I’m not going to try and relate this to any biblical teaching, but just set out one or two thoughts on the subject. I suppose retirement as we know it is a relatively recent thing which has come about with the introduction of pensions. Old age pensions began in 1908, I think, but they were only minimal then. Presumably, at that time and earlier other members of the family, usually the children, would support their relatives in old age, and this would not be difficult in days when families generally lived in close proximity.
By retirement I mean retiring from full-time employment; it is obvious that very few can carry on full-time working until they die and this is bound to apply to pastors also. The age of retirement has been 65 (for men), but this is gradually going to have to rise in coming years. So far as pastors are concerned, I think there should be no assumption of a specific age, though in general I expect that pastors will retire at the pensionable age. Some will prefer not to do so and will be able to carry on, but I tend to think this should be a joint decision of church and pastor, with honesty on both sides.
It has become almost customary to say that pastors don’t ‘really’ retire, but I think that is a very unhelpful. No-one, least of all pastors, should retire from being Christian or from serving the Lord, but that is an entirely different thing. Retirement doesn’t mean total inactivity, but it does mean a real laying down of a ministry and a change of lifestyle. Personally, I don’t think retired pastors should be elders because eldership is spiritual oversight and responsibility and it is precisely this which pastors retire from; however few pastors are likely to stop preaching or engaging in other Christian activity.
I believe there are at least two dangers that need to be guarded against. On the one hand I know that some retired pastors have really had too much thrust upon them. Being willing to help, and feeling they oughtn’t to say; ‘No’, they actually become overburdened. I think this ought to be realised far more than it seems to be; the rhetoric of ‘pastors don’t retire’ and ‘how much retired people are able to do’ puts an ungodly pressure on those who have lived often for most of their lives with the considerable pressure of the ‘burden of the Lord’. They don’t need the pressure of well-meaning, but mistaken, Christian friends.
On the other hand, the opposite danger is for retired pastors, either in the church where they pastored, or some other church, to act as if they had not retired at all. They can try and interfere, or express their disapproval and criticise, sometimes heading a disaffected faction in the church. The fact is that retired pastors ought to give real support to the leadership and decisions of the church – unless of course it were to be a matter of real principle – they, of all people, know how valuable it is to feel that people are behind you and supporting you. We don’t have to agree with everything that others do, just as not everyone always agreed with the way we did things, but we can still remain loyal and true in the church and to the Lord.
One further point: retired pastors grow older, their health and abilities deteriorate and they have their own spiritual needs. Many will look back on only a small measure of blessing on their ministry and they can get very downhearted and self-condemnatory – this might be even more the case if they are in a new flourishing situation. They may feel they ought to be doing more, but find it is more and more difficult to do what they would like to do. They will get ill and miss services – and they too will need pastoral care; but I’m not sure that this is always realised as it could be.
That’s more than enough for the moment; I may have more to say on this subject on another occasion.
.jpg)
