Pastor Melissa Stoller Sabbatical

The SWPA Synod “Sabbatical Policy for Synod Staff” is found on page C-65 of the current policy manual. The policy expects that assistants to the Bishop “shall take a sabbatical of from one to three months” after having served in the Synod Office for six consecutive years. Pastor Stoller began her call as Director Evangelical Mission in 2017.

PASTOR Stoller WILL BE ON SABBATICAL February 18, 2023, TO May 18, 2024.

The synod’s model “Sabbatical and Health Leave Policy” notes that a sabbatical “is an opportunity … [for a ministry] leader to experience a renewal of oneself and of one’s mission… a time for reflections, spiritual re-encounter, renewal and community.”

RENEWAL OF SELF

A key to renewal of self for Pastor Stoller will be to rest, read, and spend time with family. She also plans to use this time to catalog and scan into digital format the handwritten sermons of her late father which were handed down to her.

RENEWAL OF MISSION

Pastor Stoller has planned a multi-part project around the theme of transitions. One aspect will be a weeklong intensive study program with Lutheran Transitional Ministry Association (LuTMA). Her hope is to learn how this intentional process can benefit congregational health and lifecycles.

Continuing with the theme of transition, Pastor Stoller has observed a deep need for pastors who either are transitioning to bi-vocational ministry, on leave from call, or retirement to translate their skills into a resume for secular sector jobs. Her hope is to develop a general guide for individuals to translate the gifts and skills that they have been describing on a rostered minister profile to a resume.

Lastly, Pastor Stoller will be studying with the lens of synod transitions as we approach a new bishop election in June 2025, so she can notice the systems at work in our synod during this time and develop resources for our upcoming transition.