About the Book
Clergy Retirement: Every Ending a New Beginning for Clergy,Their Families, and Congregants, emphasizes that retirement is much more than a significant personal loss and has an impact on more than just the retiring clergy. Besides saying goodbye to congregants, colleagues, and a career, clergy are encouraged to devote time discovering new meaning in life and seeking potential opportunities, both personal and professional. At the same time, the impact of this retirement on others who significantly shared the clergy’s life is sensitively highlighted. The ripple effects of this transition are broad, but can be most meaningfully addressed with sensitive consideration and thoughtful planning.
This book, therefore, offers practical advice, serving as a manual for transition for the entire congregation. Everyone touched by this retirement is guided to find new meaning for their future after honestly and sensitively facing the end of a career.
Table of Contents:
Introduction: Clergy Retirement: Endings and New Beginnings Part I: Perspectives on Retirement 1. Grieving a Retirement: Reflections of a Thanatologist 2. Opportunities of Transition: A Psychologist’s Perspective of Retirement Part 2: For the Clergy 3. Retirement is Not a Dirty Word 4. Saying Goodbye 5. Dangers to Watch Out For 6. Thinking About New Meanings 7. Finding Spirituality in the Next Stage of Life Part 3: For the People in Your Life 8. Listening and Sharing with Spouses 9. For Children of Retired Clergy 10. Clergy Transition: Engaging the Congregation 11. The Responsibilities Leaders of Religious Organizations Have to Their Retirees 12. Encouraging the Other: A Successor Interacts with a Predecessor 13. Encouraging the Other: A Predecessor Interacts with a Successor 14. Part 4: Conclusion Every Ending a New Beginning Appendix I: Other Resources Appendix II: Survey
About the Author :
Rabbi Daniel A. Roberts, DD, DMin, FT, is rabbi emeritus of Temple Emanu El in Cleveland, Ohio, where he served for 35 years. Rabbi Roberts received his ordination from Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati (1969) and his DMin from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary where his thesis was on comforting the mourner. He earned a Fellow in Thanatology Certification awarded by the Association for Death Education and Counseling and is its immediate past treasurer. In retirement, he was elected rabbi of a monthly congregation in Sharon, Pennsylvania, serving 10 years until he was able to help them successfully merge with a nearby congregation. In 2014 he served as the interim rabbi of Temple Adath Israel in Lexington, Kentucky. Throughout his career Rabbi Roberts has been intrigued with the field of Thanatology. He has lectured frequently at the King's College International Conference on Death and Bereavement in London, Ontario, and has been a keynote presenter there, as well as at the Association for Death Education and Counseling's National Convention. Rabbi Roberts has contributed to numerous books, (all published by Baywood) Personal Care in an Impersonal World: A Multidimensional Look at Bereavement (ed. John D. Morgan, 1993); What Shall We Do? Preparing the School Community to Cope with Crises (ed. Robert Stevenson, 2000); Ethical Issues in the Care of the Dying and Bereaved (ed. John D. Morgan, 1996); and Living, Loving, and Loss: The Interplay of Intimacy, Sexuality and Grief (eds. Brad DeFord and Richard Gilbert, 2013). He has also produced a video on teenage suicide prevention, "Inside, I Ache," which has been used in schools throughout the country. Michael P. Freidman, EdD, is an applied psychologist who served for more than 15 years in the public sector as an educator, psychologist, and administrator and has over 30 years of clinical experience. He created and manages an independent practice that provides a unique blend of organizational consulting and clinical intervention for individuals and families, as well as business and organizational leaders. He is both a certified school psychologist and licensed psychologist. Dr. Freidman has an extensive background in organized congregational and community life. Active involvement in his own synagogue included serving as congregational president. He is past president of the Philadelphia Federation of the Union of Reform Judaism (URJ) and currently is a member of URJ's North America Board of Trustees after serving on the Oversight and Long- Range Planning Committees. Michael has consulted with the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR), American Conference of Cantors (ACC) and numerous congregations and organizations. He is particularly interested in applying his professional skills and experience to work with clergy, congregations, and organizations and has recently created Congregational Consulting Network as an independent service provider to the community. Dr. Freidman seeks to draw continued vision and purpose in these endeavors through greater understanding of the Bible and ancient texts. His current coaching with clergy includes those preparing for their retirement.
Review :
"Warning! Do not wait until retirement to read this indispensable book. At last, this is the groundbreaking volume that will offer understanding and support to those transitioning from the active ministry. Assembled are contributions from experts offering unique recommendations for complex problems that may arise. Thoroughly researched, with compelling wisdom and guidance, this is a book to be read and reread years before retirement, not only by the clergy but by their families as well. My only regret—I wish I had discovered it before I retired."
Rabbi Earl A. Grollman, D.H.L., D.D., Author, Living When A Loved One Has Died
"Coauthors Rabbi Daniel Roberts and Michael Freidman look at the many dimensions of retirement and aging: the purposes and concerns, the struggles and surprises, the potential and joys. The book reflects on the temptation to isolate oneself from the changes taking place and on the need to stay involved. It talks about the fear of tomorrow and the mystery of forever—and how to cope with it all. It is a panoply of the central issues that emerge with retirement and aging to bring us to the fullness of life, to make us new again."
The Most Reverend Anthony M. Pilla, Bishop Emeritus of Cleveland
"Rabbi Roberts and Dr. Freidman have delivered work that focuses on how we, as clergy, can best `say goodbye’ and yet embrace a sacred hello to our new life stage. Combining humor, practical advice, and personal reflections, Roberts and Freidman create the framework for enabling a meaningful transition into what we all hope will be a sacred and purpose-filled future. Their challenge to us is to seriously plan for our next life chapter, a chapter that we have the freedom and power to write for our own selves.
Rabbi Richard F. Address, D.Min., Founder and Director: jewishsacredaging.com
"Dan Roberts and Michael Freidman have written something that should be read and considered by every member of the clergy in every faith tradition, as well as by the lay leaders that work alongside them. The transition from a long career in ministry to the ranks of the retired is unsettling at best and, for some, is a cause for despair and even depression. For the clergy, the questions might be: Who am I now that my career is effectively over? How do I relate to my former congregation, and they to me, now that I am no longer the spiritual leader? How do I spend my time now that I have no full-time responsibilities at the synagogue, the church, or the mosque? For lay leaders, trustees or deacons, the question is: How does the retirement of the clergy leader affect the role of lay leadership, both in saying farewell to the retiring rabbi, pastor, or imam and in aiding in the selection and welcome of his or her replacement? All of these questions and many more are helpfully addressed in this timely book. I recommend it not only to those clergy that are already retired but also to those still working that are worrying and wondering what will happen when retirement brings their ministry to an end."
Rev. Marvin A. McMickle, Ph.D., President, Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School Rochester, New York
"There is much here that we can extrapolate and apply to our lives."
David Zucker, PhD, BBC, Neshama Association for Jewish Chaplains
