Archive for June, 2010

Baby boomers – arguably the largest segment of the population – are entering their retirement years at an unprecedented rate.  With more discretionary time and increased longevity, this group is searching for a way to make a meaningful impact with their lives.

Baby Boomers and Beyond explores the opportunities and challenges that the older adult population presents for the Christian community. Author Amy Hanson dares church leaders to let go of stereotypes about aging and embrace a new paradigm, that older adults are for the most part active, healthy and capable of making significant contributions for the Kingdom of God.

Hanson offers a realistic view of the boomers and reveals what matters most to this age group: staying young, juggling multiple relationships, and redefining retirement. By tapping into their needs, ministers can engage this burgeoning group and unleash the power of the boomer generation to enhance and strengthen the mission of the church.

The book digs into the questions that arise when working with this growing population.  How do we let go of ‘one-size fits all’ ministry?  What spiritual growth can we encourage?  How do we meld multiple generations?  And most importantly, how do we harness the potential of this new generation?  These are important considerations for those who want to be serious about ministering with aging boomers.

Baby Boomers and Beyond contains numerous illustrative examples from churches and baby boomers across the country and offers church leaders best practices to put in motion.


The Author

Amy Hanson, Ph.D. is a speaker, teacher, writer and consultant who is passionate about motivating church leaders to engage older adults in significant Kingdom work. By the age of 23, she led the active adult (fifty-plus) ministries at Central Christian Church in Las Vegas. Today she unites her doctorate in gerontology and her ministry experience to educate and equip pastors, denominational leaders, students, health care professionals and older adults on the unique opportunities of an aging America.

To learn more visit amyhanson.org.


Praise for Baby Boomers and Beyond

“Amy Hanson does a brilliant job of reminding us that the most powerful and under-utilized source of Kingdom impact is the fifty-plus generation.  I have seen firsthand how the mission of Jesus offers them more fulfillment than retirement, golf or the next sight-seeing trip ever could.”─Dave Ferguson, lead pastor, COMMUNITY / Movement Leader, NewThing


“If you are fifty, or thinking about turning fifty; if you are concerned for the church and long for generations to be unleashed in ministry and community, then this book is the resource you have been looking for.”─John Ortberg, senior pastor, Menlo Park Presbyterian Church


“In this powerful and impassioned book, Amy Hanson urges the church to better serve boomers so boomers can better serve others. It’s simple and ingenious, revolutionary and reasonable, lofty and practical.”─Marc Freedman, author, Encore: Finding Work That Matters in the Second Half of Life; and CEO, Civic Ventures


“Well-written, practical, and full of  insight based on current research, Baby Boomers and Beyond opens our eyes and hearts to new ways to embrace older adults, for the benefit of the whole church and to the glory of God.”─Dr. Sue Edwards, assistant professor of Christian Education, Dallas Theological Seminary, author of four books on Church Leadership and the Sue Edwards Inductive Bible Study series


“Amy Hanson reminds us of the work still to be done making disciples of an older generation. I encourage you to find ways to lead boomers into a dynamic walk with Christ and engage them in the mission of God’s Kingdom.” Ed Stetzer, President of LifeWay Research, www.edstetzer.com


“The insights and strategies for ministry with boomers and older adults as detailed in this book are a must read for all church leaders seeking to be faithful to God and who want to be engaged in Kingdom building.”─Rev. Dr. Richard H. Gentzler, Jr., director, Center on Aging & Older Adult Ministries, The United Methodist Church; and author, Aging and Ministry in the 21st Century

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A “sunset years” dedicatory service for seniors?

Dr. Karl Lachler

Provided by CN Building Adult Ministries Resource Center


As friends and relatives die do you sometimes feel you have a part in the British B.B.C. TV Serial Comedy, Waiting For God? (It makes fun of older people’s fears, foibles and frenzies.)  Being realistic do you wonder when the other shoe will drop and ask, “When will my day to die come? Will I have a good death?”

How then ought we in our seventies, eighties and nineties live with that sure approaching day of our death? Certainly not like Woody Allen’s alleged comment, “I am not afraid of death. I just don’t want to be there when it happens.” So, what should we be and do while we wait?

We must get serious and cultivate an ongoing walk with God. We who have made it to our seventh or eighth decade can remain open to God’s continuous sanctifying work. God meant for us to consistently grow in His grace. The Psalmist said the saved person “will still bear fruit in old age,” (Psalm 92:14, NIV, emphasis added).

