Rest, Reflect, Restore: Contextual Education Retreats Invite Future Ministry Leaders to Embrace Sabbath

Through gatherings in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Texas, ministry interns and supervisors explored the importance of rest, reflection, and community in sustaining a lifetime of service.

What does it mean to practice Sabbath in a vocation devoted to serving others? For ministry leaders accustomed to caring for their congregations and communities, making room for rest can be both a challenge and an essential part of their calling.

That question was at the heart of three recent contextual education retreats held in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Texas. Centered on the theme “Sabbath: Rest, Reflect, Restore,” the gatherings invited ministry interns and their supervisors to step away from their daily responsibilities, deepen their relationships with colleagues, and consider how practices of rest and renewal can sustain them throughout their ministries.

Deacon Marji Shannon, Director of the Theological Education for Emerging Ministries (TEEM) program at LSTC, helped facilitate these gatherings as part of the seminary’s ongoing commitment to experiential theological education and the formation of resilient, reflective ministry leaders.

Together, the three retreats brought 21 interns and 18 supervisors into intentional community. In Marathon, Wisconsin, eight Master of Divinity interns and seven supervisors gathered at a retreat center, representing Wartburg and Luther seminaries. Another eight interns and seven supervisors met in Tiskilwa, Illinois, representing LSTC, Luther, and Wartburg. The Illinois gathering included participants from Master of Divinity, TEEM, affiliate, and deacon formation pathways. In Austin, Texas, five interns and four supervisors representing Luther and Wartburg gathered at a local Lutheran church.

Although the locations and participants varied, each retreat offered an opportunity to nurture relationships that extend beyond the boundaries of a single internship or seminary.

Practicing Sabbath, Sustaining Ministry

The theme of Sabbath emerged from a collaborative effort among contextual education colleagues at seminaries across the country. Two years ago, the group began developing shared retreat materials to strengthen their collective work and create meaningful opportunities for reflection among interns and supervisors.

For Shannon, the emphasis on rest speaks to a persistent challenge in congregational leadership: the expectation that pastors and other ministry leaders must always be available to others, often at the expense of their own well-being.

“We have found that many pastors still do not think that taking a Sabbath or time for themselves is important to their ministry,” Shannon explained. “They continue to over function and burn themselves out when, taking intermittent breaks can actually put them in a better place or mindset to minister to others.”

The retreats encouraged participants to reconsider that relationship between service and self-care, recognizing that spiritual leadership requires intentional practices of renewal.

“My Contextual Education colleagues and I hope that by continuing to lift up the practice of sabbath and modeling healthy work lives, our students will enter their ministry careers with hope and energy to serve for a lifetime,” Shannon said.

Throughout the gatherings, participants were encouraged to unplug, breathe deeply, engage their senses, practice mindfulness, nurture creativity, and simply rest. Rather than treating Sabbath as an occasional luxury, the retreats framed it as a foundational practice of Christian ministry and communal well-being.

Finding Rest in Scripture and Community

Matthew 14:22–25 provided a scriptural foundation for the retreats. In the passage, Jesus withdraws to pray following his ministry among the crowds, even as his disciples struggle against the wind in their boat.

For Shannon, the passage offers a meaningful example of the importance of stepping away, even when the needs of others remain pressing.

“This scripture shows Jesus, after ministering to the crowd of people, taking time for himself to be alone with God and to pray,” she explained.

Participants engaged the passage through lectio divina, a contemplative practice of reading and reflecting on scripture, and shared their reflections with one another during worship.

The retreats combined structured conversation with opportunities for individual reflection. Interns and supervisors gathered in separate groups for three facilitated sessions, exploring their experiences and the opportunities and challenges of ministry formation. Shared meals, evening devotions, and closing Eucharistic worship provided additional opportunities to strengthen community.

Between sessions, participants could walk nearby trails, engage in spiritual reflection, take a nap, or spend time in conversation with colleagues.

These unstructured moments were as important as the formal programming. They offered participants opportunities to experience the kind of Sabbath practices they were being encouraged to carry into their future ministries.

Building a Community of Care

Beyond the theme of rest, the retreats served another important purpose: helping interns and supervisors develop relationships that can sustain them long after their internships conclude.

Students on internship are required to attend at least two area cluster retreats, which bring together participants from different seminaries and ministry settings. LSTC and Wartburg Theological Seminary share responsibility for coordinating retreats across parts of Regions 4 and 5, alternating coverage of the Texas, Arkansas, and Oklahoma area and the Nebraska and Kansas area.

Shannon emphasized that the gatherings create opportunities for interns to reflect with peers who understand the particular joys and challenges of ministry formation. Supervisors, meanwhile, can exchange insights and offer guidance to colleagues who are newer to mentoring interns.

These connections also help model the importance of collegial relationships as a lifelong practice.

One reflection proved especially resonant with participants:

“Your superpower as a leader in the church is creating an eco-system of self-care and wellbeing, all of which Sabbath is a part of.”

Shannon observed that the language of a “superpower” helped participants recognize personal well-being not as something separate from effective ministry, but as one of its essential strengths.

“An eco-system is made up of different parts working together to function as a whole and I think this idea is reflected in the design of the ELCA’s Wholeness Wheel,” she explained. “Striving for balance in each area of the wheel brings a balance to the person as a whole.”

The reflection encouraged participants to understand well-being holistically, recognizing the interconnected dimensions of physical, emotional, social, and spiritual health.

Celebrating the Continuing Impact of LSTC Alumni

The Texas gathering also offered Shannon an opportunity to reconnect with two LSTC alumni whose ministries reflect the lasting importance of contextual education: Rev. Carolyn Albert Donovan and Rev. Kyle Rouze.

Both completed their Master of Divinity studies at LSTC during Shannon’s time in the Contextual Education Office, and both have continued supporting the formation of future ministry leaders.

“Both alumni came through LSTC’s MDiv Program during my time in Contextual Education, so I’ve known them for a long time and have an insight into their gifts and strengths,” Shannon shared.

When Donovan first approached LSTC about hosting an intern, Shannon recognized the gifts she could bring to the role of supervisor. Over the years, Donovan has mentored several interns, including students from other seminaries.

Rouze, meanwhile, serves at a congregation with a longstanding commitment to theological education. Shannon noted that the congregation has hosted approximately 40 interns from ELCA seminaries over the years, and Rouze is now stepping into the role of lead supervisor.

Their continued involvement illustrates the generational impact of contextual education: graduates who were once shaped by supervised ministry experiences are now helping guide the next generation of church leaders.

Carrying Sabbath Beyond the Retreat

As interns prepare for lives of service in congregations and other ministry contexts, the lessons of these retreats extend well beyond a few days of rest.

The gatherings offered a reminder that sustainable ministry is rooted not only in theological knowledge and practical experience, but also in relationships, reflection, and practices that sustain the whole person.

Through worship, conversation, shared meals, and moments of stillness, interns and supervisors experienced a vision of leadership that makes room for both service and renewal.

For LSTC, this work reflects a commitment to preparing ministry leaders who can care for their communities while also recognizing the importance of caring for themselves.

And for the future pastors, deacons, and other leaders who participated, the invitation remains an enduring one: to rest, reflect, restore, and carry those practices into a lifetime of faithful ministry.