Stepping Aside, Moving Ahead: Spiritual and Practical Wisdom for Clergy Retirement
By Steve Harper
()
About this ebook
For clergy, retirement is an opportunity—and a matter of the soul.
The topic of retirement is critical for an increasing number of clergy, but it is often ignored—something many clergy would rather not think about. After decades of leadership, retirement can seem more like an obstacle—or even like oblivion—than an opportunity. Stepping Aside, Moving Ahead offers guidance for any clergyperson within a decade of retirement.
Author Steve Harper writes in the form of letters to a fictitious “every-pastor.” Through these compassionate and instructive letters, the author dialogues with clergy who are just beginning to think about what retirement might bring and with those who stand on the brink of it. He guides the reader through the entire process of planning for retirement: from the initial questions about timing, to financial and other practical concerns, to issues of call and legacy, and more. Steve Harper’s wise counsel and pastoral voice is just what clergy need.
“Retirement is a spiritual question for pastors. Having answered the call of God to lifetime ministry, how does a pastor assume the role of a retiree? Steve Harper answers the question with spiritual insights and practical suggestions that affirm retirement as a chapter in God’s call leading us to new depths of understanding in renewal and new heights of joy in redeployment.” —David McKenna, President Emeritus, Asbury Theological Seminary, Wilmore, KY
“Stepping Aside, Moving Ahead offers theological, personal, and practical advice for anyone who is considering or who is already in retirement. Harper includes a comprehensive spectrum of the issues around clergy retirement. His message is clear: there is abundant life after retirement. This book should be given to every clergy at preretirement seminars in order to prepare servant leaders for this fruitful chapter in their lives.” —Peggy A. Johnson, Bishop, Philadelphia Area, UMC
"This book is an excellent tool for boomers and clergy ... who see great
significance in living our legacy of love and faith as we mentor
others!" --Clayton L. Smith, Executive Pastor, United Methodist Church
of the Resurrection
Steve Harper
Steve Harper, PhD, is vice president and professor of spiritual formation at the Florida campus of Asbury Theological Seminary. He is the author of numerous magazine articles and has written twelve books, including Devotional Life in the Wesleyan Tradition and Praying through the Lord’s Prayer. Dr. Harper and his wife, Jeannie, live in Orlando, Florida. They have two grown children and two grandchildren.
Read more from Steve Harper
The Way to Heaven: The Gospel According to John Wesley Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Holy Love: A Biblical Theology for Human Sexuality Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Five Marks of a Methodist: The Fruit of a Living Faith Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Pocket Guide to Prayer Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCinco marcas de un metodista: Five Marks of a Methodist Spanish Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Coming Alive: Daily Meditations for Spiritual Renewal Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPrayer and Devotional Life of United Methodists Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDevotional Life in the Wesleyan Tradition: A Workbook Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWalking in the Light: Knowing and Doing God's Will Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLife in Christ: The Core of Intentional Spirituality Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLiving Hope: An Inclusive Vision of the Future Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTalking in the Dark: Praying When Life Doesn't Make Sense Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFor the Sake of the Bride, Second Edition: Restoring the Church to Her Intended Beauty Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Upward!: Wesleyan Formation in Three Movements Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Stepping Aside, Moving Ahead
Related ebooks
Coming Alive: Daily Meditations for Spiritual Renewal Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEveryday Spirituality: Discover a Life of Hope, Peace and Meaning Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBeing Who You Are: The Universal Vocation Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPastoral Care Beyond Prayer: How Church Leaders Can Help The Dying and Their Families Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRetiring with Grace: A Baptist Pastor's Journey from the Pulpit to Retirement Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWalking in the Spirit Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Plan of Life: Habits to help you Grow Closer to God Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTRASHED or TREASURED? Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWholeness: Changing How We Think About Healing Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSoulShaping (Second Edition): From Soul Neglect to Spiritual Vitality Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Path to Being a Pastor: A Guide for the Aspiring Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Lord, I Love the Church and We Need Help Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A Fresh Start Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsShepherding Like Jesus: Returning to the Wild Idea that Character Matters in Ministry Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsReset: Living a Grace-Paced Life in a Burnout Culture Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Journey of a Worshiper: Exploring Matters of Faith and Leadership Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThat Their Work Will Be a Joy: Understanding and Coping with the Challenges of Pastoral Ministry Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOn the Emmaus Road: A Guide for Transitions in Ordained Leadership Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCaring for Your Soul: Improving Your Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Subject of Death and Dying: Can We Survive the Death of a Loved One with Grace? Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Catholic Guide to Dating After Divorce: Cultivating the Five Qualities That Free You to Love Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSecrets of Being a Happy Church Member Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHow to Start and Sustain a Faith-Based Women's Spirituality Group: Circle of Hearts Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBetter Late Than Never Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsReplenish: Leading from a Healthy Soul Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Make Me Like Jesus: The Courage to Pray Dangerously Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Finding Time for the Timeless: Spirituality in the Workweek Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSpiritual Direction: A Practical Introduction Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Christianity For You
The Book of Enoch Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Reflections on the Psalms Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bible Recap: A One-Year Guide to Reading and Understanding the Entire Bible Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Good Girl's Guide to Great Sex: Creating a Marriage That's Both Holy and Hot Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Screwtape Letters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Don't Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table: It's Time to Win the Battle of Your Mind... Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Winning the War in Your Mind: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Four Loves Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Girl, Wash Your Face: Stop Believing the Lies About Who You Are so You Can Become Who You Were Meant to Be Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Mere Christianity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Imagine Heaven: Near-Death Experiences, God's Promises, and the Exhilarating Future That Awaits You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Uninvited: Living Loved When You Feel Less Than, Left Out, and Lonely Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Winning the War in Your Mind Workbook: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Anxious for Nothing: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Boundaries Updated and Expanded Edition: When to Say Yes, How to Say No To Take Control of Your Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Your Brain's Not Broken: Strategies for Navigating Your Emotions and Life with ADHD Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Present Over Perfect: Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wild at Heart Expanded Edition: Discovering the Secret of a Man's Soul Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Law of Connection: Lesson 10 from The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Lead When You're Not in Charge: Leveraging Influence When You Lack Authority Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Good Boundaries and Goodbyes: Loving Others Without Losing the Best of Who You Are Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Story: The Bible as One Continuing Story of God and His People Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Changes That Heal: Four Practical Steps to a Happier, Healthier You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Boundaries Workbook: When to Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control of Your Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Stepping Aside, Moving Ahead
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Stepping Aside, Moving Ahead - Steve Harper
Praise for Stepping Aside, Moving Ahead
Praise for Stepping Aside, Moving Ahead
Steve Harper helps all of us in transitioning to the second half of life! His book not only helps us make this transition but it equips us to help others. It is an excellent tool for baby boomers and clergy, like myself, who see great significance in living our legacy of love and faith.
—Clayton L. Smith, Executive Pastor of Generosity, United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, Leawood, KS; author, Propel: Good Stewardship, Greater Generosity from Abingdon Press
It’s easy to say ‘I wish I had read this book five years ago,’ but it’s true. Steve has brought together the practical and the spiritual, the personal and the professional dynamics of preparing for retirement in this delightful, readable collection of letters. He touches sensitive nerves and warms the spirit at the same time. For the host of baby boomer preachers like me who now face this next phase of life, Steve has offered us a guidebook for the journey.
—John E. Harnish, retired pastor and Associate General Secretary, Board of Higher Education and Ministry, UMC
Stepping Aside, Moving Ahead addresses a key area that many pastors and lay leaders fail to understand and discuss openly and provides a great resource to open the discussion with pastors as they are considering (or should be considering) retirement. Harper’s insights will help clergy celebrate stepping aside as they pass the baton to the next generation of leaders.
—Darrel Riley, Superintendent Southeast Region, Free Methodist Church
Steve Harper has the uncanny gift of translating deep spirituality into the day-to-day context of life. So as one facing retirement in the near future, I’m all ears. With this book he has captured the big issue and fears I face. It’s a much-needed masterpiece.
—Daryl L. Smith, Associate Professor, Asbury Theological Seminary, Florida Dunnam Campus
"Steve Harper writes with intentionality and wisdom about what it means to step aside and move ahead into retirement. In the style of C. S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters, Harper shares a thoughtful, systematic, and practical reflection on retirement for clergy. He presents this gift to us as a teacher, spiritual director, colleague, and friend!"
