A few years ago, another pastor "borrowed" our church building for a wedding. In talking with that pastor, a fine young man, it turned out that he was full of energy and eager to be busy doing things. He'd been out of the seminary for a grand total of five years. When I told him up a little bit about me, his comment was that he couldn't even imagine being out in the ministry for more than 30 years and preaching more than 1700 sermons.
I can, if I concentrate on it, remember how eager I was at the time (just out of the seminary and ready to take on the world) and how much energy I had. 34 years later (five children and four grandchildren later) I've been in a lot of places and done a lot of things. I'm no longer eager to do ministry, because I've been doing it so long. I no longer have the energy, because my body is definitely slowing down (and it's taking quite a bit of mental readjustment to get used to this new lower energy level).
I am definitely looking forward to leaving full-time ministry. In one sense it's like a major case of burnout – it gets harder and harder to work yourself up to go to "work" and you don't have that zeal to make things happen anymore. It's definitely time for me to step to one side and let the younger men take over the full-time ministry, and I'll be there to help and counsel as I am able.
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