Since I’ve been gone from Good News Church this summer, I figured that there would be a lot of people wondering what the Villellas have been doing. Consider this my report.
Firstly, if you didn’t know, Good News Church has a practice where the pastors take a sabbatical once every seven years. This past summer was my turn. Here are some of the main things we were hoping would happen during this sabbatical:
Firstly, if you didn’t know, Good News Church has a practice where the pastors take a sabbatical once every seven years. This past summer was my turn. Here are some of the main things we were hoping would happen during this sabbatical:
- Rest
- Family Time
- Non-Church Work
- Visiting Other Churches
- Renewed Hunger for Ministry
So, I’ll comment on these five things in that order.
1. REST: This is one of the biggest things that was supposed to happen. Just like God told His people to rest one day out of seven (Ex. 20:9-10) and even to rest the land one year out of seven (Ex. 23:10-11) it seemed right to us that it would be good for the long-term health of the ministry of Good News if I stepped away from the ministry for a little while.
I did virtually no work for a period of several weeks back during the end of May and the beginning of June. Our family went on a cruise and it was wonderful. I do feel rejuvenated and ready to return to ministry for another seven years. In fact, my preference would be to continue to minister at Good News Church until I’m old and/or dead.
2. FAMILY TIME: Bartow MacDonald (one of our elders and community group leaders) once told me that children spell love: T-I-M-E. One great thing about this sabbatical is that I was able to be with my children virtually non-stop for the whole summer. We made many wonderful memories including white-water rafting in Georgia and seeing our first Broadway show in New York. I hope my children look back on this time with fondness and that it affects the way that they spend time with their own children one day.
3. NON-CHURCH WORK: I knew going into it that the summer would be too long of a time period to just sit around and accomplish nothing – at least for my personality. So, going into this we had planned to do farm work around our house, and I planned on trying to write two books.
1. REST: This is one of the biggest things that was supposed to happen. Just like God told His people to rest one day out of seven (Ex. 20:9-10) and even to rest the land one year out of seven (Ex. 23:10-11) it seemed right to us that it would be good for the long-term health of the ministry of Good News if I stepped away from the ministry for a little while.
I did virtually no work for a period of several weeks back during the end of May and the beginning of June. Our family went on a cruise and it was wonderful. I do feel rejuvenated and ready to return to ministry for another seven years. In fact, my preference would be to continue to minister at Good News Church until I’m old and/or dead.
2. FAMILY TIME: Bartow MacDonald (one of our elders and community group leaders) once told me that children spell love: T-I-M-E. One great thing about this sabbatical is that I was able to be with my children virtually non-stop for the whole summer. We made many wonderful memories including white-water rafting in Georgia and seeing our first Broadway show in New York. I hope my children look back on this time with fondness and that it affects the way that they spend time with their own children one day.
3. NON-CHURCH WORK: I knew going into it that the summer would be too long of a time period to just sit around and accomplish nothing – at least for my personality. So, going into this we had planned to do farm work around our house, and I planned on trying to write two books.
- Farm Work
- We ended up planting 27 bushes (all different varieties of blueberry) and 17 trees (citrus, cherry, elm, etc.) around our house.
- We also had a chicken coop built and just started raising a flock of new chickens; it will be great to be chicken tenders again.
- Writing Books
- I did end up writing the two books that I set out to write; in fact, I’ve even sold both of them to a publisher (WordCrafts Press in Cody, Wyoming) and they are set to be released in the second quarter of 2026.
- One of them is a written version of the How To Handle Relational Drama series that I preached back in January-April of this year.
- The other is a fiction book about a fifteen-year old boy who solves a murder case.
4. VISITING OTHER CHURCHES: I don’t know if you’ve ever thought about it, but pastors don’t get many opportunities to see what it’s like at other churches. This summer we got to visit several of them. I also got to spend several Sundays going to the same church – the church that is closest to my house. Culturally, it’s very different from Good News Church, and I’m glad I got to spend multiple Sundays there.