—Wayne D. Wiatt, Director, Office of Clergy Excellence, Florida Conference, UMC
Other Books by Steve Harper from Abingdon Press
Other Books by Steve Harper from Abingdon Press
Five Marks of a Methodist
For the Sake of the Bride
Products by Magrey deVega with Steve Harper
Five Marks of a Methodist: Participant Guide
Five Marks of a Methodist: Leader Guide
Five Marks of a Methodist: DVD
Title Page
33267.pngCopyright Page
stepping aside, moving ahead:
spiritual and practical wisdom for clergy retirement
Copyright © 2016 by Abingdon Press
All rights reserved.
No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted by the 1976 Copyright Act or in writing from the publisher. Requests for permission should be addressed in writing to Permissions, Abingdon Press, 2222 Rosa L. Parks Blvd., PO Box 280988, Nashville, TN 37228-0988, or e-mailed to permissions@abingdonpress.com.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Harper, Steve, 1947- author.
Title: Stepping aside, moving ahead : spiritual and practical wisdom for
clergy retirement / Steve Harper.
Description: First [edition]. | Nashville, Tennessee : Abingdon Press, 2016.
Includes bibliographical references.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015050506 (print) | LCCN 2016000408 (ebook) | ISBN
9781501810480 (binding: pbk.) | ISBN 9781501810497 (E-book)
Subjects: LCSH: Clergy--Retirement.
Classification: LCC BV4382 .H37 2016 (print) | LCC BV4382 (ebook) | DDC
253/.208696--dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015050506
Unless otherwise indicated, scripture quotations are taken from the Common English Bible. Copyright © 2011 by the Common English Bible. All rights reserved. Used by permission. www.CommonEnglishBible.com.
Scripture quotations marked (KJV) are from The Authorized (King James) Version. Rights in the Authorized Version in the United Kingdom are vested in the Crown. Reproduced by permission of the Crown’s patentee, Cambridge University Press.
Dedication
For Jeannie,
Who walks the retirement phase of life with me,
Hand in hand and with love,
As always
Contents
33321.pngIntroduction
The Opening Letter
It’s in the Bible
Establishing the Vision
Engaging the Intention
Enacting the Means
Whole-Life Retirement
You’ve Got Soul!
Body Life
The Integrative Factor
Leaving a Legacy
A Monastic Experience
Discerning the Time
Ready to Retire?
Announcing the Decision
Facing the Giants
What Time Is It?
Show Me the Money!
Home, Sweet Home!
In Good Health
One of These Days
Cared For by Uncle Sam Each Month
Leaving a Precious Gift
Holy Dying
Just the Two of Us
You Have Much to Look Forward To
God with Us in the Details
The Inner Voice
Putting It on a Timeline
What If I’m Not Ready to Retire?
Shepherding the Flock
Get Out of the Way
The Life-Giving Combination
Becoming More Meditative
Remaining Active
Finding a Flexible Future
Closing Metaphors
Heading toward the Dawn
For Further Reading
Introduction
33331.pngMy dad described his aging process this way: It took me fifty years to be fifty, but it only took me fifteen minutes to be eighty.
As I age and live into retirement, his words have become real for me. It is amazing how quickly time passes. Obviously, no one gets older more quickly than anyone else. But when we are the ones experiencing the aging journey, it seems as though we have arrived prematurely. Coming to retirement feels the same way.
Approximately ten thousand people retire daily in the United States, straining social networks and government programs to absorb and process the reality. Many of this daily number are clergy. In fact, the clergy demographic is on the older
side. Our likes are retiring in large numbers, with more on the way. Moreover, as part of the new elderly, we will live longer in retirement than previous generations have done. We must not simply slip into retirement; we must prepare and plan for it.
Doing so quickly reveals retirement to be a profoundly spiritual experience—one that touches the entirety of our humanity—spirit, soul, and body, as Paul put it in 1 Thessalonians 5:23. For most of us, these three dimensions of existence will not get to retirement age in equally good shape. Retirement thus becomes a challenge to bring together the totality of our personhood in ways that enable us to step aside and yet move ahead. Retirement presents the same challenge as every stage of life: how to live abundantly.
