Last week I started a new/old job. Once again (in fact for the sixth time in my life) , I become the pastor of a local church, and last Sunday I preached there, not as a guest speaker, but as their pastor. Next Sunday, Feb 10, I will be officially installed at the Christian Fellowship Church in Waterloo and I will exchange ministry covenants with them.
On July 1, 2016, after 13 years of service in one church, and after over 40 years of pastoral ministry, I began what I thought would be the beginning of the final chapter of my life – the time of blissful retirement. I have to admit that I looked forward to that. I was tired and fully spent, wondering if I had anything left to give. I enjoyed the prospect of being fully in control of my time – doing the things that I enjoy, and not having to do anything that I didn’t. As far as ministry was concerned, I remembered the words of my mentor when I was a student intern, “it takes a lot of grace to begin ministry, and even more grace to know when to quit.” Well I thought that moment had come.
The joy of ministry had never really left me. I was determined to be involved by helping out in some way. I covered for pastors on vacation and took funerals when families who didn’t have a pastor called on me. I volunteered to teach at a Bible School in Kenya for two 3 month terms in 2017 and 2018. Last winter, spring and summer, I preached in a church that didn’t have a pastor. People would say on their way out on Sundays, “could we call you out of retirement?” I remember smiling and saying, “it would take a lot more than your call to get me to quit retirement.” At the time my preparations for the trip to Africa were in full swing, and I was greatly looking forward to my assignment there.
And that is where the journey to the Christian Fellowship Church in Waterloo began. While the months in Kenya were very busy, there was also much quiet time and room for prayer and contemplation. It was there that I faced the question of what I would be doing when I return to Canada. I had to ask myself whether I could justify NOT helping where there is a need that I could meet with the gifts that God has given me, and the health that He so graciously restored to me after last year’s cancer scare. So the dialogue continued and the rest, as they say, is history. The church has graciously consented that I serve them on a three-quarter time basis, a requirement that I requested to help me not to relapse into my workaholic tendencies.
So what about retirement? The traditional age is 65. In certain jobs that age is mandatory and people are forced to retire, even though they are able and willing to continue working. Some face a pressure, that if they continue working, they are somehow taking work away from younger, less fortunate people who don’t have a job. Then again, the financial realities of some make 65 unrealistic. The previous Canadian government had started to push the retirement age to 67, something that the present government reversed.
And then there is the “Freedom 55” movement which refers to people whose ambition is to be financially independent by age 55 so that they can take an early retirement package. While I don’t see anything wrong with that in principle, I have watched all too many people shift their lives, spiritually and otherwise, into neutral when they retire too early. A life of play and pleasure rather than hard work, or perhaps, in the best case scenario, a life of humanitarian service, or work that is a labour of love.
And then we must not forget those who made great contributions to their community and their country at an age where others are traditionally retired. Ronald Reagan, who had a colourful series of careers as an actor, then a motivational speaker and finally politician, including governor of California, was 70 years old when he became President of the United States and he served two terms. Some of Canada’s Prime Ministers were also advanced in age when they were elected to office: John Diefenbaker was 62 when he was first elected in 1957; Lester Pearson was 66 in 1963. Canada’s longest serving Prime Minister, William Lyon MacKenzie King was first elected in 1921 at age 47, and was 74 when he left office in 1948. Winston Churchill began his second term as British Prime Minister in 1951 at the age of 77.
These (and others) have shown that age does not preclude anyone from great accomplishments. As a society that worships those with youthful energy, we need to remember that. Years ago, when as a young man I was installed into one of my pastorates, an older, retired pastor gave a word of greeting. He lamented the fact that seasoned ministers, after decades of gathering experience often are obliged to put down their work at a time when they are more equipped than ever to make meaningful contributions to the work of the church. At the time, I did not think much of his comments, but now, after I am at the approximate age of that pastor, I know what he meant.
By this I do not want to suggest that as an old(er) pastor I have more to offer than someone younger. If someone younger or more qualified were to appear, I would like to think that I would have the grace to step aside. And some day, there will come a time when I will step down, and step aside for good. I’m just not ready to do that yet.
