Oltman retires with 30 years at church
Bob Oltman
TIDELAND NEWS
By BRAD RICH
Published: Wednesday, June 22, 2011 9:14 AM EDT
Tideland News Writer
It’s more or less normal, the Rev. Bob Oltman said, for Presbyterian pastors to spend three or four years at a church, then move on.
But when Oltman preached his final sermon at Cape Carteret Presbyterian on May 31, he’d been in his position for more than 30 years.
That, he said, made retirement difficult.
“After that long a time, a congregation stops being just a congregation and becomes a family. In that sense, retirement is really hard. Mentally, it’s almost like a divorce that you don’t want.”
That’s especially true because the Presbyterian church encourages its pastors to make a clean break, not to be involved in or even attend services or functions, if possible, for a reasonable amount of time after leaving.
Oltman, who came here from Spartanburg, S.C., said he’s been to the Presbyterian church in Morehead City since his retirement, and he’s not sure where he’ll land yet. He has family in South Carolina and might end up there.
But he understands the need for that clean break, and said he expects the Cape Carteret church will go through a transition phase before settling on a new pastor.
“It’s a long process, a year, sometimes even two years,” he said. “It’s a big job; a lot of paperwork is involved, too. It can be difficult for a congregation to hold together. But I think they (the search committee) are looking to maybe get an interim pastor. Many of them are trained in transition, and that would probably be a good thing after such a long pastorate.
“Things change,” he added. “There are passages in life, and I’m no exception to being involved in those. I want to wish them (the congregants) the best, and I hope they find leadership that is effective and meaningful and I hope they are comfortable and support that leadership.”
Oltman said he had never planned to stay so long. But the church was growing and doing well. There were things he wanted to see through to fruition, and, of course, he wanted to stay long enough to enjoy some of that fruit. He has.
“We opened our new sanctuary back in 1988, and five years after that, our new addition (a fellowship hall and offices),” he said. “That enabled us to have a pre-school, and a place for Scouts, and a literacy program. Our old building more or less became a community center, which was good.”
The church, Oltman said, “offered itself” to the surrounding community, and the community accepted the offer, using the facilities for the aforementioned things, plus others, such as meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous.
“We’ve touched a lot of people, many of whom are not members,” he said.”
He’s seen a lot of changes other than the physical ones, too.
The church membership has grown from somewhere in the 50s to about 130, and there are probably 200 or more people involved in one way or another.
The membership has aged, Oltman said, but the congregation is still active, involved and enthusiastic.
Another thing that’s changed is the style of religion.
“People (in general) are not as denomination-oriented as they once were,” he said. “And people, especially the younger ones, seem to be moving toward something less formal, a little more open, in their religion, and the Presbyterian church has always been fairly formal.”
The change, as Oltman sees is, can be good, bad, or, in some cases, both.
“It’s fine as long as you don’t lose the sense of ‘awe’ and ‘seriousness’ about worship,” he said. “My preference is formal, but I understand that a lot of younger people are looking for something different, and that is OK. I think we need a balance, between that desire for openness and informality and the need not to throw out the baby with the bath water and lose what we’ve had.”
Some people are more comfortable with change than others, and folks in the older age groups – Oltman said he included himself in that range – are usually less comfortable.
“Change is threatening to some people; it takes you out of the comfort zone,” he said. “Maybe that’s another reason it’s a good time for me to be moving on,” he said. “But I haven’t seen a lot of change in our congregation; maybe the church offers a place where people can come and not feel so threatened by change. The world is changing around them.
“We like to say that God never changes,” Oltman continued. “Sometimes we try to force Him into our boxes. He doesn’t fit into our boxes. But maybe that’s another reason that we should be open to change.”
Leaving isn’t easy, but he’s confident the congregation and its leadership will find a new leader with the energy and vision to enable the church to continue to flourish.
At any rate, Oltman said he’s grateful for all the support he’s received over the years, and he’s leaving Cape Carteret Presbyterian Church content that he did the best he could for the church, the congregation and the community.
That’s how he wants to be remembered: As a pastor who did the best he could.
