Am I Retired, Or What?

Loreen and I live in an adult retirement community. That is, it’s especially designed for the “over 55 crowd.” However, we have learned along the way that about a third of them are still gainfully employed – whatever that means.

The other day, a neighbor of mine asked a question that made me think twice. Three times, maybe. “When did you retire?” I knew what he meant, so I told him that I retired as pastor of Grace Church in Lititz, Pennsylvania at the end of June, 2004. The real answer is much more complicated. I may have retired from being the pastor of a church, but I am still very much “employed” within the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches.

The last three months have been busier than I would like to admit. During a 45-day period in February and March, I put together a “certification summit” for the chairmen of examining boards in the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches. Men came from points as far away as Alaska and Florida – 26 of us, counting myself. Of the 22 Districts listed as members of the Fellowship, 17 were represented.

Grace Church in Lititz hosted the gathering, so we flew to Baltimore and drove up to Pennsylvania on March 23. The Summit was historic in nature because we had never done anything like this before. We gathered on Monday night and concluded Wednesday morning. In my opinion, it was a huge success.

The Certification Summit was sponsored by the Association of Grace Brethren Ministers and funded by Grace Brethren North American Missions. Our first priority was to achieve basic agreement on a new ministry certification for church planters. Obviously, we discussed other things as well.

Loreen and I returned to Arizona on April 5, but flew back to Pennsylvania three weeks later to participate in a “mortgage burning” at Grace Church. The building debt is no more – at least for now. As you might imagine, we had a great time with friends and family. It’s always a joy to speak to a great congregation and urge them on to greater things.

After the celebration at Grace Church, we flew to Chicago for a meeting of the Board of Directors for the Grace Brethren Investment Foundation. I serve as a member of the Board until 2008. We returned to Arizona on April 30.

During the month of May, Loreen and I need to get the trailer ready for travel. If we have enough money for gas (spell that diesel), we’ll drive up the coast of California during the month of June. We have lots of churches and pastors we want to visit. If our plan holds, we’ll get all the way to the east coast before fall.

Whew! Am I retired, or what? Sometimes I wonder. Another neighbor of mine put it succinctly: “You travel a lot.” Uh-huh.