The focus of my sabbatical is to seek renewal through a sense of "grounding" both on a personal and global level particularly as it relates to the issue of sustainable living. I not only plan to spend long spans of uninterrupted time on the family farm 100 miles east of the church, but my family and I will tour parts of Europe for the first-time ever as a family in July 2111. The primary focus of this travel will be hands-on-Iearning at the Spannocchia Farm for 7-10 days, with day trips to surrounding areas including Siena, Florence and Rome.

My desire is that this sabbatical will help me aquire a deeper sense of personal peace and centeredness. I seek to develop a better understanding of appropriate technologies especially as it related to farming, to explore more deeply what makes and sustains healthy rural communities, and to establish a better connection to "place." I want to take sustained time to reflect on the practices that make for a celebration of the "the great harmony" and interconnectness of life, so fractured by modern and postmodern attentions to over-specialization, change, and rampant consumerism.

This project will also equip me to better serve in the multi-cultural setting which is the context of my ministry. The aspect of travel and farming both at home and abroad will stretch my comfort zone, but I believe that it will do so during a time and in locations that will provide renewal and recreation. With its hands-on focus, to learn and do sustainable farming, it should also benefit our wider community as I learn to work with our congregation to nurture, improve and expand our Community Gardens that currently provide a vital source of nourishment for our Montagnard families.