How about Isaiah’s steadying statement, “Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you, (Isaiah 46:4, NIV). God never forsakes the elderly. Ageing is not license to stop growing!  Think about it. A seventy year old has lived 25,550 days or 613,200 hours. That makes for a mountain of good life-experiences and calls for ongoing giving thanks to God. Have you caught up on your debt?

After victory over roller-coaster faith, the Apostle Peter wrote, “But grow (be growing) in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” (II Peter 3:18, NIV). He had come to experience Jesus as “the same yesterday and today and forever,”

Some of us stifle the Lord’s sanctifying work by repeated mumblings; “I’m no good anymore,” or, “God has no more use for me.” Others spend much time imagining how they will die in some crazy accident or with an unusual terminal disease. These negativistic daydreamers end making self-fulfilling prophecies not pleasing to God but which strangely, the LORD sometimes allows to actually happen.

Secondly, we must not die before we are dead. Someone wisely wrote: “Some die without having really lived, while others continue to live, in spite of the fact that they have died, (spiritually).” That was not so for Jacob of Old Testament days. “By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped, as he leaned on the top of his staff,” (Hebrews 11:21 NIV, emphasis added). No self-absorption here. Jacob, aged and physically weak enough to need a cane (Walker?), spends ebbing time blessing his grandsons and worshiping God. Jacob chose to think and act positively during his last days. He reminds me of an unknown schoolteacher who joyfully described his approaching death thus:

Some day the bell will sound,

Some day my heart will bound,

As with a shout

That school is out

And lessons done,

I homeward run.

Many churches have special dedication rituals for newborn babies. Wouldn’t it be powerfully practical if churches offered a “sunset years” dedicatory service for seniors? Under the pastor’s direction this ceremony could be held at a senior’s prayer meeting or at one of the public worship services. After sharing their testimonies and spiritual desires these seniors would gather before the Lord. Then with the laying on of hands by the elders, God would be called to give to these submissive seniors that enabling grace to make them pro-active witnesses for Jesus Christ right to the end of their days.

This suggestion fits how modern medicine prolongs the dying process. The September 2007 issue of Christianity Today has a cartoon of a man sitting on a chair at the foot-end of his open grave. He is dressed, hooked to an IV and staring at his purchased and already engraved headstone. Under the cartoon CT’s associate editor writes, “Death no longer comes quickly to the seriously ill. Even as health and life spans improve, people also live longer with the debilitating diseases that eventually take their lives.” He then quotes Stephen P. Kierman’s book, Last Rights: Rescuing The End of Life From The Medical System; “For the first time, in human history, we can anticipate our mortality. We can watch its slow approach.” But why just sit idle on the edge when we can worship God and bless others – as Jacob did?  J. I. Packer in his book Knowing God ends Chapter Two with this poem:

Lord, it belongs not to my care

Whether I die or live;

To love and serve Thee is my share,

And this Thy grace must give.

If life be long, I will be glad.

That I may long obey;

If short – then why should I be sad

To soar to endless day.There is still time to follow Jacob’s lead and make our sun setting days count right up until the count is called.

Dr. Lachlar lives in Sawyer, MI.

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MEET DR. MICHAEL D. SHARP AT ILC—ATLANTA!

You will enjoy meeting Dr. Sharp, Professor of Worship Studies, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He bravely tackles some really big questions for us: “How do we develop meaningful worship experiences for all generations? Is peace to be found in the midst of the so-called ‘worship wars?’” We already give him a ‘10’ just for taking aim at one of the today’s most alienating issues! Be sure to check out “Miriam and the Original Praise Team.”

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Ward Tanneberg

Provided by CN Building Adult Ministries Resource Center

In reading David Fraze’s[1] Revisiting our Definition of Family, I was impressed with similarities in ministry ineffectiveness, whether speaking of youth (as is David in his article) or of mature adults (as I am in this article). Fraze targets the way youth ministry programming and teaching outcomes have been falling short of hoped for expectations.

In studies published by The Barna Group, David Kinnaman affirms the problem by offering good news/bad news insights into the effectiveness of today’s youth ministry. He says that while “millions of American teenagers and twentysomethings are alive to God and devoted to His Kingdom, much of the ministry to teenagers in America needs an overhaul—not because churches fail to attract significant numbers of young people, but because so much of those efforts are not creating a sustainable faith beyond high school.”

Kinnaman reports, “six out of ten twentysomethings who were involved in a church during their teen years fail to translate that into active spirituality during their early adulthood. Only 20% of twentysomethings appear to have maintained a level of spiritual activity consistent with their high school experiences.”

