Twenty Ways To Redeem Your Pastoral Retirement

Like finally reaching Wally World and finding it decrepit and closed, retirement is a profound disappointment to so many hard-working people who were led to see it as the exciting destination at the end of their labors. I was young and naïve when I heard that my Uncle Fred had just retired and was driving my Aunt Rose (not their real names) crazy. I thought Fred and Rose were both so congenial; I couldn’t imagine them fighting over where to put the groceries, but they were.

The retirement crisis used to be a “guy” thing of course, but since so many women have joined the full-time workforce, it’s an almost universal rite-of-passage in America today.

And I would venture to say that retirement presents greater challenges for pastors of congregations than it does for most others.  Here’s a slightly amended paragraph from my last post: Lame Ducks Can Still Fly: Twelve Projects Retiring Pastors Can Work On.

No other profession that I know of involves so much enmeshment between work and leisure, activity and identity, clients and friends.  Pastors play with their co-workers, work with their friends, worship with their board members and sometimes even pray with their enemies. Many of them live in homes that belong to their employers, lose track of their extended families, have Christmas with those who pity them and take work-related phone calls on their vacations. They often don’t know what in the world to do with themselves when they hand over the keys to the pastor’s study.

I offered some suggestions last week for pastors who are thinking about retirement and unsure of what projects they should and shouldn’t be working on in their churches during their last months or years.

Today I want to move the clock forward and share some good things to consider doing in your post-pastorate years.  These are in no particular order or rank and I would love to hear your additions to this list.

1. Kick the bucket list. Somebody is probably telling you that retirement is your big chance to do all the great adventures you were never able to do. I’ll write about this in more detail later, but, putting it briefly and bluntly, Christians don’t need a bucket list.  God has an incredible future in store for us; a bottomless bucket of blessings.  This extremely brief time we have on this tragically fallen planet is our opportunity to make disciples of Christ and build the Kingdom of Christ by building the Church of Christ. The bucket list of exciting things to do before we die is a distinctly non-Christian concept. You will have thousands of years to try bungy jumping, sky-diving and world-class site seeing.
2. Find a church – other than the one you retired from – and humble yourself by becoming the best volunteer they have. Resist the temptation to straighten them out; just serve.
3. Join a service organization, serve your community and share the gospel of Christ with the folks you rub shoulders with. I have been a member of a Lions Club and a historical society and loved both of these groups. You wanted to do this ten years ago; now you have the time to do it.
4. Do Bible studies, worship services, music, games, visiting, etc. in retirement homes, assisted living homes, nursing homes, etc. These dear people are tragically neglected and unbelievably lonely.  You will be warmly welcomed and deeply appreciated just by showing up.
5. Be an unpaid associate, executive or caregiving pastor for a younger, frazzled pastor who is wise enough to welcome your help. More than likely you will be profoundly helpful and greatly appreciated.
6. Volunteer for a parachurch ministry or the district office of your denomination. Conflict coaches/mediators are especially needed.
7. Coach young pastors (or even old ones!) who are wise enough to want a coach. It’s not hard to learn how to be a good one and you can have a huge kingdom impact with this ministry. I have found this to be profoundly satisfying and you can too.
8. Become a retail-world evangelist. All your life you’ve taught that “secular work is full-time service.”  You now have the opportunity to model this ministry.  Those guys and gals at the hardware store need you. Go introduce yourself and introduce some people to Jesus, as God gives you opportunities.
9. Get involved in local evangelism/disciple-making efforts that you haven’t had the time to get involved in for many years. God knows that you were so busy with the “sheep” that you didn’t have much time for the “goats,” but you have the time now.
10. Revive your former tent-making occupation but do it now as a seasoned believer who is much better prepared than you were in the past to share Christ on the job.
11. Write a book. You’ve always wanted to.  Now’s your chance.
12. Re-connect with your long, lost family. Hopefully, we’re not talking about your wife, sons and daughters but maybe your cousins would enjoy getting to know you again.
13. Start a pastor pow-wow. I know this isn’t the name which your denomination uses; it’s my generic term for pastor get-togethers.  In many communities, evangelical pastors are lonely and discouraged and don’t have the energy to organize a weekly or monthly breakfast or lunch.  You can have serious prayer, serious laughter or both. You could be a huge blessing to younger pastors by making this happen.
14. Use the “Y” (or a similar health club) to “love on” lost people and do evangelism. I know an 80-something believer who has made this a wonderful ministry.
15. Become an interim pastor. Interim pastors are greatly needed and have incredible opportunities to help stabilize, strengthen, unify and even transform churches which are “in between” long-term pastors.  You can serve part-time or full-time and in churches which are not particularly open to change or in congregations which are waiting for transformational leadership.  The “father” of modern-day interim ministry, Loren Mead, observed that the interim time is a “prime time for renewal” for churches. Having done eight of these, I can testify that this is a powerful and fruitful way to serve God.
16. Give pastors a break. You can “fill pulpits” one Sunday at a time or for months at a time, giving pastors of small churches the opportunity to be blessed by sabbaticals.
17. Do some teaching or classroom assisting in a public or private school.
18. Become a Big Brother (with Big Brothers/Big Sisters) to a child who will see you as an awesome grandpa.
19. Drive for Uber, Lyft or become a “meals on wheels” volunteer, sharing the good news of Christ as you go.
20. Take care of your wife. Sad to say, I know many retired or almost retired pastors with seriously ailing wives. She took care of you in many amazing ways for many years; perhaps this is the time when God wants you to see your service for her as an important ministry.