Sabbatical Outline

 Hello Friends,

Below is a copy of my newsletter article that outlined my sabbatical for this summer.  I include it here as my first posting.  I will ty to be faithful to include a new posting every few days throughout the summer in order to share with you what I am learning and how we are in this journey together.  I hope that you enjoy.

A Note from . . . Cameron DahlDear Friends,                 One of the wonderful gifts of First Baptist Church to each pastoral team member is the opportunity for sabbatical leave every five years.  It is hard for me to believe, but I have just passed my five year anniversary of ministering with you.  In a few short weeks, I will be on sabbatical for two and a half months.  I will pursue three things: a Journey Inward, a Journey Outward and a Journey Onward. Four times this summer, I will immerse myself in the ministry of a church that is a little farther along in growth than we are (Journey Onward).  At the end of May, I will spend several days at Northpoint Community church in Alpharetta, GA.  There Mary Beth and I will learn from their excellence in worship production from outstanding, professional quality drama and video creation to excellence in music, sound production and lighting.  We will spend three days with the production staff of Northpoint.  In June I will spend 10 days at Willow Creek Community Church in Schaumburg, IL.  I will be staying in the basement of  friends of the Ockenfels and will have the opportunity to go behind closed doors of several rehearsals and planning meetings.  My focus will be how Willow Creek sets up the structure of their worship teams and again look at the excellence of presentation.  Later in June I will be traveling to Saddleback Church in Mission Viejo, CA.  I will spend some time on the campus looking at the different worship venues and how they handle multiple locations as welling as participating in their Purpose Driven Worship Conference.  I will finish out my church studies at South Main Baptist Church in Houston, TX.  They have a tradition of excellence in traditional worship.  I will spend time shadowing one of my mentors and dialoguing about excellence in a traditional setting and how they balance traditional and contemporary worship needs.On the weeks in between these immersions, I will spend time reading on spiritual formation, reflecting on my immersion experiences and planning for the next few years of worship ministry at First Baptist (Journey Inward).  I hope to spend significant periods of time in quiet and solitude, refreshing my spirit.  Several of the books that I plan to read are: Blue Like Jazz, A Guide to Prayer for All God’s People, and Simplicity.  You will be able to read some of my reflections on a web log (“blog”) that I will be setting up in the next few weeks.  I will post an entry every few days.  This will be a way for me to stay connected to my church family.  In the next newsletter I will print the web address where you can view my thoughts and learning throughout the summer.  If you do not have access to the internet, Wanda Clark, would be happy to make a copy of my latest entry available upon request.The final component, Journey Outward, was intended to be a mission trip to Rio de Janeiro, but that has not materialized.  I may use that last segment to participate in a mission trip to Wales with the Tennessee Baptist Male Chorale.  That is still in process.Thank you for the gift of sabbatical.  It will be a time of refreshing and renewal.  Thank you.  And please know that I am already missing you. Cameron