Why should this be your concern or mine? Most who are reading this have already raised your children. Aren’t we focusing in on the joys of grandparenting now? Yes and yes. But if you hope for your family to find their way home tonight, shouldn’t you leave a light on? To do this, the person inside must make an effort to light the light for those outside, still trying to find their way in the dark.

Traditional youth ministry practice tends to undervalue the role of ‘those inside,’ the parents and other adult volunteers and supports the separation of age groups in the church. Older adults do the same by preferring and supporting age-segregated ministry practices. It is easier to delegate the responsibility, isn’t it? We’re too busy or too tired to be involved. Or truth be known, we just don’t care enough anymore.

So how does this work when we’re at home? When the extended family comes to dinner, do we seat our children and teens at the table next to parents and grandparents? Or do we send them off to their age-specific rooms with TV dinners and hope for the best? My guess is that you spend a fair amount of intergenerational time at the table and still have opportunity for age-specific activities and relationships. The connection is vital for healthy families.

Fraze agrees with sociologist and family ministry specialist Diana Garland, who encourages a shift from a purely ‘structural’ to a ‘functional’ definition of family. “The functional definition of family honors and values the significance of the traditional family unit while acknowledging the place for single parents, divorced individuals, singles and others within the faith community. This calls the community of faith to offer hope for those hurt in structural family relationships by providing a family in which healing and acceptance are found.”

So when you join your church family next Sunday, keep in mind there will only be two kinds of people there, regardless of age or generational differences: those who have been broken before in some way and those who are broken still. As a functional family, we will to everything we can to link the ‘have beens’ with those who are ‘broken still.’ In an era of disappointment and brokenness in families within both Church and society, there is wisdom in expanding your church’s view of the family, thereby becoming an organization of relationships that endure over time; a church through which all the generations can view and experience the life and values of Jesus together.


[1] David Fraze | D.Min., Fuller Seminary; Director of Student Ministries, Richland Hills (Texas) Church of Christ; presenter, ParenTeen Seminars. http://fulleryouthinstitute.org/2009/01/something-is-not-right/


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SMALL BITES

Jan Kinzel

Provided by CN Building Adult Ministries Resource Center

“Moving right along” is a catchy tune put out by the Muppets a while back.  It has a message somewhat like “Don’t Worry Be Happy”.  Living life with such a carefree attitude is fun and for a bit of time offers escape from real life.  Problem is, it’s not practically sustainable.  Remember the scientific axiom, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

When someone moves on, even in downsizing, even if remaining in the same geographical area, the pot gets stirred; the status quo isn’t anymore; discomfort is brought to some.  Just a few weeks before we knew a move was in store for us, our daughter and her family learned they would be relocating to the southern part of our state, several hundred miles away.  And, can you believe it?  They took our delightful grandchildren with them!

Our lively and fun grandson, Andrew, became the fifth seven-year-old boy on his new court.  Allison, our lovely and sweet ten-year-old 5th grade granddaughter, inherited a very thoughtful teacher who chose four girls in her class to be Allison’s new friends.  At the end of the first day she told me via the telephone, “Gramma, it’s as though the whole school was just waiting for us to get here.”  She was clearly moving forward to an exciting new adventure.

Meanwhile, ‘back at the ranch,’ Allison’s best friend was hurting as she realized the loss in her daily life.

Allison was moving on; Gabby wasn’t.

MENU

Comforting Bleu Cheese Twisted Macaroni

Steamed Broccoli

Brownies with an Ice Cold Glass of Milk or Silk

RECIPES

Macaroni & Cheese

Prepare a package of your favorite style of twisted macaroni, such as cavatappi, rigatoni or ziti.  Add a little salt to the boiling water before you add the pasta.

Reserve 1 cup of the pasta water and drain the noodles.  Return to the same pot and stir in a scant drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil.  Set aside.

CHEESE SAUCE

Melt ½ stick butter in a sauce pan.  Add 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil.

Whisk in ½ cup all-purpose flour and 1 teaspoon of salt.  Cook until mixture is bubbling.

Don’t allow flour to brown.

Stir in 3 cups 2% low fat milk and cook until sauce thickens.  If needed, thin the sauce with some of the reserved pasta water.

To this mixture stir in one package of Italian blend shredded cheese and 1 carton of bleu cheese crumbles.  Stir until the cheese is melted and the sauce is very smooth.  If it needs to be thinned add some of the reserved pasta water.  Taste the sauce and add more salt if needed.

Add the sauce to the pasta and gently mix the two.

