For a study guide see page 25.
Get set for clergy retirement wave
Age, perspectives will change the face of the ELCA
By Charles Austin E
LCA pastors are getting younger. It’s not that our beloved, gray-haired pastors are suddenly dropping 20
years (and 50 pounds) and having play- lists of the latest rock stars banging in their ears as they write sermons. T e reason is that a large number of pastors are reaching retirement age this year and in the years ahead. As these leaders depart from active ministry, the face of the ELCA pastorate will change and become younger, both in age and outlook.
T e numbers are clear. T e ELCA ministerium is not
wholly older, but a signifi cant percentage is more likely to carry AARP membership cards in their wallets than credit cards from the Gap. In the Northeastern Iowa Synod, for example, 60 of
the 138 pastors under call to a congregation are age 60 or older, said Bishop Steven L. Ullestad. In the North- western Minnesota Synod, Bishop Lawrence R. Wohl- rabe said that more than half of the rostered leaders (pastors and associates in ministry) were 65 or older. ELCA Secretary Wm Chris Boerger, former bishop of
the Northwest Washington Synod, recalls that the num- bers there were similar, with more than half the active pastors over 55. In the Southeastern Synod, Michelle Angalet, an associate in ministry who is assistant to Bishop H. Julian Gordy, estimates that about half its pastors are nearing retirement age. About 13,000 of the ELCA’s almost 17,000 pastors
serve in congregations. (T e rest are already retired or in non-parish ministries.) Currently about 350 to 400 parish pastors retire every year. T e retirements had slowed a bit in the last fi ve or
six years, said Jonathan Strandjord, program director for ELCA seminaries. Sometimes this was because the downturn in the nation’s economy made pastors look hard at the condition of their retirement and investment portfolios and decide to continue in their calls.
20 November 2014 19
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