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Mature Clergy
Mid-life clergy seem to be increasingly devalued by The United Methodist Church, writes the Rev. Mike Lindstrom.Two things have intersected in my thinking lately.
One is the story of life as a middle-aged United Methodist clergy – too old to be invested in, too young to be vested in the pension fund. It feels like we middle-aged clergy are being asked to keep the machine running while the church gets young people into places of "real" ministry. It seems to me that if you are upper 40s to 50s you still have a good bit of time left in ministry but the annual conference and the denomination has little interest in what you might do. Or, at least you have to work harder than younger clergy to prove yourself worthy of consideration. Young clergy persons seem to have the advantage of being consider for meaningful ministry appointments and ministry development because they are young (given all other gifts are equal, for the sake of the argument).
The second issue comes from an article about cross-conference appointments and opening up the connection to a broader context (http://rethinkbishop.com/246/). That seems like a good idea due to the needs of some conferences and the gifts of clergy that may fit more readily into a different place in a different geographical area, and in many ways I am all for it. I encourage you to read that article to gain an understanding of that possibility.
The intersection of these two ideas came when I began to think about how young clergy are being appointed to significant charges in our Conference. Don't get me wrong, I think those selected have the gifts to do well (I am not certain they have the experience to weather some challenges by powerful laity, but I could be wrong on that). I just think that a middle-aged clergy person with the same gifts would not be as readily considered for the same appointment because we want to de-gray the clergy ranks. Now, bring in the cross-conference / nation-wide appointive possibilities and I begin to see the possibility of a "free agency" type process on the horizon. Conferences that are giving young clergy strong appointments in places doing "real" ministry (as opposed to small churches in rural locations) have a selling point to entice young clergy from other conferences to come to their area. Older clergy would be moved off the "starting roster" into smaller charges. This would encourage them to either resign themselves to that kind of ministry or seek an appointment in another Conference. Either way, the enticing Conference can make their "team" younger.
I may be way off base on this and a bit paranoid (though I do not seek some great appointment or worry about my upward mobility in the Conference). I just have felt the emotional twinge of the first issue and the realization of the second one. When I put them together it led to this line of thought. The good news for those in the upper age brackets is that guaranteed appointments are still in place. Otherwise some may just be cut from the roster with well wishes for their career in other places, if they can find a place to land. it wouldn't necessarily be due to their inability to serve, but due to a lack of appointment due to others coming in from other places.
These are just some thoughts based on some observations and imaginative possibilities. I do not believe there is anything sinister at work. I believe many are working to further the future of The United Methodist Church. I also believe many of us will need to adjust to a new way of seeing the future.
The Rev. Mike Lindstrom of Pasadena, TX, is a clergy member of the Texas Annual Conference.