Pastor’s retirement brings chance for travel, continued faith

After 30 years behind the pulpit of Faith Presbyterian Church, Pastor Alan Carter, known by many as simply “Alan,” is retiring.

“This is a challenging season for us as a congregation,” Executive Pastor Martin Wagner said. “But our vision and mission as a church is what will allow us to endure the change.”

In a ceremony honoring his faithful ministry to the 500-member church, Carter officially resigned as pastor on Aug. 28 — almost 30 years to the day after he first stepped onstage to deliver a sermon to the Valleydale congregation in 1986.

Reflecting on his time as pastor, Carter described the various challenges and rewards of his ministry.

“I like pastoral ministry,” he said with a smile. “I like preaching Jesus. I tolerate administrative things.”

The responsibilities, he said, were at times difficult to balance.

“Ministers by definition have to wear a lot of different hats,” he said, adding they must be “good to excellent in a lot of different fields.” 

He referenced Charles E. Hummel’s “Tyranny of the Urgent” when explaining his prioritization.

“You know, there’s a lot of urgent things,” he said. “But urgent things might not be the most important things you’re supposed to do.” 

If his ministry with the church was not a 60- to 70-hour-per-week job, Carter said he might not be retiring. “And so I think it’s time for me to transition to some other type of ministry that’s a little bit less demanding, that’s a little less time-intensive,” he said.

“I’m 67,” Carter said, “and as I’ve told the congregation, I’m not physically or mentally quite what I used to be.” 

For now, Carter said he is not sure where life will take him.

“I’d really like to know what the next step for me is going to be,” he said. “And I don’t know.” 

Carter said that as a man who prefers an ordered form of life, the ambiguity of his future is unnerving. But for now, he and his wife, Sally, are content to spend 10 months away from home, filling the first pages of their new life chapter with memorable adventures.

These adventures will likely include going to the beach, visiting family on the West Coast, visiting missionaries, going to Israel and lecturing at a Bible college in Athens, Greece, Carter said. He’d also like to take his wife to see the tulips bloom in the Netherlands next April.

The Carters tentatively plan to return to Birmingham early June 2017. As for afterward, they wait on God’s further direction.

Carter said his greatest challenge in retirement will be to die to himself daily, as commanded by Jesus Christ.

“The world constantly tells us, ‘Well, to be happy you’ve got to live for yourself,’” he said. “I think that will lead to misery.” 

Rather, Carter said he believes the only way to be happy is to die to self and serve. 

Although he is stepping away for a time, Carter leaves his position with continued dreams for his congregation.

“Everybody has legitimate needs...” he said. “But I want the church to have a ‘sent’ missional mindset. We’re always on mission. We’re always sent.”

Beginning Jan. 1, Faith Presbyterian Church will be led by Pastor Jason Sterling, current campus minister at the University of Mississippi and previous Reformed University Fellowship (RUF) minister at Samford University.

“I’m looking forward to seeing how the Lord will use him to help us further our mission as a church,” Wagner said. “I sense that the congregation is enthusiastically ready to welcome Jason as our new pastor.”

While Wagner will preach half of the Sundays throughout the remainder of the year, Silver and other guest speakers will alternately occupy the pulpit.

Faith Presbyterian Church is located at 4601 Valleydale Road, 35242. For more information and service times, please visit faith-pca.org.