This document sets out the diocesan policy on Sabbatical leave, as agreed at the Board of Ministry on 2 October 1997 and the Bishop's Council on 17 January 1998.

1. Sabbatical Leave (formerly known as Study Leave) is normally offered to stipendiary clergy after every ten years in ministry, provided three years have been completed in their present appointment.
2. The decision to offer Sabbatical Leave always lies with the suffragan bishop, who may decide to delay or to bring forward an offer of leave. The scheme is administered by the Ministerial Development Officer, from whom the bishops receive every year a list of clergy eligible for study leave under the normal criteria.
3. The normal criteria are as follows:

• Ten years full-time ministry have elapsed since ordination to the diaconate, or since the last grant of sabbatical leave/study leave (fulltime service in another diocese, and leave granted in another diocese, are both counted).
• Three years have been completed in present appointment.
• Either the person has not passed his or her 60th birthday, or, if a person was more than 28 years old at the time of ordination, he/she has neither passed his/her 65th birthday nor completed 32 years pensionable service in the Church of England.

1. In the case of full-time stipendiary lay ministers, the ten years qualifying service is counted as years of full-time stipendiary ministry in an English diocese.
2. An offer is made for a specific year, and a person is said to be (e.g.) "on the sabbatical list for 2006". Leave can then be taken in that year, or in either of the two following years. Thus, a person on the 2006 list has until the end of 2008 to take their sabbatical leave, after which the entitlement lapses. The decision about the actual timing of the sabbatical within this three year "window" is a matter for consultation with family, colleagues, PCC, Rural Dean, and MDO. The window allows absences to be staggered when several clergy in the same deanery are on the same list, and allows the needs and circumstances of family and parish to be taken into account.
3. Sabbatical Leave may be taken between appointments, so long as both the old and the new appointments are within the diocese. This is permitted, but not encouraged. When it happens, the costs of the parish stipend contribution and the parish's 25% contribution to the sabbatical grant are divided equally between the old and the new appointments.
4. Sabbatical Leave is for a continuous three-month period. Normal holiday is counted in addition to the three months. Only in exceptional cases can a shorter period of leave be taken, or the three months be broken up into successive periods of leave.
5. The Board for Christian Development determines each year the level of sabbatical leave grant. This is currently 50% of the extra costs of the study leave project, up to a maximum of £700. Parishes are expected to provide 25% of the extra costs up to a maximum of £350; they are free to be more generous if they wish. The balance is to be found from external sources (bursaries, trust fund grants) and private resources.
6. The Sabbatical Leave Scheme is extended to NSMs under the age of 65 as follows:

• NSMs who work full-time in parish ministry, or who contribute more than 15 hours a week to the parish to which they are licensed and who are able to negotiate leave from their secular employment, are treated identically with stipendiary clergy.
• NSMs who contribute more than 15 hours a week to the parish to which they are licensed, but cannot take leave from their secular employment, or have taken early retirement, may apply for a period of between three and six months' leave from parish responsibilities to pursue an agreed programme of study and training. Instead of the normal sabbatical leave grant, the Ministry Development office will make discretionary grants to supplement the Personal Training. NSMs wishing to apply for leave should contact the MDO in the first instance.

It is the diocesan bishop's policy to allow clergy not less than four and not more than six weeks' 'service leave' when they move from one appointment to another within the diocese. This does not affect entitlement to sabbatical leave and is a separate matter: except that one cannot take both kinds of leave between two appointments.