Archive for October, 2011

From our Alliance Partners at Fresh Horizons

In August 2011 Fresh Horizons hosted two conferences for those embracing the new wave of ministry to those in life’s second half. Tauranga in New Zealand’s North Island was the host city for the first New Zealand Conference of this kind in the country. A local board working in cooperation with Fresh Horizons Australia staged a fantastic event over two days that drew close to 100 pastors, church leaders and interested Christians from around New Zealand. The following week Caloundra City in South East Queensland hosted their second Australian Conference with over 60 leaders, ministers and interested Christians from as far away as Victoria attending.

Both conferences benefitted from the insights of keynote speaker Ward Tanneberg (USA) who focused on the topic “Influencing the Generations”. A variety of relevant electives were offered and well received that included the topics “Jesus and women in today’s world”, “Positioning and equipping your church to reach and mobilise baby boomers” and “Accentuating the positive.” A valuable feature of both conferences was the panel of practitioners who are successfully involved in second half ministries. New Zealand’s panel featured Tom Frew, a Baptist pastor whose entire ministry focus is on building a vibrant congregation of over 50s. Nan Kingston-Smith focused on health and fitness while Denise Whitehead is involved with the Tauranga City Council exploring the concept of global age friendly cities.

 

Fresh Horizons is a Kingdom focused ministry established to inspire, educate and equip active Christians to engage in a ministry and evangelism with Baby Boomers and beyond. Learn more at www.freshhorizons.org.au.

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A challenge to Senior Pastors and Church Leaders

John Thill

 

The conventional wisdom of the modern day church says, “The future of the church rests with the young.” Driven by that assumption, many churches have chosen to focus their ministry on children, youth and young families. Sometimes this assumption translates into the neglect or the outright rejection of ministry to people who are considered ‘old.’ Some would go so far as to say that ministry to older people is wasted and the resources we have should be spent on the young.

Has God played a cruel hoax on us by promising that we would “live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you if we obey his commandments” (Exodus 20:12)? Yet when we arrive at a stage of life where this becomes a reality, some churches see such a person as excess baggage. Perhaps it should be required of every senior pastor to consider at what age a person will no longer remain a key ingredient of ministry, and to explain the reason for such a decision.

The practice of segmenting congregations into age groups and, in some settings, limiting ministry to the ‘young’ often misses the purpose of building the Family of God. “Although I hope to come to you soon, I am writing you these instructions so that, if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s Household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:14-15). It appears that Paul in I Tim. 5:1-16 is speaking directly to how we should live together inter-generationally.

 

The theme for some seems to be “ministry to the whole person for part of your life.” Yet God calls us for the whole of life. The amazing thing is that we all share one thing – we are all aging. To the person who fears aging, who does not want to be with older people, who wants to stay young and die quick, the plan and purposes of aging and the high calling of fulfilling Scripture is missed.

One generation will commend your works to another, they will tell of your mighty acts. Psalm 145:1-7

O my people, hear my teaching; listen to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter hidden things, things from of old – what we have heard and known, what our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done…so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands. Psalm 78

Remember the days of old, consider the generations long past. Ask your father and he will tell you, your elders, and they will explain to you. Deut 32:7

We are in danger of repeating in the 21st century what happened in Israel. “…Joshua died at the age of 110. After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel. Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals” (Judges 2:6-14).

As we grow older, Psalm 71:17-18 must be our prayer: “Since my youth, O God, you have taught me, and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds. Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me O God, so that I can rest in my retirement for I have done my part.” Of course, the verse reads differently “….till I declare your power to the next generation, your might to all who are to come.”  To those who are “old and gray” – to what degree is this our desire? To the leaders of the Church – to what degree do we encourage and enable this ministry among those who are “old?”

 

For the Church to ignore, devalue or reject the ‘old,’ the absence of the ‘elder’ will mean that we refuse God’s call to honor those who have walked before us. We will have removed God’s means for reminding and encouraging us to trust him as we remember who he is and what he has done. We will have set up a pattern of demeaning the “old” that affects us as we grow older. We will have put away the very means God designed for ministry to the young to be effective – “…ask your elders and they will explain to you.”

