By Mike Glenn When I announced that I would be stepping down from my role as Senior Pastor of Brentwood Baptist Church, the question people asked me the most often was, "When did you decide to retire?" My honest answer? About 45 years ago. I've talked to a lot of pastors who have told me that they could never see themselves retiring. I get it. I love what I do, but nothing lasts forever -- including being the pastor of a great church. For one thing, churches change. Churches are living and breathing organisms. They grow up. The mature. They change, and sometimes what the church becomes doesn't match who the pastor is. During my time at Brentwood Baptist, I've led four or five congregations at the same address. Today, I'm looking ahead at what will become the sixth manifestation of this congregation and it's going to be much different than the congregation that is there now. For one thing, the church will be younger. The church will be leaner. We'll offer less programming, but what we do offer will be deeper. For instance, instead of a typical Sunday School class, the church will offer group experiences with seminary-level theology and philosophy instruction. Our members will demand it in order to be better able to defend their faith in their communities.
What a healthy and full perspective, Mike! Thanks so much for sharing this.
I wasn't quite able to articulate my own transition out of pastoral ministry 8 years ago (at 49 y/o) and into my new role of serving as a counselor to pastors in my denomination. But I knew it had to do something with encouraging pastors to prepare for transition, and even to prepare for "retirement".
I am regularly asking pastors in their 40's what their thoughts are about "retirement", and encouraging them to think this way!
A therapist of mine once told me as I was recovering from burnout, "Paul, I can always tell the health of your soul by how freely you're able to talk about doing something other than pastoring!" It slapped me in the face! But I learned that the less tied my identity is to what I do, the more free and more deeply connected I am to what God has called me to do. Kind of a paradoxical, counter-intuitive concept, but so true and real!
The old line about mature oaks needing to "move" in order for the younger oaks themselves to grow is definitely true—and a mixed experience. It's why I purposed to resign from an elder board at church when I turned 65; it ended up being 68, but still. . . . :-) And this is not to say that older people don't have much yet to give; they do. But it need not be in an official position of leadership.
What a healthy and full perspective, Mike! Thanks so much for sharing this.
I wasn't quite able to articulate my own transition out of pastoral ministry 8 years ago (at 49 y/o) and into my new role of serving as a counselor to pastors in my denomination. But I knew it had to do something with encouraging pastors to prepare for transition, and even to prepare for "retirement".
I am regularly asking pastors in their 40's what their thoughts are about "retirement", and encouraging them to think this way!
A therapist of mine once told me as I was recovering from burnout, "Paul, I can always tell the health of your soul by how freely you're able to talk about doing something other than pastoring!" It slapped me in the face! But I learned that the less tied my identity is to what I do, the more free and more deeply connected I am to what God has called me to do. Kind of a paradoxical, counter-intuitive concept, but so true and real!
The old line about mature oaks needing to "move" in order for the younger oaks themselves to grow is definitely true—and a mixed experience. It's why I purposed to resign from an elder board at church when I turned 65; it ended up being 68, but still. . . . :-) And this is not to say that older people don't have much yet to give; they do. But it need not be in an official position of leadership.
Beautiful! Thank you!!
How wonderful would it be to have these groups for the pastors in Middle TN?
“Confessional Communities create a community of people who gather with the intention of becoming an outpost of beauty and goodness in the world.”
“The guiding framework for CBK’s Confessional focuses on the following principles:
· the transforming work of telling our stories ever more truly,
· the transforming process of “dwelling, gazing and inquiring,”
· and the transforming practice for heaven at the interface of Christian spiritual formation and interpersonal neurobiology.”
https://www.thecbk.org/post/our-first-confessional-communities