Turn the mixture into a buttered or sprayed baking dish.

Top with some buttered bread crumbs.

Bake in a preheated 3570 oven until the cheese is melted, sauce is bubbling and crumbs are  golden.

Steamed Broccoli

Wash the broccoli branches in warm water.  Peel stems with a potato peeler, if desired.

Cut stalks into halves lengthwise.  Place in a glass baking dish that has a lid, such as Corning Ware or Pyrex.  Cover broccoli with boiling water, sprinkle with a little salt and place the lid on the dish.  Don’t remove lid until the water has cooled somewhat and there is no more steam. The broccoli should be cooked perfectly.  Drain water and serve.

Make or purchase your favorite chocolaty brownies and serve warm and gooey with a tall glass of ice cold low fat milk or Vanilla Silk Soy ‘milk’.

TIP:  Be sensitive toward those ‘left behind’ as they must adjust to your and their new circumstance.

Isaiah 61:2-3  … to console those who mourn … to give them beauty for ashes … and the oil of joy for mourning …

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What this “Baby Boomer” Senior Pastor learned at a CASA Network Leadership Conference.

Joe Boerman

Provided by CN Building Adult Ministries Resource Center

I am a “Baby Boomer.” This means that I was born between 1946 and 1964. I care about my generation, many of whom are still hoping to have lived a life of significance before they die. As my generation transitions into our senior adult years, I have a lot of questions (and fewer answers) about what it will take to reach them for Christ. So it was in an effort to get some answers that I recently attended the annual gathering of CASA, an organization that researches and strategizes ministry for senior adults. What I have learned is impacting the way our church thinks about senior adult ministry in the near future.

Our church, like many others, has an active senior adult ministry that features a weekly Bible study, regularly scheduled outings and a system of caring for the needs of the group. Those who are currently 65 years old or better have enjoyed being part of the group. In recent years, however, our senior adult pastor has bemoaned the fact that he can’t get any of the “younger seniors,” ages 55-65, to participate. I went to CASA hoping to learn some new methods for getting younger boomers to join this senior adult group.

What I learned is that we need to quit trying. Boomers have never been joiners, and they aren’t about to start now. The next generation of senior adult ministry will look different than it has in the past few decades. The Baby Boomer generation does not want to be singled out or given a special based-on-age category. It’s likely they never will.

Because of what we believe to be true about Boomers, this is how our church plans to reach them:

  • We will plan special felt-need training opportunities (groups/forums) for this age group, but let them self-select in participating. We will not market these opportunities as geared for a specific age group.
  • Our current senior adult pastor will continue to focus attention on his group of 65+ year-olds, and no longer be concerned with getting younger Boomers to join them.
  • A new staff person will be recruited to focus on reaching the Boomer generation, but his/her primary role will be one-on-one relationships rather than group oriented.
  • Baby Boomers have much to offer the kingdom, including knowledge, leadership, experience, and inherited wealth. They want to be particularized and given specific roles that fit their gifting and position in life. They still believe they can change the world and will keep trying to do it. They need BIG challenges. Don’t even think about giving them small, insignificant roles. They can smell condescension a mile away.
  • We will work with Boomers one-on-one, recruiting them to significant ministry opportunities.
  • We will raise the bar high in what we expect of them, making sure to paint the picture of how their ministry will change lives.
  • We will train our staff and lay leaders in how to particularize for Boomers.
  • We will encourage our paid ministry staff to read a current book on how best to empower Boomers.
  • We will recruit a core of “volunteer staff” positions from this age group, with office space and opportunities for enrichment given to them.
  • In 2010 we will create a “Boomer Think Tank” made up of eight to ten Boomers to cast vision and strategize how best to do ministry with their own age group.
  • We will use this age group to help us bridge the gap between the Gen X and older Sages in our church, hopefully minimizing the harmful effect the “generation gap” had on ministry a few decades ago.

We have much to learn, and we know we need to learn it quickly. The opportunity has already arrived. Few churches are addressing it. It is my belief that for many churches to be able to thrive in the next 20 years, they will need to become excellent in reaching Boomers for Christ. To do so will take some collaborative and creative thinking. The reward for those who do it well will be enormous.

Joe Boerman has been the senior pastor at Immanuel Church, Gurnee, Ill., since 1989.

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Jun
14
2010

Want answers to questions? Have a great idea? Here’s your newest opportunity to get ‘inside the Network.’ Ask a specific person. Or post a general question or comment here for our Board. We’ll respond. While you’re at it, share with us what CASA Network means to you and your ministry. Tell us how we might better serve you. Relatively little things can sometimes make a big difference.

