The 2018-2019 Mark Kraai lecture – Watch the video
April 2, 2019
Please join us for the 2018-2019 Mark Kraai lecture – An annual lecture series focusing on issues concerning the practice of Ministry:
Clergy Retirement: Welcomed Transition, Unsettling Venture?
Transitioning from an extensive, faithful career serving in ministry can be inviting or unsettling. For sure it can cause many questions to be raised by clergy as to: Who am I now that my career is effectively over? How do I relate to my former congregation, and they to me, now that I am no longer the spiritual leader? How do I spend my time now that I have no full-time responsibilities at the church? How will I support myself financially and spiritually?
In this lecture on Clergy Retirement, Dr. Mark Kraai, Professor of Practical Theology, Emeritus, shared from his experience of serving in full time ministry to the church and his sojourn in retirement. A panel of clergy spanning the gamut of those actively involved in current ministry, nearing retirement and years out of pastoral ministry offered a range of perspectives of what Clergy Retirement entails and how one can successfully prepare and emotionally embrace retirement while continuing to be vibrant in one’s identity as a clergyperson.
About Dr. Mark Kraai: |
|---|
|
The Rev. Dr. Mark A. Kraai is the Professor of Practical Theology, Emeritus at New Brunswick Theological Seminary where he served from 1998 until his retirement in 2008. In this position he oversaw the placement of seminary students as interns, and worked with pastors to train them in mentoring seminary students. He also taught a course called “Ministerium,” which guided the seminary students in learning church administration. Dr. Kraai graduated from Northwestern College and then enrolled in the Bi-Level-Multi-Site (BLMS) program offered by the Reformed Church in America. He entered New Brunswick Theological Seminary in New Brunswick, New Jersey where he studied for two years and then, as part of an experimental program of the two RCA seminaries, he completed two more years at Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Michigan, earning his Master of Divinity degree from Western in 1974. He was licensed and ordained by the Classis of East Sioux, and became the assistant pastor of the Fellowship Reformed Church of Lombard, Illinois. In 1976, he was called to Bethany Reformed Church of Kalamazoo, Michigan as the Pastor of Renewal and Church Growth. He served in this position for two years and in 1979, he was officially called to become the senior pastor. In 1984, he accepted a call to become the senior pastor of the United Reformed Church of Somerville, New Jersey where he served until his retirement. During his time there, he earned his Doctor of Ministry degree at Princeton Theological Seminary. In 2003, the General Synod of the Reformed Church of America elected Dr. Kraai as Professor of Theology.
|
Clergy respondents following the lecture: |
||
|---|---|---|
| Rev. Ralph M. Branch Pastor, Mount Calvary Missionary Baptist Church, Newark, NJ |
 |
Reverend Ralph M. Branch Jr. is the pastor of Mount Calvary Baptist Church in Newark, NJ. He graduated from Morehouse College with a Bachelor of Science degree. He has a Master of Divinity Degree from Palmer Theological Seminary of Eastern University. He is currently pursuing a Doctor of Ministry degree at New York Theological Seminary and will graduate in May of 2019. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Biblical Exegesis and Church History at the New York Theological Seminary. In 2013, he was installed as the 17th Moderator of the North Jersey District Missionary Baptist Association. |
| Rev. Dr. Henrietta Scott Fullard Presiding Elder, Jamaica Long Island District A.M.E. Churches |
 |
Rev. Dr. Henrietta Scott Fullard, is the Presiding Elder of the Jamaica Long Island District A.M.E. Churches. She has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemistry from South Carolina State College; a Master of Arts in Science Education from Teacher’s College of Columbia University; and a Master of Divinity from New Brunswick Theological Seminary. She has received two honorary degrees, Doctor of Divinity and a Doctor of Education. She has extensive experience in teaching as a science teacher and serving as a high school administrator/Principal. In 1987, she became an Associate Minister at Allen AME Church in Jamaica, New York. She was ordained in 1991 as an itinerant elder in the AME Church and was assigned to the pastorate of the Allen Temple AME Church in Mt. Vernon, New York. In 1995, she began serving as pastor of the Bethel AME Church, in Arverne, New York. In 2004 she was appointed Presiding Elder of the Historic Philadelphia District (Mother District) of the Philadelphia Annual Conference. In 2005, she was appointed Presiding Elder of the Jamaica-Long Island District of twenty-one African Methodist Episcopal Churches in the New York Annual Conference. Rev. Dr. Fullard has been actively involved in many community, civic associations, and fraternal organizations throughout her career. |
| Rev. Canon Dr. Alan K. Salmon Rector Emeritus, Christ Episcopal Church, Riverton, NJ |
 |
The Rev. Canon Dr. Alan K. Salmon was ordained to the Diaconate and Priesthood in 1964 in Trinity Cathedral, Trenton, NJ, and has spent his entire ordained ministry in the Diocese of New Jersey. He graduated from Trinity College with Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees; and received a Master of Divinity from General Theological Seminary, New York, and Doctor of Ministry degree from Drew University, Madison, NJ. He was Curate at Trinity Church in Cranford, NJ, Vicar of St. Peter’s in Woodbury Heights, NJ, and retired in 2003 after 33 years as Rector of Christ Church in Riverton, NJ. He was named an Honorary Canon of Trinity Cathedral on the fiftieth anniversary of his ordination in 2014. |
