Several years ago, a new sabbatical and replenishment policy for The Ridge staff was announced. This time is purposefully designed to help our staff replenish and be ready to continue to do whatever it takes to reach our community for Christ.  

Many of our staff have had the opportunity to have this time, and soon, Adam Johnson, the Lead Pastor here at The Ridge, will have an opportunity to take a 6-week sabbatical. We're so excited that Adam gets to spend intentional time with his family and with God. Often, when we talk about someone taking a sabbatical, we're asked if everything is okay. Sometimes sabbaticals are used because of negative things going on behind the scenes, and it’s a fair and natural question. Our answer is a wholehearted, “Yes, everything is more than okay!” We're so grateful for Adam, and we know he is delighted to have the privilege to serve here with such amazing people and an even more amazing God. 

A sabbatical can be a significant and healthy thing. As we’ve studied and put together this policy for staff, we’ve discovered that sabbaticals can help our relationship with God. There are a lot of different ways this happens, but we believe taking time off pushes us to recognize that God is in control. It can help our team navigate the difficulties of ministry by replenishing. Time away allows different people to step into different roles for a short period of time. Sabbatical helps our relationships with family and friends. Sabbatical is an amazing way to care for our team. Our hope is that this is just scratching the surface of what God will do for Adam.

You might be wondering, why now? Well, our answer is that we're preparing for next year to be an incredible year. As you have probably heard, we're working on launching another campus in Decatur County as a part of our Reach More campaign. This is something we are incredibly excited about, and we can't wait to reach more people in that community. But with Adam taking a sabbatical now, he will be able to focus on taking steps to launch that new campus next year. He'll have an opportunity to return rested and ready for what we believe will be an incredible next season for The Ridge.

Adam will be out of the office from Memorial Day to Independence Day. Could we invite you to say a prayer for him and his family as you read this? If you have any questions while he’s gone, feel free to contact The Ridge office and we’ll point you in the right direction.