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BY DAVID BOHNERT
UMCONNECTION CORRESPONDENT

The 21 pastors retiring from the Baltimore-Washington Conference this year represent 570 years in ministry. Eighteen are members in full connection; one is a part-time local pastor; one is an associate member of conference; and one is a diaconal minister. There are five women in this year?s retirement class.

The Rev. Kwami O. Abayomi has spent 18 of his 24 years of service to the conference at Unity UMC in Baltimore. Among the several accomplishments that give him great pleasure are Unity?s construction of a 74-unit apartment building for low-income residents next to the church and his service for nine years on the Baltimore City Council.

He also led the church to establish the state?s first certified drug rehabilitation program sponsored by a church and a Head Start program that serves more than 200 children, the fourth largest in Baltimore City.

'I have enjoyed the years of service,' Abayomi said. 'I am proud to have been a United Methodist pastor, and I give thanks to God and the community for 24 years of service.'

In retirement, he will teach doctoral studies in urban community development at United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio.

The Rev. Mildred 'Millie' C. Martin, pastor of Cheltenham UMC, was known as Millie Costello when she began her journey to transfer into the conference in 1985. She felt especially blessed when she participated in healing services with several United Methodist pastors and prayed with people. She also feels blessed when she stands behind the Communion table and serves the elements to the people.

Martin values being with people at their deepest points of need. 'I think I have been able to make a difference in people?s lives,' she said.

'When doing what God calls you to do, there is a tremendous sense of peace, satisfaction, and rightness about it, of being whole. When you?re not [whole], you know that too,' she said. Spending more time with her grandchildren and enjoying her hobbies of home decorating, arts and crafts are in Martin?s plans for retirement.

The Rev. Wayne H. Upton, who retired in December 2006, has good advice for any pastor: 'I would tell younger people, ?Get to know your people; minister to your congregation.?' Nearly all his churches were small, and he especially valued working person-to-person, he said.

Weddings were high points in his career, he said, and funerals were the down points. Two special high points for him were officiating at the weddings of his daughters.

Upton says that retirement is quite different for him, a relaxed time with fewer phone calls and no sermons to preach.

The Rev. Darryl L. Gill, pastor of Pleasant Grove UMC in Upperco, is not sure how the transition into retirement will affect him.

'Ministry is not just a job,' he said. 'You don?t do ministry; you are a minister. I?m not sure how that?s going to be.'

Lifting, supporting, encouraging, being there as a representative of Christ and of the church in times of need - all of these have been the most meaningful moments of his ministry, Gill said. One of his memorable experiences was when teaching a confirmation class, seeing a young girl suddenly look up and exclaim, 'I?ve got it!'

One of the most difficult things to deal with, Gill said, was not being able to involve himself in the ministry of those who followed him in an appointment. Pastors often develop close friendships in their congregations, and the rules of ethics require that a pastor essentially sever those ties when he or she moves onto another appointment.

SIDEBAR:
2007 RETIREES

The number of years they served in BWC, and last appointment:

Kwami O. Abayomi, 24, Unity UMC in Baltimore
Gregory Stephen Brown, 25, pastoral counselor
E. Dwight Byrne, 26, First UMC in Lonaconing
David W. Carter-Rimbach, 28, Linden-Linthicum UMC in Clarksville
Thomas N. Connar, 35, Mt. Zion UMC in Highland
Francis Jay Fisk, Local Pastor, Boring-Dover Charge in Upperco
Darryl L.Gill, 35, Pleasant Grove UMC in Upperco
Eddie Lynn Henry, 45, Trinity UMC in Annapolis
David Allan Highfield, 37, Westminster UMC in Westminister
Richard D. Hogue, 36, Liberty Grove UMC in Burtonsville
Donald T. Howard, 5, Howard Chapel-Ridgeville Charge in Mt. Airy
Diedra H. Kriewald, 12, professor, Wesley Theological Seminary
Ralph E. McCulloh, 47, Spiritual Care Coordinator, Odyssey Health Care
Lewis Newton McDonald, 10, on leave
Daniel C. McLellen, Jr., 43, Hall UMC in Glen Burnie
Mildred 'Millie' C. Martin, 22, Cheltenham UMC in Cheltenham
Charles Proctor, 16, Fowler UMC in Annapolis
Donna Lee Sanderson, 12, Diaconal Minister, First UMC in Hyattsville
Linda Carole Silbaugh, 28, Huntingtown UMC
Beverly Craig Stang, 15, Chaplain, Homewood at Crumland Farms
Wayne H. Upton, 39, Ebenezer UMC in Chase