Post your question now!

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Michael Sharp, Ph.D.

Provided by CN Building Adult Ministries Resource Center

As each year passes and we add more candles to the cake, I’m beginning to realize that age just might have an effect on some things in life. As a young boy, and even as a young man in my twenties, I was blessed with a small degree of acrobatic ability. Turning a series of handsprings or walking on my hands were everyday activities and great outlets for my energetic youth. Believe it or not, during graduate school I was able to use those skills to earn a part-time income performing singing-telegrams as a gorilla who could turn flips! I know that is hard to picture for anyone who knows me now. Like I said, the ageing process does change some things. I wouldn’t dare to try a handspring these days for fear of injuring myself or someone else. Thankfully, when it comes to gymnastics, I know my limitations!

On the other hand, there are some things that actually improve with age. Despite our culture’s obsession with the glories of youthfulness, certain aspects of life find increasingly meaningful expression across the spectrum of a person’s life. I think this is true regarding one’s ever-deepening walk with Christ. As the journey progresses, so does our capacity to behold the wonders of God’s mighty works. A spiritual history of seeing God provide year after year gives rise to a deepening faith, and a growing catalog of personal testimonies. This is true for mature believers in our day, and I think this was true as well for Miriam, the Bible’s original praise team leader, who, incidentally, played a mean tambourine.

We first encounter Miriam in the pages of the Bible as she watched her mother place her three-month-old baby brother Moses in a tiny basket and hide him among the reeds near the bank of the Nile River. When Moses was discovered by an Egyptian princess, it was Miriam who ran to ask if she could find a nursemaid for the baby. Soon she was able to help her mother care for her baby brother in their very own home.

Miriam is not mentioned again in Scripture until the Exodus event. But we know that she had experienced a lot during her life. She had watched her little brother leave home to live in the Egyptian palace. As a Hebrew, she had undoubtedly suffered with her people in Egyptian bondage during the forty-or-so years Moses was in Midian. But she also experienced one of the greatest rescue efforts ever—God’s delivery of the children of Israel from Egyptian slavery. Miriam had certainly seen a lot over the years of her life.

We know that Moses was around eighty years old at the time of the Exodus, and that would mean that Miriam was probably pushing ninety. But her age certainly did not hinder her from being actively engaged in praising the Lord. Living within the incredible miracle of crossing the Red Sea on dry ground, and seeing those same waters swallow the Egyptian army, Miriam’s heart overflowed with a song of praise. She and Moses sang the first praise-song recorded in the Bible, and it is a testimony to God’s power and greatness. Miriam couldn’t help but praise God from head to toe. With the pulsing rhythm of the tambourine in hand, with the joyous melody of the song, and with harmonious dance movements, Miriam led the women of the Hebrew nation in a chorus of all-out praise. Ninety or not, the testimony of God’s greatness went ninety to nothing!

The praise began by singing of what God had done:

I will sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted. The horse and its rider he has hurled into the sea. The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him. (Exodus 15:1-2 NIV)

It continued with lyrics about the greatness of Almighty God who, in his mercy, had rescued them:

Who among the gods is like you, O Lord? Who is like you— majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders? (Exodus 15:11 NIV)

And the song pulsated with a faithful confidence in what God would continue doing in the future:

In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed. In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling. The nations will hear and tremble…By the power of your arm they will be as still as a stone— until your people pass by, O Lord, until the people you bought pass by. You will bring them in and plant them on the mountain of your inheritance— the place, O Lord, you made for your dwelling, the sanctuary, O Lord, your hands established. The Lord will reign for ever and ever. (Exodus 15:13-14a; 16b-18 NIV)

Interesting fact: the focus of the praise was not about a style and it was not about a form.  It was about a relationship and a reality—a relationship with a loving God who had shown himself strong on behalf of his people as he rescued them in their distress. It was a testimony of his mighty power and faithfulness. When Miriam experienced the reality, a song of praise inevitably bubbled out of her ninety-year-old mouth:

Sing to the LORD, for he is highly exalted. The horse and its rider he has hurled into the sea. (Exodus 15:21 NIV)

Who’s too old to worship? Who’s too old to praise the Lord? Not Miriam. She would probably agree that being ninety brought an even deeper dimension to her ability to extol the greatness of the Lord. Every passing year brought an exciting new stanza to add to the tambourine-song about God’s goodness.

This article was excerpted from 52 Worshipers: Weekly Devotionals for Worship Leaders


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