CBOQ Alumni News| January 2016
A CBOQ Retiree Newsletter
A NEW BEGINNING My introduction to you is long overdue. But you know how quickly the weeks and months go by when one is retiring from one job and beginBill Norman ning another, if only on a part-time basis. And this new job is a work in progress; there was no predecessor whose successes could be copied or whose mistakes could be avoided. No, in this job all the mistakes will belong only to me.
grands live close enough that we normally see them about once a week. That, of course, is one of the great joys of our life. As my 65th birthday approached, my plan was to ease into retirement which I assumed would mean interim pastoral positions (which I still hope will happen) but a job posting from the CBOQ caught my attention—Clergy Care Associate. The job title is accurate; I am to provide as much care as is possible to the pastors of our church family.
My name is Bill Norman. Here’s the story: graduated from McMaster in 1974 and over the next 41 years served five churches in our convention, Calvary Baptist in Cobourg, Temple Baptist in Windsor, Markham Baptist, Whitby Baptist (interim) and finally Blythwood Road, Toronto.
Now the disclaimer—the older I get the less I appreciate spin, ecclesiastical spin is no exception—with 700 plus accredited pastors in our denominational family, it is the 375 active ones who are going to get the bulk of my attention. I am on the job two days per week; our retired pastors will not hear from me on a regular basis.
A year before I began full-time pastoral ministry I was married to Christine. We have four adult children and five grandchildren. The
But I am available. The best way to contact me is by email at bnorman@ baptist.ca or by phone at 416-5204956. The telephone is turned on
most days and turned off most nights. If you have a concern with which you think I might be helpful, please get in touch. I can’t promise to find an answer to every question and a solution to every problem, but I will listen and I will do what I am able to do. One last thing. Our retired pastors reflect our denominational family; we are not clones, we are very much individuals. One of our number recently said to me, “Some of us are waiting to find out what’s next for us in ministry.” Is that your issue? Let me know what’s on your mind and how you think your church family can help you find the answer.
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