Adrian’s Sabbatical

This summer, we are releasing Adrian Hurst, who leads the Oasis Team, for a three month sabbatical from the beginning of June until the end of August.

This is a fantastic opportunity for him to recharge after helping to lead the community through a period of significant transition over the past few years — including the move to South Street, it’s renovation, restoration and purchase, and the COVID pandemic.

This blog article will share more about that — beginning with a Biblical background to the practice of taking a sabbatical, and concluding with practical details of what it will mean for Oasis and an invitation to pray for Adrian and the Hurst family.

Biblical Background

The word ‘sabbatical’ is rooted in the Hebrew word ‘sabbath’, which means ‘to rest’ or ‘to cease’. Inaugurated at the very start of the Bible within the creation story, the principle is to regularly take periods to stop our work, engage in things which bring us rest (physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually and relationally), and give ourselves to enjoying God and the good world He has created. This begins with a single day and then expands outwards; comprising feasts and festivals lasting for weeks, and even entire years when the whole community was to lay down their productive activity and give themselves to resting.

Through this, the people of God were called to model something to the surrounding cultures — that God is a good Lord, who is in control of the cosmos, not us, and that God is a good Creator, who has designed the world with a rhythm which enables humanity and creation to flourish. Sabbath-style rest was to be an invitation for anyone and everyone to reorder their priorities, put God at the centre again, and come and receive life from Him — the one who Jesus reveals as the true Lord of the Sabbath.

This message is perhaps more important now than it ever has been. In a globally-interconnected, technologically-empowered, 24/7 culture which prioritises productivity at the cost of wellbeing, restlessness (rather than rest) has become the rhythm that many of us live with. For the individual, rates of burnout and anxiety have increased substantially as the pace of the world increases, whilst the lack of regard within wider society for the importance of resting together has weakened communities and damaged the planet given to us to care for.

This has also, sadly, been true within the church. In fact, it’s probably fair to say that “keep the Sabbath holy” is the point within the Ten Commandments least likely to be followed by modern believers in the Western world. As a continuation of this Biblical principle therefore, the practice of sabbatical gives an opportunity to model the importance of rest both within and outside the church. It provides:

• A practical application of our support for leaders within the community who carry significant and weighty pastoral responsibility.
• An example of our commitment to modelling positive employment practices within a culture which often emphasises a ‘race to the bottom’ in caring for staff.
• A moment to honour the significant role that Adrian plays within the life of the community, all that he and the Hurst family carry on our behalf, and his leadership during a complex but incredibly fruitful period of church life.

It also demonstrates that no one person is so integral to the life of the community that they cannot step back for a period. Oasis is a Spirit-led community, rooted in the Father’s love, with Jesus at the centre — God is the one who builds His church, and will continue to do so! Oasis is also served by a team with a broad range of skills and gifts, and though Adrian plays a significant role within that team, there is a whole company of people committed to shouldering responsibility for the community together.

Practical Details

With that background, it is therefore a real privilege to be able to release Adrian for a sabbatical this year. As a team, we are convinced that this will lead to deep and lasting fruitfulness for him personally, for the whole Hurst family, and for the wider Oasis community.

Adrian’s sabbatical will run from Monday 2nd June to Sunday 31st August 2025, with the morning meeting on Sunday 1st June incorporating time to pray for and commission him ahead of this.

During his sabbatical, Adrian will have time to simply rest, time to connect with God through a pilgrimage to Lindisfarne, and time for the Hurst family to enjoy one another’s company as a family. We aren’t sending him with an expectation that he will return with any particular ideas, plans or insights; although if you know Adrian, you’ll know he will probably come back with many of each!

As a very practical detail, in order to allow him to fully rest from his responsibilities within Oasis, his work phone will be switched off during this period, and any emails he receives will be automatically deleted to avoid him spending the rest of 2025 reading them all! Adrian and Lucy also won’t be regularly attending Sunday meetings at Oasis, but will instead take the opportunity to visit friends elsewhere within the city and nation.

Whilst Adrian is away, there will be a team helping to take care of Oasis and cover some of the areas that Adrian would usually take responsibility for; formed from Mike Blaber, Sarah Bowen, Richard Bowpitt, David Gooding and Alice Gray. Please feel free to speak with any of them about anything you might ordinarily approach Adrian with.

Prayer Points

It would be a real blessing to him if you could hold Adrian in your prayers in the leadup to the sabbatical, during the sabbatical itself, and over the course of the Autumn term as he returns. Please do also be praying for Lucy, Emily, Sam and Becky as they enjoy time together as a family whilst he’s off.

As Adrian has been preparing for this, he has felt God speak to him about four specific areas that we would love to invite you to particularly pray those over him as he goes:

1. Rest
2. Restoration
3. Encounter with God
4. Multiplication

Please do join us in standing with Adrian and the Hurst family over the next few months — in expectation and excitement for all that God will do in and through him during this time! If you would like to get in touch about anything related to Adrian’s sabbatical, please do feel free to contact me on richard@theoasischurch.com or speak to any of the rest of the team mentioned above.