Pastor John Larson recently retired after 36 years in ministry. Before announcing his retirement he put a lot of thought into what he wanted his life to look like after retirement. In this sixth installment in his series on church succession, he shares the important lessons he and his wife learned as they prepared to embark on their new phase in life.

Retirement is a new kind of journey. No matter how much experience you have in life or in ministry, there will be new issues to address simply because you are starting down a new path in life. As a pastor who recently retired, I picked up a few firsthand nuggets of knowledge. Hopefully my experience can give you some ideas on how to move forward and make the transition a bit easier.

Nugget 1: Don’t put off until tomorrow the things you should do today. Waiting until the last minute or ignoring decisions that need to be made until you are walking through the retirement process only makes it more difficult for you once you are retired. To ease the transition, create a plan to address the big issues you will encounter such as financial changes, having an abundance of free time, and facing the identity question of “Who am I now?”

Nugget 2: Money matters. One of the fears I had to face when I decided to retire was how would the financial changes impact our family life. I wondered if my wife and I would be able to live out the rest of our lives comfortably with the savings we had. Instead of just thinking about it, we took action. We spent time with financial advisors, tax experts and friends who had walked down the retirement road before us. My wife and I had discussions about adjustments to our current lifestyle and explored avenues for additional sources of income. After months of doing our homework and making some changes, we were convinced God had always provided in the past and would continue to do so in the future. We felt comfortable as we moved ahead.

Nugget 3: Take time to refocus. Pastoral ministry is not just a job it is a lifestyle. After years of lifestyle ministry I couldn’t help but wonder, “What am I going to do with all of my extra time?” I couldn’t see myself sitting around for long periods of time and doing nothing. The call that God gave me in the beginning of my ministry life didn’t expire at retirement, but I needed to refocus it on another “flock.”

My wife and I took some time and explored many options. I asked myself these questions:

  • What do I want to do?
  • What do I not want to do?
  • Where are the needs in my community?
  • What are the needs in my family?
  • Where can my spiritual gifts be utilized?
  • Where can I maximize my impact?

I even took a Navigator’s Passions’ Assessment to make sure my passions hadn’t changed. Here are a few questions the Navigator’s ministry asked:

  • If I could make one difference in our world, I would…
  • If you were to mention my name to a group of my friends, they would say I am most passionate about…
  • If I could take on something and know I couldn’t fail, I would…
  • At the end of my life, I’d love to be able to look back and know I’d done something about…
  • The burden God seems to have placed on my heart is…
  • As I look back over my life, I seem to have spent a great deal of time on or with…
  • The people I feel most drawn to help are…

These questions helped me to funnel all the thoughts I was having. At the encouragement of my wife, I made sure that I didn’t just jump into things but took time to reflect, pray and get input. Taking time to refocus and to ask these questions helped me to focus on my strengths, gifts and passions.

Nugget 4: Your job may change but your identity and purpose in Christ remains. As pastors we are used to having influence and making an impact. We are used to being the “go to” person and the thought that no one wants to “go to” you anymore can be frightening!

For a time I felt haunted by the question, “Who am I going to be if I am not the lead pastor?”

Identity is a deep-seated issue that takes time, openness and patience to discover. So here was my strategy. My wife and I took one month to brainstorm without action. We bantered around ideas of what I was going to do, what she was going to do, and what we were going to do together. There were no commitments, just thoughts and ideas. After the one-month period, we settled on the idea of what we were going to do for the next three months. It was sort of a trial period. We are currently nearing the end of that three-month period and we plan to reassess what is working and what changes we need to make. This approach may help you to relax into the process of discovery and not feel pressured to have it all figured out at the start.

Remember, God’s call is still on your life! You don’t have to spend your retirement years just sitting around. It could be the most exhilarating season of your life.