A couple of weeks ago I went to a retirement seminar for clergy. During the course of the day an issue came up that I hadn’t thought about before. It had to do with the vows we make at ordination. Are those vows still binding in the same way if we are no longer practicing ministry?
I immediately said no because I have a more “low church” view of ordination to ministry as a functional event rather than a cosmic priestly one binding for all time. I was ordained for a function of leadership and responsibility within a congregation. When I have ceased to do exercise that role, those vows don’t continue to follow me like a divine aura was my response at the time. However the more I’ve thought about it, the more I can see the problems with my thinking. Because I’ve exercised the role of pastor for 40 years, I am different and others look at me differently. I can never be just another person in a congregation. When I speak, others will give what I say a different reception because I have been and still am, ordained, even if I am not practicing any more.
In the UCC the minister’s code of ethics says the following:
I will regard all persons with equal respect and concern and undertake to
minister impartially.
I will honor all confidences shared with me.
I will not use my position, power, or authority to exploit any person.
I will not use my position for personal financial gain, nor will I misuse the
finances of the institution that I serve.
I will not perform pastoral services within a parish or for a member of a
parish without the consent of the pastor of that parish.
I will deal honorably with the record of my predecessor and successor.
I will not, upon my termination and departure from a ministry position,
interfere with nor intrude upon the ministry of my successor.
(UCC Manual on the Ministry)
It is the last three of these that often get retired clergy into trouble. We don’t mean to be a problem but it is hard to bite our tongue in a congregation. We have trouble seeing that others in the congregation are giving more weight to our words because we are ordained! We agree to serve on a local church pastoral search committee even though we shouldn’t because we are not just another member of the church. We do so because we feel honored that people want our expertise. We agree to do a wedding, funeral, or baptism for a former member with whom we were close not realizing the havoc it creates for our successor. We may even justify it saying we were not doing it in the church building! Each time we do these things we create a barrier for our successor, or in the case of the church we have joined, interference for the person who is our pastor.
This is why we are counseled to retire in another community and to limit our relationships with former parishioners. It is why we are supposed to “unfriend” our parishioner friends on Facebook when we leave. It isn’t that we have ceased to care but that the role we are playing has changed and the goal should be to encourage congregants to let the new pastor become their pastor. That can’t happen if we are still hovering on the periphery of our former congregation.
I’m glad the issue was raised at the seminar. As I get ready to retire, its important for me to remember that I will never be “just another member” of the church I will join, and that as hard as it is, that I must release others I have cared for and continue to hold with affection to the care of another minister. But the ethics of ministry require it, even, in retirement.
