Dear Harvest Family,

As our family prepares to leave for our first sabbatical from May 4 to June 17, we are so deeply grateful. A decade ago, this May, I graduated from Westminster Seminary California. The Lord has added three children and called us to a year-long internship in San Diego, and to two different calls in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (Sacramento area and now West Michigan). It’s hard to express how grateful we are for the many friends and co-laborers with whom we share this Gospel work.

Our denomination’s Committee on Ministerial Care reminds us that a sabbatical is more than a vacation; it is a "Sabbath" season—a time to cease ordinary labor to rest, worship, and enjoy God’s creation so that a pastor may return with "sustained excellence in ministry."

Harvest is uniquely proactive in our denomination to serve our pastors in this way. As a church, we devote time and financial resources for pastors to take these periods of rejuvenation, growth and rest. Our congregation’s Sabbatical policy explains its purpose: “A sabbatical will enable the pastor to be renewed through the vital pursuit of continuing education, extended time spent in spiritual formation, and fresh mentoring by respected teachers and pastors and rest. A sabbatical should enable the pastor to return to the responsibilities of Harvest with new energy, spiritual vision, and increased effectiveness.” If you would like to read a copy of our Sabbatical policy, please reach out to Harvest’s Sabbatical committee member, Ken VanderMollen. I am so grateful for Ken’s heart for pastors, serving both our congregation, and our denomination’s committees in this work.

So what are we most excited to get to do on our time of rest and renewal? Here are 5 things we are praying the Lord would work in our life:

1. Ministry Rejuvenation and Rest:

If you visit my office you’ll see hosts of books on shelves that are at least partially unread. I look forward to sustained times to read, take notes and pray.

Some books I plan to read/re-read:

• Sustainable Youth Ministry and Family Based Youth Ministry by Mark DeVries

• Gospel-Centered Youth Ministry by Cameron Cole

• Gospel-Centered Life for Teens by Rubert Thune

• How the Local Church Goes Global by Andy Johnson

• Mission Affirmed: Recovering the Missionary Motivation of Paul by Elliot Clark

• Prioritizing Missions in the Local Church and Prioritizing the Local Church in Missions (Crossway & 9 Marks)

• The Gospel and Personal Evangelism by Mark Dever

• Teaching and Christian Imagination by David Smith and Susan Felch

• Delighting in the Trinity by Michael Reeves

• Come Back Barbara by C. John Miller

• A Faith Worth Sharing by C. John Miller

• The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

• True Grit by Charles Portis

   

2. Exploration of Historic Churches and Societies that Sent Missionaries

England is a "living classroom" for a pastor passionate about missions. I look forward to visiting historical sites and witnessing a legacy of sending missionaries around the world. By engaging with the history of those who were raised, taught and sacrificed their lives to be sent around the world, I hope to return with vivid stories of robustly biblical and Reformed churches who sent their dear members to reach the lost around the world.

3. Refocusing Evangelistic Vision

As your Associate Pastor focusing on evangelism, my heart is for our neighbors in Wyoming and beyond. Distance often provides clarity. I plan to use this time to study different models of community outreach and "bridge-building" within a secular culture, looking for fresh ways we can winsomely proclaim the Gospel to those who are far from God.

Having just completed a study in Rebecca Manley Pippert’s Uncovering the Life of Jesus, I look forward with connecting with a ministry called “The Word One-to-One” to try to gain insights into ways they train a culture of evangelism in local churches in the greater London area. UK is further along the path of secularization and we have much to learn from believers who are continuing to share the Gospel in a more pagan culture.

4. Developing New Resources for Youth Discipleship

I’ll be spending time reading and planning for our next season of Anchored Youth. My goal is to return with a refreshed curriculum that helps our teens navigate the unique pressures of 2026 with a Christ-centered confidence, ensuring our youth group remains a place where our young people are learning to faithfully interpret and apply the Bible to their specific lives.

5. Nourishing Relationships with Rachel and my 4 Girls

Finally, and most importantly, this time allows me to be a husband to Rachel and a father to Addy, Maggie, Lucy and Emma. The last 6 months have been some of the most fruitful and exhausting months of my life. Ministry longevity is built on a healthy home life. A pastor unable to shepherd his home, may not shepherd the family of God (1 Timothy 3:1-5, Titus 1:6-7). I am excited to read the Bible with my wife and girls, sing new worship music we may not have discovered yet, and worship each Sunday with believers in congregations that will be different than ours, yet united to the same Savior. The Lord has also provided a wise retired pastor within our denomination, along with his wife, to meet with, counsel and care for our marriage. Please pray that marriage counseling will be fruitful as well.

Thank you for your prayers and for the way you love our family. We look forward to sharing the ways the Lord grew and restored us with you all when I return in June!

In Christ,

Pastor Adrian