Thanks to Fader77.
The COBE in my wife's cong. is under that age, but there are several oldies who now cannot be considered for the role, when it comes up to be re appointed, despite their wealth of experience. What next? The WT O/seer? The School O/seer? both of which demand more quick 'thinking on your feet' than the role of the COBE , which as somebody said is more admin than leadership these days. If these guys were employees, it would be illegal in the U K . There is no mandatory retirement age these days.....from a Govt website :
What is age discrimination?
It's against the law for your employer to treat you worse than other colleagues at work because of your age,
unless they've got a very good reason. It's also against the law for an employer to dismiss you or to refuse to
employ you, just because of your age, unless they’ve got a very good reason. If your employer does this,
it's called age discrimination. An employer is not allowed to discriminate against you either for being too young or for being too old.