Leviticus 19:14 makes the point: “Do not curse the deaf man or put a stumbling block in front of the blind…” Why not? The deaf can’t hear or be effected by our curse. The blind can’t see to bring a charge against us. Why not have fun at his expense? Leviticus gives the answer, “…but fear your God. I am the Lord.” The young, especially in our culture, will not honor this command unless someone is there to teach them the “fear of the Lord.” What does it mean to fear the Lord? What are the results of fearing the Lord? What are the results of not fearing the Lord? Why is fearing the Lord the beginning of wisdom (Psa. 11:10)?  “…ask your elders and they will explain to you.” 

Of course, this presupposes that the ‘elder’ knows how to answer the question – therefore the need for ministry to the ‘elder.’ Equipping, encouraging and challenging them to “declare God’s power to the next generation.” It also demands the church have at its core  an intergenerational, Biblical understanding of the family of God, and create in its ministry an intentional, effective and practical means to bring the generations together.

 

For those who would minister to and through ‘elders,’ we must bring the message of Exodus 9:16. “I have raised you up for this very purpose – that I might show my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” If the Church does not have vital, credible, and radiant ‘elders,’ we have little evidence that our faith really works or any hope of finishing well. So we must ask, “What are we doing ‘to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ’” (Eph. 4:12-13). Ministry to the ‘mature’ is not entertainment, maintenance or appeasement. It is rather valuing, challenging and equipping as stated in these passages of Scripture. We must call the older person to declare and validate the power, promise and purpose of God to the younger generation; to people worthy of Deuteronomy 32:7, and create the means to do so.

Within the Church that would minister to the young, where in fact the future of the Church does reside, there must be a clear understanding of God’s plan that enables the generations to be together; learning, serving, correcting and encouraging one another. If we do not heed the instructions of the verses above and so many others that say the same, we will continue to see the “snare of the culture” (Exodus 34, Romans 12) rob the young of the “truth of God” and the future of the Church will be lost (See Josh McDowell – “The Last Christian Generation” Green Key Books 2006).

Within the Church that would minister to the whole person, there must also be ministry for the whole of life. What is the basis to say we only minister to the young – for that matter when does a person cease being young? When does old begin? Should we honestly declare in our mission statement, printed materials, and church programs that when you reach a certain age, be it 40, 50, 60, 70+, you no longer have a place in the family of God as represented in our local body? The Biblical insanity of such a position is obvious but too often ignored in the attempt to do what we think will make our church we grow numerically.

 

Admittedly, some people 50+ are a better example of what not to be than a model of trusting God and living vibrantly in his truth. That means part of our ministry must be to challenge, equip and call our ‘elders’ to be what God intended them to be. We need to have people in the second half of life who understand what Moses said in Exodus 33:15:  “Then Moses said to him (God), ‘If your Presence does not go with us do not send us up from here.  How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?’” It is my prayer that when the ‘elders’ we minister to and through enter any aspect of the church people will say: “When those people enter it is like Jesus comes into the room.” Exodus 34:29 says it all: “His face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord.”

The ‘elders’ of the Church, and I’m not simply referring to the ‘office’ of the Elder, should be the builders of “God confidence” among the rest of the church. “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us” (2 Cor. 4:7-12). “You have been my hope, O Sovereign Lord, my confidence since my youth” (Psalm 71:5). It is the ‘elder’ who can declare the truths of Proverbs 3 in a world that puts confidence in all the wrong things. It is the ‘elder’ who can declare with unique credibility and power the truth of Proverbs 3: 25-26, “Have no fear of sudden disaster or the ruin that overtakes the wicked, for the Lord will be your confidence;” and “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit” (Jer. 17:5-18).

For the Church not to nurture this kind of ministry, there is a lack of depth to its life, a missing testimony of longevity, and frankly, a betrayal that God cares about us at every stage of life. Unthinkingly, we say to every person, whatever their age, there will come a time when you are no longer important to God or us. It reveals an ignorance of God’s Word, an immature understanding of what the church was created to be, and a diminishing message to every member as we each grow older. It is like a husband saying to an aging wife, I don’t want you anymore; I want a new “young” wife. I think we can be grateful that God deals with us as His bride so differently than we often treat each other, especially as we age. I wonder what God will say to the Church if we declare by our actions, “Lord, when your bride got old, we divorced her, moved her to a place of dishonor, neglected her, and silenced her?”