But we clergy must deal with the leadership dynamics associated with retirement. We have become accustomed to being in the forefront. People have looked to us for guidance and help in all sorts of ways. This is true not only for pastors in local churches but also for a variety of other ministries where we have functioned as leaders. The prospect of no longer having others to lead is a formidable challenge, causing some to keep on going, fearing that a loss of position will mean a loss of life. This fear strikes particularly hard at any who have lived with an I am what I do
identity.
For all these dynamics and more, I have written this book for those of us who approach retirement with fightings and fears within, without
but who also come to it believing that every age and stage of life is sacred.¹ To be honest, I hesitated to write this book because I have not been retired for long. But that is the very reason Abingdon Press encouraged me to write it—to produce a book that contains memories and meditations that attend the years leading up to retirement and those immediately following it.² To write this way means I am a fellow traveler with you, a retirement pilgrim still forming my life for the long haul. The words here are wet clay.
As you may have noticed, I have chosen a letter format for the book. Letters have been classic media for spiritual guidance in the past. I hope they will do so now. For one thing, letters are short enough to be focused reflections on specific topics, not extended treatments of a subject like a traditional chapter would be. I believe that a formative approach to retirement requires this little-by-little approach. But for another thing, letters are documents that can be read and reread, with increasing benefit. Letters can be savored. Letters create a meditative mind-set. They are spiritual formation documents.
I use the name Chris because it is a name given to women as well as to men. I want this book to include us all. But I also realize that I am a man, so I am sure there will be ways in which my ideas will need to be translated into the experience of a female clergyperson. I only hope that I will write in ways that will make any applications to your life and ministry possible.
Because of my many years teaching spiritual formation, I view this book as a spirituality of retirement. This not only taps my expertise but also fits my personal experience and the experience of others who find retirement to be a deep matter of soul. But in calling it a spirituality of retirement, I must emphasize that it is a book that includes every aspect of life. This is not a narrowly religious book. Spirituality is reality, or it is not spirituality. A spiritual formation book about retirement must be broad as well as deep. It must reveal Emmanuel—God with us—in retirement, as always. We can only step aside and move ahead if we are guided by the One who knows our way better than we do.
1 . Charlotte Eilliott, Just as I Am, Without One Plea,
The United Methodist Hymnal (Nashville: The United Methodist Publishing House, 1989), 357.
2 . There are many good books about retirement written by people who have lived farther into older adulthood. I have provided some in a reading list at the end of this book.
The Opening Letter
33344.pngDear Chris,
It is good to hear from you. Yes, I remember you—the classes you took with me in seminary and the conversations we had outside of class while you were a student. Those were good times. I confess that I am surprised to learn you are nearing retirement. Time passes quickly. I can only imagine how much God has used you for good during your years of ordained ministry.
I am grateful to have you reach out to me with respect to your retirement. You are wise in paying attention to this transition in advance of it. To postpone consideration of retirement can make us more reactive than responsive, which only increases the likelihood that we will not make our best decisions. I commend your foresight.
Chris, I am glad to learn that you and your spouse are talking about your retirement together.¹ You will find your spouse’s wisdom to be foundational and motivational in your own deliberations. Jeannie has been, as always, my best guide and supporter as I have moved into retirement. I hope you will also reach out to others for counsel, because there is no one-size-fits-all pattern for retiring. I trust you know folks who have retired well. They can give you additional important perspective. But I accept your invitation to be of whatever help I can be.
I like your phrase a spirituality of retirement.
My own experience, combined with others I know, shows that both the consideration of retirement and the early living into it is a profound phase of the Christian spiritual life. You are on target in bringing your whole self to retirement, and that includes family dynamics and everything else, for that matter.
As we exchange letters, please know that I am not prescribing a one-size-fits-all plan for you. Life doesn’t work that way, and neither does retirement. Instead, I hope to be descriptive, not prescriptive. My story will not be your story. But I agree with Frederick Buechner that our individual lives manifest universality.²