"Ministry is demanding. Serving the Lord and others can be like a roller coaster with its ups and downs. Therefore, prioritizing personal time weekly and extended time seasonally to unplug from the demands for some personal soul care is not only important, but a necessity," writes Bill Goodwin.

In the overall life and ministry of a church, the gift of a pastoral sabbatical is a relatively small thing, and yet the benefits it reaps are abundant and lasting. Rev. Christian Ruch writes about who all benefits from a pastoral sabbatical.

"Sabbath is the only one of the Ten Commandments that we brush off as not really that important. But it’s the longest and most descriptive commandment, the hinge words between how we relate to God and how we relate to each other. It’s not a throw-away comment. One day in seven, God says, you stop all work, because you are not to be defined by your output. You are all simply and completely human beings, alongside one another, all beloved children of God," writes Rev. Kara Root, Lead Pastor at Lake Nokomis Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis.