Towards Retirement

You may have heard by now that I am retiring from full-time pastoral ministry at the end of June 2024. Our last Sunday will be 23 June. 

Some have asked about our timeline. This has not been a quick decision. I love what I do. We have been at OCC for almost 16 years. This is home. These are our people.

About 5 years ago I met with a couple of our Leadership Team to let them know that my plan was to retire before I turned 70. I turned 69 in April, so this is my 70th year.

This last summer/fall, Janice & I started to think that the summer of 2024 would be a good time to retire.

Before Christmas, I let OCC's Leadership Team know that I would retire at the end of June and would announce it to the congregation in March.

We started to tell family - our kids had our summer planned out with time with grandkids in a hurry! It's going to be a busy summer!

When I was in Uganda and Ethiopia in January and February, I told ministry leaders of our decision - they and I, are looking forward to my availability for ministry in East Africa.

When I returned home, we started letting friends know before the official announcement. And then in early March, we made the announcement to the congregation.

Since then we have been processing what this means.

Stay tuned for the next post...