From Reverend Jeff Cover...            

Not long ago I announced that Central had received a grant from the Lilly Foundation for me to go on sabbatical.  You might remember that, some months ago, a team of people--Kevin Riley, Sarah Johnson, Cris King, Chip Goldsberry, Bill Smutz and Linda Conner—helped me put the grant proposal together.  It was a much stronger proposal for their excellent input.

This was one of 40 successful Clergy Renewal Program applications in the state of Indiana this year.

Many of you have been curious about the timing of my sabbatical, and there have been numerous questions about how long I’ll be gone and about what I’ll be doing for the sabbatical.

My sabbatical will take place next summer, May 9-August 13, 2011. I selected this time in order to be least disruptive to the work and ministry of Central.

  Those of us making grant proposals were asked to answer the question, “What Will Make Your Heart Sing?”  One thing that makes my heart sing is being in the presence of ancient places of worship.  Next to going to Greece and Scotland (both of which I have had the privilege to visit), I have always wanted to visit France.  I will have the opportunity next May, when Debbie and I will go there.  Highlights for me will be the chance to see the Neolithic standing stones of Carnac on the Brittany coast and the replica of the Cro-Magnon cave paintings of Lascaux.

We will also visit the Taize’ community in eastern France and take part in the life of the community there.  Many of you know of my involvement in helping to organize the downtown churches’ Taize’ services.  This will give us the opportunity to see this Protestant/Roman Catholic community first-hand, and hopefully enrich our services when I return to Lafayette.  Recently the downtown churches committed to continuing the services through 2011.

We will spend some time in Paris.  Of particular interest to Debbie will be a visit to Monet’s gardens at Giverny.  

I have long been fascinated by the cathedral at Chartres.  There we hope to see the famous Chartres 7-circuit labyrinth and soak up the incredible medieval architecture, leaded glass and carvings.

From Paris we will fly to Rome, from where we will launch a trip to see some of the great sites of Italy, among them Venice, Assisi and Florence.

Next summer I also hope to complete and begin marketing a book I have been working on now for nearly twenty years, a book about Biblical characters who are called to public life.  From their stories I hope to glean insights useful to modern people as they consider the challenges and commitments necessary to being faithful in the public realm.

Toward the end of the summer I plan to go to Ghost Ranch in New Mexico to take a class in hand-built pottery making.   We plan to meet up  with my father and his wife for a few days.

I’ll return to work just in time for the Sunday School Kick-Off brunch with which we begin a new Sunday School year.

About 40% of the grant is to be used by Central Presbyterian Church.

The sabbatical committee will soon meet to plan in more detail the church’s portion of this time of study and renewal.  Plans at this point call for some special speakers to come and lead the congregation in introducing practices to enrich its spiritual life. Those will be held in the summer and fall of 2011.

Of course, the sabbatical will necessitate a shift in some of the staff’s responsibilities to help cover the work while I am gone.  Those details will be worked out over the next several months.

I hope to come back renewed indeed by this sabbatical experience, my first in thirty-two years of ministry.  I can already see the possibilities of classes on the Christian citizen and public life and on our discoveries about the faiths of ancient peoples.  I will also be excited to hear about your discoveries about spiritual life during the time that I am gone.

In the meantime, I continue to welcome your questions and comments.

I’m hoping that this can be an experience of renewal for all of us.

                                                                                 

Affectionately, Jeff


       

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