 

Am I being too strong? No! There are many churches these days that have remarkable ministries to and through maturing adults. There are lots of models as to how to have a ministry like this, but if a church’s mind set is “the future of the church belongs to the young and therefore we do not have and sometimes don’t even want a ministry to people in the second half of life,” this incomplete understanding of the Church needs to be challenged. It will result in a ministry whose people will be “infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. “Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work” (Eph. 4:14-16).

Evaluate the practice of your church and the world view from which it comes. Is it possible we have listened far more to the world than the Word, to the devil than the Deliverer, to our flesh than the Fresh Wind of the Spirit?

 

John Thill is Pastor to Mature Adults and Intergenerational Ministries at Rolling Hills Covenant Church.

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A Trip Through Time

by Lonnie Evans

 

Are you a time travel wannabe like me? There are societies and cultures I’d like to drop in on just for a little piece of the action: Shakespeare’s England…Socrates’ Greece…The city of Atlantis (before it was lost)…

Well then come on into the IGen 1000, time travel’s newest invention! Buckle up. Sit down. Set the clock back…way back…there. Nice landing! I bet you’ve always wondered about this place in this particular time as I have. Is it as Hollywood portrays it: ancient, serene, somewhat mystical, or is it more vivacious and gritty?

Look, over there on the hill—obviously a pilgrimage of some sort. Let’s catch up to them and see what’s up. It’s an impressive array of people. I guess nobody’s working because it looks like all the adults in the town must be here. School must be out too—this looks more like the loosely organized hysteria of a Friday night high school football game than a coordinated religious celebration. Kids are everywhere all scattered around the hillside, as are adults of all ages and their caravans with pack animals. Hey, how about we get a first-hand account from that gentleman and his wife over there. They appear to be looking for something – or someone. Maybe we can give them a hand.

“Pardon me sir, I’m not from around here, could you tell me what’s going on?”

“Yes, if you don’t mind walking along with me, I will tell you.”

“Sure thing.”

“We are all coming back from a big celebration at the temple.”

“It must have been a huge event. We noticed all kinds of animals…”

“No you don’t. There are no pigs!”

“OK then, I stand corrected. We noticed a variety of pack animals…agreed?”

“Yes, that’s better.”

“And we noticed children and teenagers and adults of all ages.”

“I suppose so, but what are teenagers?” 

“Sorry, I guess that concept hasn’t been invented yet…Is this always the way you travel?”

“Is what always the way we travel?”

“With all these people and animals?”

“What do you mean is this how we travel? This is how we live?”

“By the way, I noticed you seem to be looking for something.”

“Yes, my son appears to have gotten lost in all the hubbub.”

“Joseph, have you thought about checking back at the temple?”

 

Stride back into the IGen 1000 with me and let’s head back to our time.

So, did you catch it—something very different in the way our societies work? We visited Israel, circa 10AD, and caught a glimpse into the Hebrew culture of Jesus of Nazareth’s day as he participated in it as a child. It was common, ordinary, everyday life for masses of people of all generations to be participating in life together. It was not odd for Joseph and Mary to have gone so long and not notice that Jesus, their son, was missing. He was presumed to be in the horde of people heading home from the temple.

How different it is for those of us who live in less communal societies. We live in more organized ways, being part of organized groups which are often categorized on generational lines. This method of organization by generations follows us from our early days in the educational system to our older years in the healthcare system.

This difference poses a real dilemma for those seeking to be faithful to God’s purposes and ways as they age (and, by the way, in addition to breathing and sleeping, aging is something we all have in common). The Word of God presupposes a rich intergenerational life like that of the Jewish culture of Jesus’ day.

