umportal org Jubilee Journey
Seminary friends help orphan walk | 4B
FROM Gen-X Rising
Individualism a barrier to faith professions | 6B
Reflections
Old Methodist story finds new telling | 7B
PULPIT PEW TO UMNS PHOTO COURTESY LYN COSBY
The Rev. Reagin Brown, a retired United Methodist pastor, speaks during the June 25 march in Birmingham, Ala., against Alabama’s HB56 Immigration Law. Now that he’s no longer in the appointment system, he says, he feels freed up to speak out.
Making the transition challenges retiring pastors
BY MARY JACOBS Staff Writer
In most churches, the distance be-
tween the pulpit and the pews spans about a dozen feet. But for newly-retired United
Methodist pastors, the journey be- tween the two might as well be a thou- sand miles. Just ask the Rev. Charles Buck, 64, who retired from First UMC in Poplar Bluff, Mo., in July, after 44 years as a pastor. “I had trouble sleeping for the first
month,” he said. “After being account- able to a church and a daily regimen for years … I had to learn how to slow down.” After decades of service, retire-
ment often involves wrestling with a sense of loss of identity and recogni- tion, figuring out how to manage longs days no longer filled with meet- ings, pastoral visits and sermon preparation, and observing a number of rules—written and unwritten, in moving to a new congregation, as a member, not as the pastor. For some, the end of a career in
ministry begins a period of grieving. “It’s like empty nest syndrome,”
said the Rev. Diana Holbert, who re- tired last summer, with her last ap- pointment at Grace UMC in Dallas. “It’s about identity. I’ve always been a pastor.” Mr. Buck said, “Retirement is a time when you have to emotionally
and physically make some adjust- ments. I’m enjoying it now, but it took me awhile to get there.” Retirement can bring unexpected
blessings, too. The Rev. Reagin Brown, who retired from First UMC in Fort Payne, Ala., in July, says retirement made it easier to take a vocal role in fighting Alabama’s immigration law. “I would’ve done so either way, but
there’s a lot less cost this way,” he says. “I have friends who are in situations where they feel they can’t afford to do that. And some friends, who are ac- tive pastors, have spoken out, and paid a heavy price for it.”
Unwritten rules One of the most difficult chal-
lenges for retiring United Methodist clergy is making the transition from pastor to parishioner. Most pastors leave the last church they served and establish a membership at another United Methodist church in retire- ment. “You don’t go back to the church
where you served, not even to do a fu- neral or a wedding, unless the pastor calls and says, ‘I really need you,’” said the Rev. Katherine Glaze Lyle, who re- tired from full-time ministry in the North Texas conference in 2011. Dr. Holbert said the unwritten,
professional courtesy rule is not to re- turn for at least a year. “That’s pretty strictly followed by See ‘Pastors’ page 8B
Rev. Andrade Smith Section B November 4, 2011
Q&A: Pastor casts lot with homeless
The Rev. Lorenza Andrade
Smith, a 42-year-old provisional member of the UMC’s Rio Grande Conference, has become known in San Antonio for her activism on immigra- tion issues. That includes undertaking a fast in support of hunger strikers pushing for passage of the DREAM Act, which would create a path to citi- zenship for young undocumented im- migrants who get a college education or serve in the military. Since July, she’s been on a special
pastoral appointment, living on the street to be in solidarity with the homeless and others on society’s mar- gins. She took a break to speak to the United Methodist Association of Com- municators, in Albuquerque, N.M. Managing editor Sam Hodges caught up with her there.
Was there a turning point that led you into activism? There wasn’t anything, really, in
my background. I’ve always done things with refugees and prison work, but as far as the public (role), it was really this thing with the Dreamers (DREAM Act activists). It was a sense of, “Where is the church?” And I didn’t see the church.
See ‘Homeless’ page 2B
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