Oh, yeah, and I also got to preach at the interdenominational church service on the cruise ship that we were on. I taught on Galatians 4:13-15 to a group of about 60 strangers who showed up for a church service on the boat.
Oh, yeah, and I also got to preach at the interdenominational church service on the cruise ship that we were on. I taught on Galatians 4:13-15 to a group of about 60 strangers who showed up for a church service on the boat.
I suppose this is a good time to tell you how my family has missed you all. Some of my kids started saying “I can’t wait to go back to Good News” around the eight-week mark. I am happy that that is the case.
5. RENEWED HUNGER FOR MINISTRY: The book that inspired Good News Church’s decision to do pastoral sabbaticals is titled, “Leading On Empty,” and was written by Wayne Cordeiro. And one of the things he mentions is that a season of ceasing to do a particular ministry can help renew a person’s “hunger” for that ministry.
That made sense to me. Teaching the Bible (particularly if you are the one writing the content and not merely re-saying what someone else wrote) can get a bit tiring (mentally) after a while. The same goes for leading, caring, or even maintaining a large number of relationships. It’s good to take a break every once in a while.
For me, I think it was around mid-July that I realized that I needed to get back to the ministry that I was doing before. I was mowing my lawn at the time. I was also praying. And in that moment, it dawned on me afresh that working on a farm is good, but it’s not the entirety of what God has called me to do. I realized/remembered that there are certain ministries (weekly Bible teaching in particular) that God has for me to accomplish and that I need to get back to it.
So, that is my plan. I am anticipating being back to preach at Good News Church this Sunday, August 17. I plan to do a topical sermon that was inspired by a conversation that I had with a non-church friend while I was on sabbatical. After that, I intend to pick up in Genesis wherever Doug and Daniel left off.
Lastly, I wanted to use this space to publicly thank those who filled in for me and Heidi while we were gone. Thank you, Doug and Daniel, for all that you did this summer so that I was able to get away without any anxiety because I knew the church was in good hands. That same gratitude also extends to the elders and staff of Good News, and every other person who serves God by serving in some other aspect of Good News Church. It is good and healthy to know that the church does not revolve around me, but that “each part does its work” (Ephesians 4:16.)
I look forward to seeing you Sunday! I think the sermon is going to be titled, “The Something Is a Someone, And Jesus Rose From the Dead.”
5. RENEWED HUNGER FOR MINISTRY: The book that inspired Good News Church’s decision to do pastoral sabbaticals is titled, “Leading On Empty,” and was written by Wayne Cordeiro. And one of the things he mentions is that a season of ceasing to do a particular ministry can help renew a person’s “hunger” for that ministry.
That made sense to me. Teaching the Bible (particularly if you are the one writing the content and not merely re-saying what someone else wrote) can get a bit tiring (mentally) after a while. The same goes for leading, caring, or even maintaining a large number of relationships. It’s good to take a break every once in a while.
For me, I think it was around mid-July that I realized that I needed to get back to the ministry that I was doing before. I was mowing my lawn at the time. I was also praying. And in that moment, it dawned on me afresh that working on a farm is good, but it’s not the entirety of what God has called me to do. I realized/remembered that there are certain ministries (weekly Bible teaching in particular) that God has for me to accomplish and that I need to get back to it.
So, that is my plan. I am anticipating being back to preach at Good News Church this Sunday, August 17. I plan to do a topical sermon that was inspired by a conversation that I had with a non-church friend while I was on sabbatical. After that, I intend to pick up in Genesis wherever Doug and Daniel left off.
Lastly, I wanted to use this space to publicly thank those who filled in for me and Heidi while we were gone. Thank you, Doug and Daniel, for all that you did this summer so that I was able to get away without any anxiety because I knew the church was in good hands. That same gratitude also extends to the elders and staff of Good News, and every other person who serves God by serving in some other aspect of Good News Church. It is good and healthy to know that the church does not revolve around me, but that “each part does its work” (Ephesians 4:16.)
I look forward to seeing you Sunday! I think the sermon is going to be titled, “The Something Is a Someone, And Jesus Rose From the Dead.”