“We will not hide them [the parables and teachings of God that our fathers passed on to us] from their children; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done.  He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our forefathers to teach their children, so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children.  Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands.” – Psalm 78:4-7 (NIV)

How do you apply the obvious principle here—to pass on the wonderful deeds and life of God to the next generations—when you live in an age-stratified society? You not only live in an age-layered culture but one that seeks to strap you into life with your own generational peers? And the next generations’ principle is clearly intended for a society of people, not solely one’s own nuclear family of generations. So, how can an older person in an age-segregated society pass God’s stories and ways on intergenerationally?

 

1. Enjoy your generational friends and break the generational mold.

Let’s be completely honest about aging and maturity. Human aging can be a struggle and it’s helpful to have generational peers around who understand that in real time. So please, make strong generational friendships. A bibilical view of maturing though must grapple with the human aging process while seeing our spirits renewed daily by God’s Spirit (II Corinthians 3:17-18). Real maturity understands that it’s lessons are to be shared widely…intergenerationally. Sure, our society creates unpleasant molds for senior adults. But young people admire those who have the fortitude to break the mold. And they both love and respect older people who have the guts to do so.

 

2. Throw yourself a social change-up.

Effective baseball pitchers learn when to shift speed on their pitches in order to keep batters guessing. You can do the same thing socially by varying your activities. If you are only throwing fastballs with your generational peers, get a new grip on the ball and try and intergen change-up. Go to a town hall meeting. Spend an evening at a high school football game. Invite a friend to go with you to a middle school band concert. If you really want to throw off convention volunteer at a local elementary school or give some time to help out at a local children’s charity. And if you really want to try something wild, host an intergenerational party around a seasonal theme, a popular movie or a shared interest.

 

3. Be IN

INvite, INitiate and INspire INtergenerationally. Sure, it’s understandable if you have some trepidation—you are entering into what amounts to a cross-cultural experience.  You won’t always get the language or the mannerisms. You may not always be comfortable. So what? The purpose of God is for the experienced to engage the lesser experienced in His ways. If you don’t share any commonality of experience, that is going to be difficult. So, don’t wait for inexperience to do what only you can. Invite and initiate and you will inspire enthusiasm for God and respect for yourself.

 

Lonnie Evans is a generations strategist and certified talent consultant. Read more of his thoughts and writings about synergy amongst the generations at intergenuity.wordpress.com. 

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Small Bites … Adventures in Downsizing

Jan Kinzel

 

It was the best of times; it was the worst of times… This opening sentence of “A Tale of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens has become the most famous paradoxical statement of all time. Remember, a paradox is a literary tool that causes the reader to say, “Wait a minute. How can that be?!”

In this volatile housing market, it was the best time to sell our house and downsize. It’s a buyers’ market; it’s a sellers’ market. How can that be? It’s true that housing prices are down and that profit on the sale won’t be as much as hoped, but it also means a lower price on the other end. The interest rates are at an historic low. The builders are anxious to have their inventory reduced and occupied so they offer many incentives to ‘sweeten the deal’ to the buyer. Resale homes are priced to sell – and if they aren’t they remain on the market and the price eventually gets lowered to true market value. All of these things work in the buyer’s favor and you get lots more for the money than two years ago. It’s a good time for the seller because lots of folks are out looking for a traditional home to purchase. This really benefits us ‘downsizers’!

 

Looking at the Old Testament story of Joseph, one wonders how this could be good, but Joseph’s gracious response to his brothers, who left him for dead in a ditch, is a wonderful example of God’s care for us and Joseph’s great character.  Joseph told his brothers, “You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.”

 

Sweet and Sour (How can that be?) Meatballs

This is a fabulous dish to serve at the holidays. It fits well into a buffet or can be used as an appetizer. Whichever way you choose to use it, the aroma makes mouths water! I am also passing along a tip I saw on the Giada DeLaurentiis cooking show.

Turkey Meatballs

Special equipment – an electric fondue pot or a small crock-pot, a couple of 24 tin mini-muffin pans and a mini-ice cream scoop

2 ½ pounds ground turkey
1 pound Jimmy Dean Sage Sausage
1 small yellow onion, diced very small
¾ cup Italian seasoned Panko bread crumbs
½ cup heated evaporated milk
½ cup Eggbeaters
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Crumble the meats together with your fingers into a large bowl. Moisten the breadcrumbs with the warm milk and along with all other ingredients mix into the meat. Do this with your fingers being careful not to over-mix as that will cause the meat to be mushy. There will be plenty of seasoning from the sage sausage and the Italian flavored breadcrumbs.

