By now, many of you will have read or heard the happy-sad news that I will be retiring on June 30, 2025. My last day in the pulpit will be our Flower Ceremony on Sunday, June 1. This is happy news because I am in good health and looking forward to the joys of retirement. Those of you who have shown me your own robust and creative retirements unknowingly played some part in my decision! This is sad news because after June 30, I will no longer be your minister. I will set down the role of active ministry and will no longer be preaching, doing pastoral care, or officiating at weddings and memorial services.
Some of you were shocked and surprised by this news. Some of you do not believe that I will turn 65 years old in the summer of 2025, but it is true. Many of you are happy for me. Many of you may be sad. Some of that grief may even show up as anger or the understandable but irrational thought that I cannot retire until after you die. But isn’t the alternative so much better? To be alive!
It’s OK to have all the feelings, and to have a variety of feelings at the same time. Most any transition is happy-sad. Most any transition contains an end and a beginning. To help create the best beginning for you and the minister who comes after me, post-retirement, I will be away from First Church for a year or two. Following best practices, I will also decline your invitations to social events outside of church. Please don’t take it personally! This is one of the hardest parts of separation for me, too.
Another hard part is repair: mending any hurts or disappointments we may have caused each other over the last 15+ years. It takes courage, honesty, and love to do that well. Please reach out if you feel the need for repair. If we don’t have those conversations sometime over the next eight months, we may never get the chance, and the hurt could spill over in unintended ways.
I am filled with gratitude and joy for the great honor of 16 years serving as your Associate Minister and 28 years of active ministry. It’s been a good run!
Yours,
Dena
Rev. Dena McPhetres, Associate Minister