Work of a lifetime

When Tom Bray of Jackson left his post as a full-time Southern Baptist pastor, he never expected to leave the ministry.

Pastors, priests and other clergy never seem to retire.

But Bray knew he'd never give up preaching. "I retired from the hard stuff," he said. After 40 years as a pastor, he doesn't handle any of the administrative duties that many pastors do.

When Bray preaches on Sundays at First Southern Baptist Church in Cairo, Ill., he's fulfilling a lifetime calling.

"I always felt like I need to be teaching and guiding people," he said. "I felt a strong calling to be a pastor."

And Bray believes that calling didn't disappear with his retirement.

The call to serve in full-time ministry seems to be falling on deaf ears. Some denominations are experiencing greater difficulties attracting new ministers to replace those who retire. Some experts blame a decline in graduating seminary students for America's clergy shortage. Others say there are enough jobs, but that pastors aren't always looking to fill roles in smaller churches.

Regardless, several area pastors like Bray still find themselves active in ministry roles.

Minister of hope

For four years the Rev. David Dissen has been leading campus ministry at the Lutheran Chapel of Hope.

He says he does more preaching today as a retired minister than in his years as administrative pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Cape Girardeau.

At Trinity, the preaching duties were divided between Dissen, an associate pastor or a seminary student serving at the church. "Now I'm preaching almost every Sunday in churches that are without a pastor," Dissen said.

He drives 112 miles one way to preach in Doniphan once each month and also preaches in Poplar Bluff and Malden, where the churches are without senior pastors.

"I'm kept very busy," he said, "but I enjoy it."

Ministers can't really retire if they feel a calling to their career, he said. "I'd rather be worn out than rust out."

If pastors who'd retired weren't stepping in to fill the vacancies, church life would continue to worsen, Dissen said.

Some churches wouldn't have a pastor at all if it weren't for Dissen and other so-called vacancy ministers in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. Many times the churches in need are smaller, rural congregations -- the types of places where Dissen began his ministry career.

Listening to his churchesin the Bootheel where he's serving now, Dissen said he's heard their pleas for a full-time pastor. They want him to relay that message -- that it's OK to serve smaller churches -- to graduating seminary students at Concordia Lutheran Seminary, where he serves on the board of regents.

"If I were younger, I'd love to go back and spend a couple of years there," he said of the Bootheel congregations. "The people appreciate what you do for them."

And instead of committing 80 hours a week to his profession, Dissen now contributes about 40 hours a week, between travel, preaching and preparation. "I'm doing the things I really enjoy," he said.

Monsignor Richard Rowling recently retired as senior priest at St. Mary's Cathedral. Rowling also will serve area churches on a part-time basis and as senior priest-in-residence at the Sikeston parish.

He's said many times that he couldn't imagine just giving up church service. Both Dissen and Bray agreed.

"At my age, my main goal is to reach as many people as I can with the message of law and gospel," Dissen said.

Bray said he could imagine no better life than to preach his last sermon and then be called to heaven. "It's never been my intention not to be preaching," he said.

ljohnston@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126