Norman Teigen calls attention to a sad case where a congregation (ELCA) decided to get rid of its pastor because he is too old. Thankfully, the synod has informed the congregation that this is not an acceptable reason to dismiss its pastor.
I wonder what the ELCA does consider to be an acceptable reason? I would be surprised if it were the exact same reasons listed by our pastoral theology books, such as The Shepherd Under Christ by Habeck and Schuetze, Pastoral Theology by Fritz, and Walther’s Pastorale. I could look up those reasons and list them here (again), but it would be more interesting to leave that exercise to the reader.