My Leave of Absence
September 1, 2019
Re: My 90 Day Leave of Absence
Dear Aurora Campus Villagers
As many of you know, these last couple of years have been difficult for us as a family as we have come face to face with multiple deaths of those who have been close to us. Any death is enough to warrant an extended time of grief and processing, but so many in such a short time has made it difficult to process what life without them means.
Much has changed because of their deaths, new responsibilities have emerged, and new roles are being formed. I have tried to forge ahead in this new era, seeking God’s face as I have in the past, but found it difficult to connect, focus, read, and pray. I have found my energy drain to the point where I was unable to draw upon reserves, leaving me exhausted in almost every phase of life: physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. I started seeing a slippage in my focus and an inability to rebound and couldn’t quite figure out why I was so depleted and why I felt my emotions were all over the place.
I was encouraged by the guiding elders to get some help. Together we decided that Melissa and I would attend a week of intensive counseling and rest with a ministry that focuses exclusively on the care of pastors. This was a wonderful week of rest, connecting and hearing from God again, and discovery for us. At the end of it, the counselor had a recommendation that is hard to swallow. He told me that this won’t just go away and that it is critical that I take some extended time off, see a doctor, and get some much-needed rest and time away with God. Wow. I don’t like having to admit to myself that I can’t handle this on my own – let alone admit it to you!
I accepted the diagnosis and recommendation. I returned home and made that request to the Guiding Elders. After several weeks of prayer and discussion they have agreed to provide a leave of absence from today through December 1.
What does this mean? It means that I will be away from my ministry duties and church family, although Melissa and our kids will still be present and involved here at the Aurora campus. I will be using the time to rest, refocus, and recharge and attending various churches of pastor friends of mine in the area, taking the opportunity to be fed the Word of God through them as well as see first-hand at what God is doing in their ministry. This does mean that I will be away from the pulpit and thankfully, we have a bullpen of great preachers who will be filling in for me. I’m asking our elders to help cover my shepherding responsibilities during this time and Keith Duff, our executive pastor, and David Wood, our ministries pastor, will be stepping in for the day-to-day leadership while I am gone.
I am asking four things of you:
- Don’t use my absence as an excuse to skip church or check out! God speaks through a lot of people other than myself and I am confident that the guys we’re lining up will be a huge blessing to you.
- Please pray for me and my family as I recoup. Pray that God would use this time to refresh, refocus, and help me process all that has transpired.
- Please pray for our shepherding elders, as well as Keith Duff, David Wood and their families as they step up to cover for me in my absence.
- If you need something that you would have gone to me for in the past, reach out to your shepherding elder. (Patti can tell you who your shepherding elder is if you’re not sure. patti.brown@villagebible.org)
I believe that God is going to use this time to reinvigorate me and fortify and grow our church. We have already seen recently how God has raised up additional leaders with a heart for Christ and His kingdom, and I believe it is only going to increase from here. The best is yet to come! May God bless us and may He strengthen us for all He has for us in this next season of ministry.
In His Service,
Travis Michael Fleming