Ministry Leave Policy

Purpose

The Austin Stone encourages each person on our team to live out their calling to ministry work in a holistic way - not just within the bounds of your job description. Collectively we also want to be a blessing to others through encouragement and support for other churches as well as living and declaring the gospel of Christ to others.

So, we encourage our leaders to serve the Church and the world beyond. At the same time, we do not want to neglect the care and leadership of the body God has entrusted us to shepherd primarily. The purpose of the ministry leave policy is to provide a guideline to help us steward our personal ministry both internally and externally to The Austin Stone.

Policy

For all full-time staff, up to ten days of Ministry Leave may be granted each fiscal year. Ministry Leave is granted on a case-by-case basis with agreement from your Department Leader* and approval from your supervisor via UKG.

*or for Department Leaders, with agreement from your Division Head

This is not intended to be a target but rather, a cap. This set amount of Ministry Leave is not granted as an allotment at the beginning of the year, nor does it carry over from year to year. Instead, each request up to a total of ten days is considered on a case-by-case basis according to the current The Austin Stone Ministry Leave Policy.

Strategic and Non-Strategic Work

For Ministry Leave, there are two types of work; strategic and non-strategic. Strategic work is work in which your participation is directly strategic to advancing the ministry platform or mission priorities of The Austin Stone. Therefore it is a part of your ministry function here. Examples might be speaking, attending conferences, or leading for another group as a function of your role or team. As a general rule, strategic engagements will be ones assigned by a Division Head or your Department Leader. Time-off of work for approved strategic engagements does not require ministry leave or any other time-off request.

By contrast, non-strategic work is work that is beneficial to the employee, their family, the broader church and/or the world but not directly purposed to advance the ministry platform or mission priorities of The Austin Stone. To be away for non-strategic work requires approved Ministry Leave.

Ministry Leave

Rest is supported by vacation and other time off, while Ministry Leave is specifically for the purpose of non-strategic work. Writing, speaking, consulting, mission trips, conferences, serving in local mission, working in your personal business or even investing intentionally in your family’s well-being can all be considered for approval under our Ministry Leave policy.

Unless your direct job duties require leadership or participation, mission trips, or local mission service are generally considered as non-strategic and therefore, would qualify for time off as Ministry Leave. If you use Ministry Leave in order to provide a product or service to The Austin Stone, you cannot also be paid above the cost of reimbursable expenses, for you are already being paid by The Austin Stone for your time.

Approval

Determination of whether the engagement is strategic or nonstrategic, and the subsequent approval of Ministry Leave, will be provided for each separate request by your Department Leader. Your Department Leader will help you discern adherence to the spirit of this benefit, and take into account the potential impact on other pastoral responsibilities.

Please request Ministry Leave by:

First, gaining agreement from your Department Leader*
Second, requesting Ministry Leave time off in UKG to be approved by your supervisor