In reaching my 75th year of life, I have gained a renewed appreciation for the psalmist’s reminder, “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (90:12). Or, in the New Living Translation, “Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom.”

I am writing this article now in view of my upcoming “retirement” on Dec. 31, 2025, as the SoCal Network Director of Pastoral Care, completing 12 wonderful years.

This is not an entirely new experience for me, since I retired from active duty as an Assemblies of God Navy Chaplain and returned to the civilian realm in 2000. While I would prefer considering retirement as “making a transition,” I am not so quick to tell others, “I’m transitioning,” given its dominant meaning in our current culture.

And yet, when I say I’m retiring from ministry, it almost sounds as if it is a declaration, “I’m quitting.” This really poses a double-edged sword for me.

Yes, I’m terminating my current role in ministry, but I’ll never cease to be a minister called by God, to live out and share the good news of Jesus. I’m also a unique individual, a partner in marriage, as well as a father and grandfather. 

Processing Loss and Grief

In some of my conversations with ministers in our network, the reality and thought of no longer serving in a lead/senior pastor role, especially after years of tenure, has sometimes proven quite distressing. For one pastor it was an especially difficult challenge of letting go and facing what he was really experiencing: his own grief in this loss, which he needed to process.

Dr. Archibald Hart used to say, pastors know they are pastors, but often forget they are persons. While it was the focus of our interaction, I also gave this pastor a copy of Henry Cloud’s excellent book, Necessary Endings: The Employees, Businesses, and Relationships That All of Us Have to Give Up in Order to Move Forward.

The title itself highlights how even some tough endings can open new and perhaps surprise beginnings — such as ministry opportunities in filling a Sunday pulpit or even serving as an interim pastor. 

Wisdom From Peers  

During recent monthly zoom calls with other ministers and former military chaplains, our group discussed Arthur Brooks’ superb book, From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life.  His insights on facing our eventual decline, which comes sooner than we think, opened lots of introspection and conversation among our group of “seasoned” agers.

Brooks’ research supports the value of finding lasting happiness in later life (and ministry) that comes when we shift the focus from our early success to cultivating wisdom, relationships, and spiritual growth. He encourages us to embrace the natural transition from what Brooks calls the first curve of “fluid intelligence” to the second of “crystallized intelligence,” which can give renewed purpose through connection and service.

I’ll never cease to be a minister called by God, to live out and share the good news of Jesus.

We all concurred in what could be offered younger ministers from the wells of our experiences — genuine support and sage advice during their own challenging journeys of life and ministry.

As our zoom group came to Brooks’ fifth chapter, “Pondering Your Death,” we were challenged by member Dave Gable, a former assistant superintendent of the SoCal District, to consider a unique exercise. Gable has been faced with a heart valve condition that cannot be medically remedied.

In Gable’s own words: “So no medical help is available, and the leak is getting worse. I am on my own, in God’s hands. When I asked the cardiologist how long those in my state last, he said not years, but weeks or months. So, I deal with symptoms and take each day as a gift from God.”

Our group met for lunch at Gable’s home, talked openly about what he was facing, and prayed with him and his wife, Millie.

Living With Eternity in View  

All of us in this group are in the final season of life, and Gable’s challenge to us for the next meeting was to write our own obituaries — talk about facing reality.

For me personally, I have had more moments of deep reflection on life and its brevity, but also on what truly matters — my own relationships and God’s presence amid the normal decline that comes with age.

As Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 4:16 (CEB), “But even if our bodies are breaking down on the outside, the person that we are on the inside is being renewed every day.”

In reflecting on my pending “retirement” and “transition” from this final full-time vocational role, I think I have become even more keenly aware of that inevitable reality — the closing horizon of death — that we all must face.

This is what Ernest Becker wrote about in his work, The Denial of Death. Yet, as my friend Dave Gable expressed it, he’s resting in God’s hands, actively living each day as a gift and reflecting on God’s goodness.

That is something I’m endeavoring to do now in whatever amount of time I’m granted. This is amplified by my renewed awe for our present and future hope rooted in God’s love and grace, even as conveyed in God’s hesed — that profound Hebrew word denoting God’s faithful love and mercy, which endures forever.

And in the challenge of life being so daily and brief (James even reminds us we’re but a vapor), my only response each day is to open myself to opportunities and serve however I can by savoring family, friends, and community relationships. Then especially, being filled with utter gratitude and praise to our Lord.

A Final Benediction

To my fellow ministers in seasons of transition — whether by choice or necessity — may you find strength in God’s faithful love, purpose in each new day, and joy in the sacred work that never truly ends.

As Paul affirms: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13).

Soli Deo gloria — glory to God alone!