Episcopal Church Foundation Vestry Papers - for leading congregations

After thirty-eight years of parish ministry, I have come to the realization that it is necessary for the retiring priest to depart the parish where he or she has labored in order to open the future to the new priest and to allow his congregation to move freely into the future without being emotionally or spiritually held back, like a still frame. Way too often, the former priest who has invested so much of him or herself feels entitled to remaining among 'his or her' flock because it is here where his or her identity has been defined and upheld. But our ministry within a parish is not about us, but about the reconciling gospel of Christ. We jeopardize the health and future of the very place we gave our lives by remaining in the congregation following our resignation. There maybe some situations where an agreement could be reached between the new rector and the former one, but such an agreement must be carefully adopted, and it should originate from the incoming priest and not the one who no longer has canonical oversight. I became aware of the need for the whole church to have a conversation around this issue after a retreat at the Abbey of Our Lady of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, Georgia, in 2006. I overheard Dom Basil Pennington, former Abbot of Spencer Abbey who had been called to Conyers to serve as interim Abbot, respond to a visitor who asked him if he was going to return to Spencer following his duties at Conyers. Pennington responded by saying that he could not return to his monastic family and that this was the cross he would have to bear. We, retired clergy, would do well, for the sake of Christ's Body to follow such wisdom and allow the new priest and his people to live without the shadow of past successes or failures. It is in the spirit of brotherly concern that I share this with you.