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This resource is brought to you by Thrive as part of a published resource called Retirement from Pastoral Ministry: Guidance for a Healthy Transition.
There were twenty six Christian Reformed Church (CRC) pastors in the room. All of them had come, in January of 2023, to talk about retirement. All of them were living and working in the North American setting. But alongside the Caucasian pastors who had come, most of the pastors were from Hispanic, Korean, Chinese, African-American, Indigenous, Southeast Asian and Pacific Islander (SEAPI) faith communities.
Here are some key observations from this multiple-perspective conversation:
Observation #1:
CRC Pastors who come from BIPOC contexts seem to experience conversations about retirement differently from Caucasian pastors. For example:
Observation #2:
BIPOC pastors in the CRC generally experience less financial security in retirement than Caucasian pastors do.
The pastors who participated in this retirement conversation recognized that the concept of retirement is rich with blessing, especially when linked to with the concept of vocation. But they also noted that there is work to be done to address inequities described here, and to think more broadly about what it means to retire from ministry in a multicultural setting.
Our hope is that those who read this blog and the resource of which it is a part are able to integrate this awareness into their planning for retirement. Give thanks to God if you are well provided for! Recognize the concept of retirement for what it is: A relatively recent phenomenon that makes sense in a Western cultural setting, but not necessarily in other cultural settings. If you are not well provided for then find people in your congregation and classis who can be your advocates, helping you to lay a more solid financial foundation for your upcoming retirement.
NOTE: This article comes out of a study of ministry transitions, done by members of the Thrive staff of the Christian Reformed Church in North America. The studied transitions include the transition from later career into retirement. The guidance here is part of a larger retirement resource that updates a 2006 resource called "Closing Well — Continuing Strong." The full updated resource, now titled “Retirement from Pastoral Ministry: Guidance for a Healthy Transition,” can be found here on the Thrive website.
General Worship, Pastors
General Worship, Pastors
Korean, Pastors
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