OR: Use your favorite meatball or meatloaf recipe.

Giada’s tip: Spray mini-muffin pans with a vegetable spray such as Pam.  With the mini-ice cream scoop, place 1 ball in each muffin tin. (Don’t over-fill the ice cream scoop as these are to be party size.) This makes evenly sized meatballs and thus they cook evenly. Bake in a preheated oven at 4000 until well browned and cooked through.

OR: Skip all of that and purchase tasty frozen meatballs from Trader Joe’s.

 


Sweet and Sour Sauce

Combine and heat for 2 minutes in microwave:

12 oz. jar of Heinz chili sauce
18 oz. jar of apricot-pineapple preserves

Cut the following into 1 inch pieces:

1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
1 ½ cup fresh pineapple chunks
1 cup sweet onion, such as Vidalia or Maui (pull layers apart)

Layer the meatballs with the peppers, pineapple chunks and onion in the fondue pot or crock-pot. Pour heated sweet and sour sauce over the mixture making sure it gets all the way to the bottom so everything is coated. Keep at a simmer. To serve, have a supply of cocktail napkins and long skewers nearby. This recipe makes 60 meatballs.

 

TIP:  When one door closes many more plus a few windows open.

Malachi 3:10 …and I will open the windows of Heaven and pour out for you such blessings..

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The Elephant

by Missy Buchanan

 

There’s an elephant in the room.  It’s enormous, and many church leaders are ignoring it because they don’t know what to do about it. It’s time to look the elephant in the eye.  The church is aging quickly, and senior adult ministries are struggling.  Whew.  It’s been said.  Now can we talk about it?

The trend is nothing new.  Church leadership has known for years that people are living longer and that congregations are graying.  There’s been lots of talk about how to get younger leadership involved as a way to reinvigorate the church. But few people seem to be considering the far reaching implications for ministry to the fast growing population of senior adults.

Jack Phelps, Associate Pastor at Crestview Baptist Church in Georgetown, TX, knows the issues well.  There are more than 500 senior adults in his congregation in a city known for its retirement communities.  “ I truly believe that the greatest challenge facing churches today is simply understanding that the population is graying and that church memberships are graying at an even faster rate.”  “Though most churches have a minister responsible for a youth program, few have a minister assigned to the seniors.  Almost none have a minister who is trained to do so,” continues Phelps, whose seminary degree includes a concentration in gerontology.

Aubrey Patterson, retired minister and currently the chaplain at Rest Haven Funeral Home in Rockwall, TX, agrees, noting that many churches have a pastoral care minister whose title includes senior adult ministries.

“The problem is that these pastors are stretched thin, trying to minister to congregants of all ages who are ill or hospitalized plus regularly visiting the homebound and senior care residents.  Add to that organizing senior adult fellowship events and retreats, Sunday School classes and Bible studies.  It’s no wonder the church needs to seriously rethink how it is doing senior adult ministry.”

No doubt, church leaders would agree that ministry was not intended to be done by professional staff alone.  Both Phelps and Patterson enthusiastically recount how senior adults are great at caring for other seniors who are less able — a ministry of seniors caring for seniors.  But as the population of elderly explodes, there is concern about whether or not the church is equipped to handle the surge and the complexity of issues.

Dr. Richard Gentzler, Director of the Center on Aging and Older Adult Ministries for The United Methodist Church, suggests one problem is that many congregations are afraid of being labeled as dying churches if they emphasize senior adult ministries. But Gentzler maintains that churches without senior adults are missing a great resource of wisdom and life experience.

Patterson agrees, adding that some churches also make the mistake of lumping all senior adults into one ministry.  “The needs and abilities of an active 70-year old are quite different from a homebound 88-year old.  It is not a one-size-fits-all ministry.” Even defining senior ministry by age can miss the mark since physical abilities, not age, tend to identify senior adult subsets.  Gentzler refers to the subgroups of senior adults as the go-gos, the slow-gos and the no-gos, perhaps providing a more realistic way to discuss the unique needs of each group.

