Phil Pilgrim, a recent retiree, served as a Georgia pastor, convention vice president, member of both the Nominating Committee and Executive Committee, and state missionary. He says the retiree cuts are unprecedented nationally and fears it could set a precedent for other states to follow Georgia’s lead.
“It seems that the board now sees retirees as an old candy bar,” he said. “They have used people in the prime of their lives and have eaten out the good center and thrown away the wrapper. They see no moral, ethical or spiritual problem in breaking promises made to retirees simply because, they rationalize, they did not make those commitments.”
Pilgrim sees many biblical comparisons between what has happened to women like Willis in music ministries being single and Newman, as a widow.