Do you dare take a vacation while you’re planting a church? There is so much to do, and it’s a busy season.

Summers for brand new churches can be challenging. Launch Team participation can dip due to vacations. But the bigger question is whether you get a vacation, too.

Whether you feel like you can afford the time away, here are 5 reasons that you absolutely have to:

It’s Good for Your Family

Yeah, it’s a crazy season! And guess who feels it the most? Your family.

Your spouse signed up for the crazy ride, too, but even God took a day off. You need to reconnect and not talk about ‘work’ while you’re away. Talk about dreams and retell stories from years past. You know.

This is even that much more important if you have kids. You’ve talked about mission with them. They’re helping get the church started in their own way. Now is your chance to talk to them about sabbath rest.

And staycations don’t count. The blurred lines between life & ministry demand that you ‘git outta Dodge’.

It’s Good for Your Launch Team

The spirit of this age is busyness. Everybody’s running around busy all the time. And because we couldn’t cram in enough already, we’re now using smart phones to squeeze a little more productivity out of our day by filling every waking moment with connectivity.

The people that are becoming the new church are looking to you for leadership, especially in spiritual and life-balance issues. Show them that it’s healthy for a family to take a vacation. It gives them permission to do the same.

It Keeps Your Perspective Straight

The spirit of the anti-sabbath is, “I can do it in my own strength; I don’t need God.” Human nature drives us to think that we’re the one making it happen.

I offer you a metaphor: in my former banking days, each of us was required to take a solid week’s vacation once a year. Why? Because if a bank employee was embezzling, their scheme would come crashing down in their absence. If you are falling back into, “I can do it myself,” a week a way will force you to deal with your issues.

A PreLaunch Vacation Tests Your Leadership

Your being gone for a whole week will surely require someone else to lead a meeting or event. You need to find (create?) that leader sooner or later, so why not now? If they have the skills, it will go well without you. If the one event or meeting goes awry, it will be a great learning lesson when you debrief together. And give people permission to take risks and not get it right every time.

It Only Gets Busier

If you think you’re busy before the Grand Opening of your weekly services, you better fasten your seat belt. The first year of the new church will demand all of the leadership & relationship you’re pouring into your prelaunch phase, and then pile on visitor followup, counseling, sermon prep, etc. You’ll need another vacation then, for all the same reasons.

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It doesn’t necessarily have to be during the summer, but you should make it a point to take a prelaunch vacation. So, where ya going?