In most call settings there comes a time when a pastor finds she is being called away. When this happens, it is the task of the pastor to leave in a healthy way that will bring healing and closure to the ministry with the congregation. No matter the reason for leaving, termination processes can be done in a way that opens the congregation and the pastor to move on. When we live lives of faith we are forced to deal with our grief and our pain on many levels, especially when facing a life following God. Often, as we journey with God through this world, we are forced to say goodbye too often; but if done correctly, this can be a time of spiritual and emotional growth. I followed the closure tasks outlined by Roy Oswald, including pieces from Edwin Freidman and supported by the book of Jeremiah, that allow for a processing of the grief and full expression of closure. By doing so, I had hoped to see both my own growth and the growth of the congregation as we experienced this time of transition in our lives of faith. In this way, too, I hoped to be able to utilize the experience of saying goodbye well in many other aspects of my ministry. By journaling and monitoring my own grieving process as well as that of the congregation’s, I was able to track the success of the process and how well we were able to have some sense of closure.
