I am 68 and have pastored for the past 40 years. After my first wife died of 41 years of marriage and ministry together, I stepped back from pastoring for a season. It has been 7 years since I was a senior pastor, and have since remarried to a wonderful Christian woman who is very supportive. For the past 5 years I have been an associate pastor in a small country church. It has been a great ministry, but my heart longs to step back into a senior pastor role. Salary is not an issue neither is church size. I feel that I have many years of ministry left in me and am not ready to fully retire. But after sending multi resumes there seems to be no interest. I have been told that I am too old at 68 and should be content with retirement. But when you have the burning in your soul to preach and pastor God\’s people, I am not ready yet to throw in the towel. I know that I must be patient and wait on God to open the door of which He is fully capable of doing. I am praying for God\’s wisdom to guide me to ensure that I am on His agenda and in His will. Your prayerful thoughts on this matter would be appreciated. Thanks and God’s blessing.
I certainly understand you feeling. At 68, a lot of churches are not going to think that you could give them very many strong years of service, even if you can. Certainly God can open the door for you where He would want you to serve. One other idea might be to put yourself out as an intentional interim. You could bring your experience and skills into a very important role of helping churches successfully transition to their next pastor. At times this can take a year or two. It might not be the long term assignment you are looking for, but it would probably open more doors and make your experience and age more of a positive than if they were considering you for a long term assignment. Best wishes as you seek what God has for you!