Hope for Retired and Soon-to-be Retired Ministers

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Today’s Blog Post


Hope for Retired and Soon-to-be Retired Ministers

For two years now I have been retiring. No kidding. It has been two years of sifting through all that needs to be done and then trying to do it. In some ways I have been successful… well almost successful… and in other ways I have failed terribly. But no one really knows about the failure – only me and maybe my wife.

I can’t talk about my failure yet. It hurts too much. It is almost like a death in our family… and I am dealing with the emotions afterward. My friends all moved on with their lives and I am left with the feelings after every one is gone.

But mixed with these emotions of dark stuff… there has been the great stuff… the new mountain top stuff… the seeing into a future stuff… WOW!

To say that I have been confused at times as I deal with these two issues is putting it mildly.

Now some of my dear friends will have already started the process of analysis on me. They knew that I had some problems and now this confession confirms their suspicion of all these years! Oh Boy!

After what seems as a long time of dealing with the issues personally I was thunder struck when sitting with another minister and his wife at a coffee shop. Carefully he began to open up and tell us what they faced just around the corner… retirement was coming and the future looked very bleak. Their financial support that they were about to receive is not enough to live on. They may have to work on and on… with no end ever. After years of “serving God and the Church” there will be little pension to look forward to.

As we listened to this man share and watched as his wife sat thinking deeply what it would mean for them… I felt a deep sadness.

I thought back to the darker moments in these last two years when I thought of my own financial worries. The income each month had been greatly reduced and now we faced the realities that were very scary.

As I listened to my friend speak… I couldn’t help but feel a deep pain with him. How could this happen to someone that had been so faithful in serving churches wherever he had been? What could he do now? What will he do in the near future?

I couldn’t help notice the depth of exasperation that he felt as he told his story.

“What is worse Murray… no one seems to care. I am all on my own on this one. You can’t tell anyone this story. No one wants to hear a bad story… we all want it to be positive all the time. My story isn’t very positive right now…”

I listened closely and thought deeply. I didn’t have any words to share then. I could glibly tell him that I would be praying for him… but even that didn’t make sense to either of us.

Other than praying that he would buy/win a lottery ticket… right now not much is going to happen for him.

As I sat and thought about this situation and then reflected on my own… I started hearing of other ministers that had traveled this similar path. The stories started to come my way – over and over again. Some were successful, others were not so good. Most didn’t know here to turn for help.

I prayed about all that was happening around me. Glib reaction – I know… but after all these years it is about all I know how to do.

It was during these times of listening… and thinking… and carving… and tatting… and doing all the stuff that has surrounded me in the last months… an idea started to form. It grew and grew… it started to take on new life. It developed through the “What if…” stages to the “Why not…?” stage. Then it came to the “We have to do something now…” stage. Then finally it hatched as “I will do something NOW!” and the idea became a reality.

This idea was conceived over these past two years for myself… and yesterday it gave birth to a possibility that will help others and myself.

As I have been thinking through the stages of what has happened… I have thought that this was a good idea… but that it was my own idea.

As I look back now I can see a huge hand of help in my life… and guess what when I looked up… that Hand is very BIG. All along God has been guiding what has happened. He has guided even the meetings with certain people that became turning points for the idea.

This BIG Hand has brought some old guys together to start talking about the issues at hand. These old guys are ministers like myself and there is a common thread between us. We are either retired or about to retire. We face similar situations with the emotional and sometimes physical bumps in the road. And as we began speaking with each other about what we feel and know and are facing… we discovered the relief that we needed.

As one of the men pointed out, “These next few years our churches are going to see a huge number of men retire with the Baby Boomers reaching this age. And these Baby Boomer Ministers are not really ready for what they will face. Many have been working at places where the income has been low for a long time. They are going to have huge problems… and there is no place to turn for help…”

We both thought of that for a long time.

There is no place to ask for help. There are few people that will listen. Note – to self - you cannot have a note placed in the church bulleting that states, “Your former minister is in terrible shape and needs prayer. He has nothing left now… and death is looking like the only option… please pray for him.”

Pride keeps most of these men from saying anything at all. God knows and He will take care of it.

Personally if I am asked on Sunday morning in the local church(which ever one I attend…) “How are you Pastor Murray…? How are you doing?” I cannot tell the truth. They couldn’t handle the truth. So when they ask the questions… I smile and say, “Great…” then walk away in a hurry. Most don’t want to know and I can’t tell them.

So what was birthed yesterday?

It is the first stages of a new support network that will help pastors that have retired or are about to retire.

Through the use of the Internet, Telephone and Personal meetings a group of Ministers are being mustered into a new group to support one another. It is a safe place to come for help. Almost everyone that is coming has struggled in some way or other. Most have not had anyone to speak to.

Yes it has a name as well. It is the “Moses Factor”. Moses Factor? Why?

An excerpt from one of the short articles that explain the group to Pastors and Leaders simply says it all… quote…
“Moses was a great leader of his people. In the Scripture we watched him through his Calling, Leading, Mentoring, Retiring, and dare we say - Dieing.

In your ministry to date, you have likely experienced the first three eras of Moses life. Now you are about to enter or perhaps have already entered the fourth – Retiring.

The “Moses Factor” discussion is a new group that was born from conversations that are ongoing between concerned pastors that have either retired or about to. They have experienced some of the highs and lows of this era of their ministry.”
End Quote

The Moses Factor involves a New Blog and a ProBoard Discussion Group. Both of these will support the Retiree and the Soon-to-be Retiree. Following that evidence already is showing that small groups of Retired Pastors are being drawn together in certain areas of Canada.

It is Cross Denominational – not just my kind. The evidence shows that some church organizations and regions have been supplying support for these men. Other areas for one reason or another do not and cannot.

The Dream is that we will support each other.

If you area Retired Pastor or Soon-to-be Retired Pastor you may like to follow along to these addresses. They are both new, only one day old… and there are not a lot of posts as of December 16… but in days to come we hope that you will see growth.

Checkout
http://mosesfactor.blogspot.com/
http://mosesfactor.proboards.com/

If you are a praying person, please pray for these Pastors that need help.

~ Murray Lincoln ~
http://www.murraylincoln.com/