Word is spreading through the office. Two going-away lunches are planned, one this week for the small US portion of the team I lead, and one on my last day for all members of the department who are located here in the US. My spouse says to graciously thank them for covering my lunches rather than trying to insist on paying for my own. I'm a little conflicted by the celebrations given how when there's a layoff people instantaneously vanish without a trace. But I'll get over it.
I don't think I went into this part of the decision to retire, yet: The decision to retire (and move) came about due to a number of factors beyond just the desire to retire and the fact that the numbers seem like that could work out. The absolutely horrendous work situation and abominable situation in the job market were a very big part of the decision, but family and church also played roles:
With regard to family, my spouse's aunts and uncles live three hours from where we are now, but a number of them have passed away in the five years we've been here. There are almost none left. My brothers are up north (no way we're moving back up to snowland) but the rest of my family lives in Florida, so there's some push in that direction just on that account.
Church was a much smaller contributor to the decision to retire than was work; yet, it still play a role. We replaced our minister about three years ago and the new minister is terrible. We've lost about 15% of our membership over the last two years due to how he's botched his interactions with the existing leaders.
Two and half years ago, he buddied-up to the board members and got them to approve his plan to supplant the council of committee chairs with a small council of young, new members (all at the church less than a year) who would guide the church's ministries. (I swear, I'm not making this up.) It was idiocy, of course, and outright disrespectful to people who were effectively the pillars of the church, but it was also unfair to the poor, unsuspecting young people who were put in a position they couldn't possibly do well, given that they didn't have any idea how things worked, and due to the pressures of work and family, couldn't possibly spend the time to learn. The system crashed and burned, of course, and we leaders have been trying to rebuild the church for the last year.
However, while my spouse and I have been working hard on our respective ministries (worship and membership), the minister has still been making messes. He sees himself as an activist and supports the destructive attitudes of some of the more extreme members of the congregation who, instead of supporting what they support (best) or at least opposing what they oppose (good), they oppose support for what they support if that support isn't as pure or as strong as their own (bad). Think: Elizabeth Warren attacking Joe Biden rather than Donald Trump. We aren't extremists - we're moderates. So we realized this church was being transformed into something too extreme for us.
While before it might have been a reason to stay, given how church was damaged and is getting more damaged, church was certainly not a reason to stay any longer.
