Has anyone else ever taken a break from church?

[cougarobgon]

Originally Posted by observer

I have way way way too much stress in my life right now. I have a wife, 5 super busy kids, 2 full time jobs, and simply too much to do. Sleep has been a huge chore for me for many years as some exceptionally scary things happen to me during the night. Believe it or not, I never get more than 2 or 3 hours of sleep per night, and sometimes much less than that. This has been going on for 30 years or more. Anyway, I have been approaching a monstrous breakdown for some time now and something had to give.

I have taught Primary for more than 17 years, and I love doing it, but a couple weeks back I pretty much lost it in class. So...after careful consideration over all this I went to my bishop, shared my testimony with him of the truthfulness of the gospel, and then asked him to release me from my callings and church responsibilities. I went on to inform him that the only stressful thing in my life that I can give up right now is the church - I simply need a break. He was rightfully concerned, but he begrudgingly agreed to let me do what is best for me.

I told him that I am not planning on attending meetings for awhile (I called it a sabbatical), but am not going to give up my membership or anything like that. Getting away for awhile is really the only way I can cope with life right now. I figured I could either just quit going without telling anyone, continue to go and pretend that everything is okay, or I could let the bishop know of my decision so that he knows why I am doing it. Incidentally, it took about 2 hours before the ward's "Save Observer Committee" was up and running in full swing.

This happened this past Sunday, and I have been more relaxed and less stressed than I have been in many years. I am not trying to convince anyone else that I am doing the right thing. I made my decision and am going to live with the results. My purpose in writing this is because I want to know if any of the rest of you have ever done such a thing, and if so...how did it turn out for you?

Tough situation that I've never experienced with respect to wanting to take time off from church. I have however, found myself in similar circumstances with respect to how busy you are, ie, two jobs, graduate school, 5 kids, and a calling that required 10-20 hrs per week of my time all happening at once. So I can relate to wanting to find a way to relieve some stress. Unlike your experience with your ward, I found mine to be very friendly, warm and caring. While I did not have time to socialize with them, given my schedule, many recognized the burden that I was under and relieved some of my stress by being kind and considerate to my family and I. Their simple acts of kindness meant a lot to me and made life a bit easier.

My counsel to those that found themselves wanting to take time of from Church for various reasons, was that staying away from Church was not the solution. I am not going to pass judgment on your decision to stay away for 6-12 months, that time off may indeed regenerate your enthusiasm and desire for what the church has to offer. I have not walked in your shoes and will not pretend to know what burdens you face, but, just on the limited information posted on this board, my concerns are about how your decision will affect the rest of your family. I have found spouses that attend church by themselves can be overburdened by having to deal with 5 children on their own and eventually find it easier to stay home than deal with changing diapers, discipline, etc... Your children may decide one Sunday they want to stay home with Dad. While your child's desire may be warranted, given your schedule, how is their spiritual growth affected by staying away from church?

Please don't consider my comments as criticism of your decision. I hope my post does not come across that way. Good luck and I hope things work out.