.
Having just made the human being, God put Adam to work, to “till” and “keep” the Garden of Eden. But, from the beginning, God instituted for every human being a day of rest every seventh day. And, not long thereafter, God instituted for the land “a year of rest” every seventh year. In other words, after six years of there being sowing, pruning and gathering on the land, there is to be a year in which it lay fallow. This seventh year is also called the land’s “sabbath”. (See Leviticus 25:1-5.)
Just as rest is God’s blessing for people and land, so it is for churches!
A church, of course, can never have rest in the sense of being 100% free from work. There are some things a church should never stop doing. It should, for example, always keep worshiping God and taking care of people. But the land also, in one of its sabbath, can’t be completely free from work either. Exodus 23:11 says the poor are to glean the land’s unattended growth in a sabbath year. Likewise, individuals, in their sabbath, can’t be completely from work. Mark 2:23-28 says on the sabbath you may work to alleviate hunger; and Exodus 23:4-5 says on the sabbath you must work to relieve an animal in distress.
Nevertheless, it is good for a church to slow down and let go of some ministries for a while. A quieter, less active period can do the community a world of good. After Covenant’s previous two “sabbatical” Augusts (in 2023 and 2024), many expressed their appreciation for the opportunity to catch their breath and to receive from God refreshment, rejuvenation and some new perspectives in some different ways.
This August, Covenant will, for three weeks, take a sabbatical break from almost all of its weekday ministries. It will, however, do all the Sunday morning things it always does; and, yes, protocols are in place for dealing with the unexpected and with any emergency needs that come up.
We pray that, despite missing some normally regular activities, you will be rewarded in your “down” time. We also pray that you make every effort to stay in touch and participate in Sunday worship and Sunday School. You might end up feeling all the more grateful for sharing Sunday mornings with your church family!
Warmly in Christ,
Pastors Adele & Rob Langworthy
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