When a member of the clergy retires to your parish or you move into a parish where there is a retired priest, arrange to meet with them to discuss options for ministry within the parish.

Remember that the newly retired may find it helpful to take some time to adjust and reflect for a while as they discern what kind of future ministry God might be calling them to.

In agreeing options, the parish needs to understand that the priest is retired and offering his/her services as a volunteer; often with family and other commitments.

It can be helpful to ascertain whether the retired priest is looking for regular opportunities for ministry or offering to be available for support where this might be needed. It may be that for reasons of church tradition (or other reasons) the retired priest is seeking to offer to help elsewhere in the Diocese. Such a choice should be respected.

If they are not aware of the existence of Diocesan Retired Clergy Officers (RCO) please let them know about this and give them contact details for the relevant RCO.

Be clear about financial matters such as expenses, if appropriate, and the policy for fees for funerals and weddings and procedures in line with current diocesan policy.

Explore opportunities for sharing in the regular prayer life of the clergy/ ministry team/parish, as is appropriate to its tradition.

Producing a simple written Ministry Agreement for the ministry the retired priest can offer is a way of clarifying what has been discussed and avoiding misunderstanding.

Such an agreement should be reviewed annually, or when circumstances (on either side) change. Such a ‘review’ also offers the opportunity for the parish to express its gratitude to the retired priest for their ministry. An annual thank you gift-in-kind [non-monetary] from the PCC might be considered and is often a very welcome way of expression gratitude and affirmation.

If the retired priest wishes to minister within the parish you must check they have Permission to Officiate from the Bishop of Portsmouth before they minister. In some cases a retired priest may hold a role under licence from the Bishop and different arrangements will have been made for a working agreement.

Do check that a retired priest has access to information about the life of the Diocese, its aims, objectives, policies and procedures, especially if they are new to the Diocese, and are receiving updates that might be useful to them.