The Office of the General Assembly has issued a new Advisory Opinion:  Advisory Opinion #20 – Honorably Retired Ministers.

The opinion has three parts: 
The first part is titled “Retired ministers are a valuable resource to the presbyteries of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.),” a sentiment I could not agree with more.  The paper mentions having them serve as parish associate, pulpit supply, or temporary pastor.  In my presbytery they also regularly serve as part-time interim pastors and as consultants or advisers for particular congregations, under the guidance of presbytery committees, particularly COM. (COM: Committee on Ministry)

The second part is about “Retired ministers may not continue or return to serve in the same congregation from which they retired.”  No surprises here.  This section draws from the PC(USA) Standards of Ethical Conduct.

Finally, the last section is titled “Retired ministers are not required to undertake ministry, but if they choose to do so, that ministry must be validated by the presbytery of membership.”  This took me back a bit on first reading since in our presbytery we are fond of saying “Honorably Retired is a validated ministry,” a phrase taken from our stated clerk.  But on second reading, and a little bit of refresher in the Book of Order, this third section does align with my understanding and the practice of our COM, at least while I have been on it.  The first problem was our usage of the term “validated ministry.”  In my presbytery that has come to mean any ministry outside the jurisdiction of the PC(USA) that we have to work through the five criteria of G-11.0403 to approve.  However, it is clear from the usage in G-11.0406a that even parish and governing body service is referred to as validated ministry.  So it is just that in those cases the criteria are clear.  After thinking about this section a bit, I am comfortable with the Advisory Opinion and that my presbytery’s practice is pretty much in line with it.  Honorably retired ministers that work in a church are approved (validated) by the COM. (Frequently they are invited by the COM.)  I don’t remember validating a ministry outside the jurisdiction of the church for an HR, but I can’t think of anyone who is engaged in that.  And HR’s need to submit an annual report just as all other ministers do, so there is presbytery supervision, or at least accountability, of even occasional work.  And maybe the having a paragraph in our validation of ministry policy about where the occasional ends and the need for validation begins is not a bad idea.