A California pastor will address the importance of Sabbath in Bluffton University’s Spiritual Life Week forum on Tuesday, March 17.

Justin McRoberts, from Shelter Covenant Church in Concord, Calif., will speak about “Sabbath—The Still and Isolated Road to Active Unity in Christ” during the 11 a.m. forum in Bluffton’s Founders Hall. The presentation is free and open to the public.

Also a songwriter and author, McRoberts will discuss his belief that the Sabbath commandment strengthens life together in community by valuing individuals as beloved friends rather than merely as productive workers.

“I have come to believe that without the Sabbath, our life together is necessarily hampered,” he explains. “If I know and value myself according to my productivity (as a worker), I will most likely know and value my family, friends and peers likewise. But in Christian community, our hope is that each of us is known and received as beloved, regardless of our work in the world. I believe the Sabbath, unlike any other practice in our tradition, establishes this sense of beloved-ness in us and equally through us for others.”