The Rector has asked me to write to the parish about my plans to fully retire from the parish ministry as of Christmas Day, 2009.
I would first like to thank all of you for the reception and continuing support of my ministry over the last 1 ½ years. It was a glorious cap-off of ordained ministry with which God has blessed me over the past 35 + years.
As an ordained person (counting the beginning of postulancy in 1967), I have been in Church for Sundays, holy days, midweek services and special services - this is a lot of church!!!!- and can be calculated to represent nearly 2,000 acts of public worship. I have served as Curate, Associate Rector, Rector, Vicar (settled and interim), parttime Assistant and Sunday Supply Priest in five diocese and twelve congregations. When I came to St. Paul’s I tried to cut-down on attendance at public worship and visible functions of the ministry and found it to be a nearly impossible task. It was my own decision to become involved as much or as little as I wished (your rector provided more freedom than I have ever had.) As a priest of the church (and also a clinical dentist) I have had the reputation of ‘throwing my whole self’ into the total job and ultimately it has begun to catch-up with me. I can blame all of this on my late father- who would open his office and factory at 5:30 every morning and would complain if the engineers and professional staff were not there by 6:30 to show ‘interest’ in their jobs. It’s surprising that he gave-up enough time to attend his own funeral- he would have disapproved- believing that time off for sickness or any other excuse is a waste of God-given time. He died at the age of 77 and did not enjoy retirement at all. I thoroughly intend to break with this family tradition in my own generation.
With the advice and counsel of some of my friends who are bishops and fellow priests, and with the strong advice of my personal health-care providers, I have opted to spend more time with my wife and daughter in the place we have chosen as our permanent retirement home in Waterford, Michigan. It is apparent that this final decision is more and more incumbent on me. As winter approaches Waterford, Michigan is just as cold in the long winter season as it is in some parts of New England. The dampness saturates the air especially in the summer. But most of Kathy’s remaining relatives reside within walking distance of our new condominium and it will be good to gather with the family for the major holidays of the year. As a priest, primarily involved in parish ministry, I very rarely had the opportunity to open presents with extended family on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. We never had the opportunity to ‘kick-off’ our shoes and stay overnight with our relatives on Thanksgiving weekend or Easter vacation. I would never have deprived the parish of my committed service at these times, but now it is time for us to be a family in ways we haven’t known in so many years.
St. Paul’s parish is nothing less than “paradise”- here on earth. I would often tell people that I felt like I was living in a post card or tourist magazine. You people have a lot of grace and that’s like the “sunshine which shines through a stained glass window”…All of this is because of God’s abundant gifts bestowed on this parish and your ability to enjoy them with each other.
Please don’t keep this faith- make sure that you share it.
Faithfully yours,
The Rev. Dr. Frederick R. Nestrock