The Pension Boards interviews the Rev. Dr. Don Wagner on his experiences navigating ministry, finances and retirement. Rev. Wagner currently serves as an Annuitant Visitor in the Illinois South Conference.
I was ordained into Christian ministry by the United Church of Christ on June 5, 1988, in the worship home of Holy Ghost United Church of Christ, Darmstadt, Illinois. At the time of my ordination, I was 30 years of age and had accepted my first call in ministry to Grace United Church of Christ in Culver, Indiana.
In my heart, no one convicted by a call of God to Christian ministry would ever be, “also doing ministry.” Ministers are forever in the midst of ministry, even as I am finding that to be true in retirement.
Early on, Rev. John Krueger taught me that the best way to care for yourself and your family is to care deeply for the congregation as your family – and he was absolutely correct. It is wisdom proven over and over again. As the congregation grew in understanding how deeply vested I was in them and the wider community, the more they became deeply invested in making sure our home and family life was honored and respected. Covenant is one of its purest and simplest forms. The longer I was in ministry, the more that practice became true.
“The variety of things which are assumed the pastor should know, especially in the areas of administration and financial management, blew me away.”
Seminary taught me much about the mechanics of ministry, but there was no way for seminary classes to prepare me for the constantly changing dynamics of answering God’s call in the midst of everyday congregational life. The variety of things which are assumed the pastor should know, especially in the areas of administration and financial management, blew me away. Coming into ministry as a second vocation person with a dairy farming background made a huge difference for me, simply from the already developed capacity to adapt to changes beyond one’s control. Additionally, the around-the-clock and seasonal nature of farming made similar expectations in ministry seem way more reasonable.
What surprises me today is the ever-expanding need of pastors to be technologically adept and social-network aware. Pastors and congregations not utilizing the resources available through technology are moving towards extinction. One pastoral caution though, it is far too easy to become immersed in technology and neglect the need for human connection and touch. Somewhere out there is a balance – and it is only when we are on our knees before the Spirit in Christ that we find such a balance and maintain it with integrity.
Yes, nearly daily I dealt with such issues, but never in isolation. Going back to covenant, the Conference guidelines for compensation were always a gift in addressing such issues, along with a strong advocacy group in Church Council leadership who stood up with and for me in difficult times.
I was very blessed to serve congregations who did their utmost to provide for our family as we provided care for them. It has been a two-way street. There was, though, a two-year span early in my last setting when I voluntarily took a pay-freeze so that the others on staff could have a cost-of-living raise. Our congregation was really having a tough time then, and it was the right thing to do in setting an example of putting others first. What I did not expect, though, is that the congregation and the staff never forgot those years. When I retired, the congregation was doing much better, and through a combination of personal gifts from the congregants and a special fund the congregation maintains, they presented me with a generous financial gift that equaled the amount I had forfeited over the years in salary and pension for the sake of others. I was flabbergasted. That is covenant and God at work in the hearts of those we serve.
Advice for others? Trust God, trust your heart, work with your conference and your congregation, and always be generous for the sake of others. You may not end up with a big check to take home, but when you go home you can rest easy at night knowing you were doing your best to live as Christ where you are.
In order to finance my education for ministry, my wife was working, I was working, we had the support of both of our families, and depended on the residual of my farm investments to see us through. As it was, when I graduated seminary, we had very little, other than the support of the UCC Pension Plan to get us headed in the right direction in planning for retirement, even on the first day of active ministry.
I will ever be grateful for the covenantal relationship between God, the conference, the congregation, the Pension Boards, and myself in ensuring that a consistent amount, 14% of base salary plus housing was set aside annually for our family to depend on in retirement.
“The Pension Boards continues to do a wonderful job of assisting newly-authorized folk in setting the path for retirement long before we realized we needed it.”
I am equally grateful that I could not access that money during my ministry. There were hard times when it would have been very easy to withdraw it to meet the demands of the day. But others far wiser than I assisted us in finding and accessing the help we needed allowing the pension to continue to grow. The Pension Boards continues to do a wonderful job of assisting newly-authorized folk in setting the path for retirement long before we realized we needed it. Such assistance includes education, personal guidance, conference involvement and congregational advocacy. Authorized staff in the UCC are blessed.
Advice is abundant, wisdom is rare. Always seek Wisdom, She will never fail you. Thus, seek in ministry those who have God in them, Christ leading them, and the Spirit empowering them. They will be an unending fountain of Wisdom as God shapes ministry in you.
Ministry is not nearly so much about balancing your time, as trusting all your days to the One who calls you into ministry. Those who recognize the covenant at work in you will respond similarly, and, if they don’t, move on. God did not call you to fix the world, just serve as you are called and gifted to serve. As such, in regard to retirement, trust the Pension Boards and their care for you. They will serve you well, even as they have seen our family through ministry, retirement, health care issues, and far more.
We are blessed in the UCC to have such a wealth of resources available to guide us in maintaining healthy ministries, as well as joyous journeys long after the days of congregational services have faded. That is not my advice, it is the Wisdom I have come to understand along the way. I pray the same for you.
