By Sarah Smith
Collaboration Project Story Team

Life is busy for most of us and  so it’s no wonder that the first thing to go by the wayside is self-care. Pastors and those who work in the church-sphere are no exception to this. In fact they may even have a harder time than others since it is their job to be “selfless”. 

This faulty thinking is damaging and needs to be counteracted. Pastors need to be provided the space to recharge and feel healed of the cares of their work. Some avenues exist - conferences, vacations, and getaways are some but tend to be expensive and time consuming. Even retreats which only last for a day or two can be hard to manage in this busy world.

This past Autumn, Collaboration Project put on an event for just one evening to help combat the overwhelming nature of the world today, bring pastors and their spouses into a space where nothing was asked of them, and provide a community where they could know they were not alone in their work for the Lord. On October 24th, 2019, 32 couples from 29 different churches around the Madison Area came together to rest and be encouraged together for an evening.

It was an event created to foster relationships between pastors and churches led by great example. So many aspects of the night were possible only through the generosity and cooperation of many groups and individuals.

The setting was the picturesque Event Barn at Shire Wood Farm in Oregon, WI where we were hosted and fed by the owners Randy and Susan Alexander. The evening started with a welcome and introduction by Collaboration Project’s Jon Anderson who shared the vision of Collaboration Project and outlined the purpose of the night as “providing pastor care and connection in order to build collaborative relationships” in our city. 

He then handed the mic off to Thrivent Financial, who shared their history and vision for serving churches and Christian non-profits. They provide platforms to help pastors get their events and work done. It was an encouraging story and presentation of their values to further the Kingdom of God. 

Just before dinner we were treated to beautiful worship sung by Terra Allen who has been gifted with an amazing voice which she uses generously to worship the Lord. After she sang, her husband Rev. Marcus Allen, pastor of Mt. Zion Baptist Church, led us in prayer for each other and the city.

Dinner was a family affair- seated family style down long tables. We were fed scrumptious food provided by the Alexanders and served by generous volunteers from Doxa Church. During this time the only request made was that we meet someone new. 

I took full advantage of this directive and bounced to many tables and listened in on great conversations of people finding things in common and discovering new things about each other. Many tables were exchanging numbers and ideas about how we can better come together to serve our city. 

Experiencing the backgrounds of all these diverse people was a treat. All have different histories and hopes, but they all have a passion to serve the Lord and see the world changed by him. Though the group comprised of extroverts and introverts, older and younger, denominational and racial differences, and a variety of backgrounds and experiences, there was joy and fun echoing through that space. 

All of this caused me to reflect on the ideas of collaboration and community. It seems to me that collaboration is our default setting - it's the way the world works. We are a community, a body. God designed us to be together and to lean on each other. His goals cannot be fully accomplished by being silos away from each other.

Our time closed with a word about taking the time to care for yourself in you work by High Point Church's Mike Beresford. He told a deeply affecting story about his own journey from being goal-driven and believing time for himself was a waste to discovering a healthy place and space to care for himself amid this whirlwind world. He shared how Psalm 35 helped him along this journey - that God cares about your wellbeing.

To further serve the community around them, Collaboration Project is hoping and planning to offer two retreats this coming Spring 2020 - one for couples and another for individuals. A further goal is to have four of these retreats by the end of 2021. 

The theme of self-care goes deep alongside the idea of collaboration and community - those who are not caring for themselves will find themselves limited in their care for others. 

Take care.

Sharing these stories is possible thanks to our amazing donors. We invite you to partner with Collaboration Project to help us tell stories that highlight how God is working in and through the local church.