Ever since the very beginning of our career as pastors, we have had retired ministers in the congregations that we have served. They have been a great resource for our ministry. I have often been able to call on retired ministers to provide pulpit supply, consult with for continuing education, serve on congregational boards and committees, and support the ministry of the church in a wide variety of different ways. Retired ministers have served the church while we were on sabbatical, provided back-up during illness, helped deliver communion to persons who are not able to attend church, and provide many other kinds of ministries.

During that time I had become aware of a program of the Pension Boards of the United Church of Christ called the annuitant visitor program. Essentially, the Pension Boards arranges for a pastoral call to each retired minister once a year by deploying a team of volunteers who are given the names of retired pastors in their area and assigned to check in to make sure that the pension benefits and health care plan are working for those they are intended to serve. Over the years I have known many of the annuitant visitors. Most of them have themselves been retired. The training used to include a trip to a meeting hosted by the Pension Boards to learn about the boards’ programs. Most of the annuitant visitors I have known have a very positive attitude about those programs. After all, they have just been treated to a free trip at the expense of the boards and received a “sales pitch” about all the programs.

I, on the other hand, have been a bit skeptical. I am grateful for the existence of the Boards and for the official structures of the United Church of Christ which provide support to retired clergy. The pastoral ministry isn’t a calling that is associated with high income and most pastors retire with very modest support packages and little savings. We didn’t go into the ministry to become rich and most of us have learned to live within our means and have modest expectations. Still, the Pension Boards is one of the areas of the church that operates in many ways like a very big business, investing the combined retirement accounts of pastors across the nation, purchasing health insurance for active and retired clergy and selling its products to congregations. Not all of the decisions made by the Pension Boards, including the fact that they pay the highest salaries in the church, have been embraced by all of our members. There has been controversy over some of the decisions made. I have been among the skeptics. I have leveled criticism on occasion.

The day before yesterday, however, I received my first call from my annuitant visitor. It took just a bit more than a year after our retirement for the program to reach out to us. With the distancing requirements of the pandemic, the visits are not face to face, so my visit took the form of a phone call. The person on the other end of the line was herself a retired UCC clergy person and she apparently felt that a phone call with me would cover annual visits with both Susan and me. She asked a few standard questions about how we are doing, where we are living and the like. She had a few questions about how we are adjusting to the recent change in our health insurance from a medicare supplement policy to a Preferred Provider Program. The change meant we had to learn to use a new health care provider, a new pharmacy service, and a few other changes. Although making all of the changes was a nuisance, they occurred more than six months ago and we’ve gotten used to the new program. There are some advantages and some disadvantages to the change.

Still, I would rate the visit as a pleasant experience overall. It was nice to have someone give us a call to check up with us. For the most part it feels a bit as if the denomination has forgotten about us. While we have received wonderful support and appreciation from the congregations we have served, the church in its conference and national settings have not had any contact with us other than bulk mailings, which include appeals for financial support. I don’t know what I expected, but a card or note from a Conference minister or some other acknowledgement of decades of service to the church might have been nice. On the other hand, recognition isn’t the reason ministers do what we do and the ministry of the church isn’t about me and my feelings.

I’ll accept this phone call as a gesture of care and concern and support. In about a year I’ll probably get another one. If I had a problem or a concern, I do know how to contact the Pension Boards. I’ve worked my way through the maze of web sites and phone menus and other channels of communication. I live, person to person phone call is a nice touch. On the other hand, the phone call came out of the blue. I was sitting in my truck with three grandchildren in the back, pulling into our son’s driveway when the call came. I remained in the truck, talking, as the children poured out of the truck and greeted their mother. My life isn’t exactly one of sitting at home waiting for the next phone call. In a year, I’m likely to be engaged in activity when the random phone call comes. I guess if I were making the calls, I might begin with something like, “Is this a good time to talk, or is there a better time for me to call?”

If I were giving advice to a newly-ordained clergy person, and it is unlikely that one would seek me out for advice, I think I might say that developing communities of support outside of the church is essential. Don’t count on the denomination to be your pastor. Find professional friendships and systems of support outside of the Conference and national settings of the church. Unless, of course, a random phone call once a year is sufficient for you. You will get that after three or four or more decades of dedicated service.

Fortunately for me, I have children and grandchildren who are expressive in their love and support of me and the church has given me decades of serving people who have become my friends and who are not shy about expressing their appreciation and love. In my case that love and support is more treasured than the phone call.