Countdown

Exactly 193 days from today, I will retire from professional ministry. Having a countdown doesn’t mean I’m bored or sad or so-ready-I-want-to-know-exactly-how-much-time-I-have left. I like a countdown. It’s also approximately 107 days away from meeting grandchild #3 and 125 days from meeting grandchild #4.

I announced my retirement a year from the day so that our Presbytery could get a Nominating Committee going in the hope that there would be a smooth transition in 2026. Although I’m a strong believer in effective Transitional Ministry for congregations, the trend now for Mid-Council Leaders in my denomination is to forego calling someone to lead Transitionally between Executives because we are all leading Transitionally. Everything from the congregation down the street to organized religion in general are in transition.

Some parish pastors give 4 weeks notice before they leave. Some give over a year’s notice. Countless pastors of a certain age will say things like “I’ll retire in 3-4 years” or “I’d like to finish ____ before retiring” and then they stay another decade.

I will have served for 45 years by the time I retire, including three seminary years of field education. We thank Labor Unions for “inventing” the weekend. And since pastors work on weekends, the Presbytery/Conference/Association/Diocese is sometimes called our union.

In a just world, we wouldn’t have to set policies about minimum wage or paid leave or Sabbath. (Note: even God created a policy about Sabbath.) But this is not a just world. Some human beings have spent generations not paying other human beings who worked in their fields and factories. After learning that we had some pastors working for less than a Jimmy Johns sandwich maker, our Presbytery had to set up minimum hourly wages for part-time, temporary pastors – and not just for full-time “permanent” pastors.

One pastor was being paid $3000/year. (Yes, he had agreed to this because “the congregation didn’t have the money to pay more” but this was a de facto decision to close that congregation sooner than later. They would never again find a pastor willing to work 20+ hours/week for that salary.)

All pastors deserve and should have a Sabbatical at least every seven years but too few get one. Sometimes it’s because the congregation resents it for their Pastor (“I don’t get three paid months to take an extra vacation.”) or because the church cannot figure out how to live without their pastor for three months. (My Presbytery has grants for that. Also, elders are called to preach and pray with training.) Sometimes pastors, themselves, won’t take the required Sabbatical for fear the congregation can indeed live without them.

So, 193 days. Being a Pastor is baked into my identity but I also have other identities that will give so much joy and meaning in the coming years. Frankly, I never thought I’d live long enough to retire. (Mom died at 55. Dad died at 60.) But here we are.

Other identities I hope to embrace post-retirement: elderly spouse, mom of middle-aged kids, Grand Jan, rabble rouser, homemade ravioli maker. Mostly I am profoundly grateful that I can retire. March 13, 2026.

Image source.