 

Tim Washburn, Senior Adult Pastor at First Baptist Church of Jackson, Mississippi considers reaching the Boomers as one of the greatest challenges facing the church.  “People in their fifties and sixties typically reject the notion of aging.  They especially resist cutesy ministry names that try to disguise the senior identity.  Getting this group plugged in and keeping them from feeling old is going to be a real challenge for the church in the near future.”

Even so, boomers are already faced with issues involving their own aging parents. Much of Phelps’ ministry involves helping families navigate real life concerns about older loved ones.  What should be the church’s role in helping Dad give up the keys to the car?  How do you convince a weary spouse that she needs more care for her husband with Alzheimer’s?  How can you help siblings work together in the best interest of their older family members, especially when there are unresolved issues that fester up in times of crisis?

Then there is the issue of unchurched seniors.  Patterson says his position as a chaplain has brought to light a surprising number of older adults who have no church home at all.  “Many are struggling with deep spiritual issues and are longing for relationship with someone who will just sit and talk.”  And what about newly planted churches with few or no senior adult members?  How will they respond to the needs of older adults in the community?  Or what about churches with small memberships and only one pastor?

 

Certainly the church can no longer ignore the elephant in the room.  Effective senior adult ministry will take more than good intentions to meet the spectrum of challenges and opportunities. Phelps believes that creating a true Biblical model of an intergenerational church should be the top priority.

“At my church in Georgetown, TX, we encourage social interaction between age groups and serving one another.  The youth serve as waiters at the senior adult banquet, and the senior adults serve over 20,000 meals and snacks to the 1,000 children attending our summer camp.  Our young children create hand made greetings cards that our weekly visitation teams delivers to shut-ins.”

Washburn concurs that serving one another is key. His church’s senior choir sponsors a Christmas party at the church for almost 700 homebound and nursing home residents, helping with decorations, food and transportation.  He also notes that it is vital to find ways to keep older adults connected to the church.  “We are exploring ways to use the Internet to keep our seniors in residence centers connected to their Sunday School rooms.”

It’s true that the elephant in the room stirs up a lot of complicated issues, but the scriptural mandate is clear.  It’s time for the church to start talking seriously about senior adult ministry.  It’s time to ask the hard questions and wrestle with the difficult answers.

It’s time to eat the elephant.  One bite at a time.

 

Missy Buchanan writes a monthly column, “Aging Well,” for the United Methodist Reporter and hosts Aging and Faith with Missy Buchanan on Blog Talk Radio.  She has also written for many publications including Presbyterians Today, Christian Association Serving Adults Ministries and Good Morning America’s spirituality page. Read more at www.missybuchanan.com.

Reprinted with permission of the United Methodist Reporter, www.umportal.org.

 

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 The Best Vines

The ‘new elders’ arrived when much of your church was looking the other way. Together with their older ‘builder’ parents, boomers usually represent at least 25% of urban and suburban centers in Canada and America, 45% of the average evangelical congregation and 51% of mainline congregations. These ‘new elders’ of Christendom are the first generation intent on living another 30 or 40 years after reaching age 50, and have to grapple with the excitement and responsibility such a reality brings.

Inside your church, they range from impatient to resigned and everywhere in between. They represent a key to your church’s ministry success, having experienced much of what the world is like out there. They have much to give to the other generations. They want to teach and be taught and long to be Jesus’ hands and feet in today’s world. Maybe not the same way their parents did, but every bit as impactful.

There are boomer grandmothers flying airplanes and grandfathers launching new enterprises while others return to the classroom or travel the world over. They listen for spiritual truth from mystics and gurus while their greatest need is to know the gospel. With all this comes openness to peers who sensitively and authentically live and share the love and life of Jesus Christ.

Some of our elders, like veterans home from battle, are in need of thoughtful and loving attention, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Yet some of our greatest saints are not always certain the church understands and values them. We can be sure of one thing, though. If ministry to and through adults in life’s second half is pushed to one side or inadequately addressed, it will have catastrophic implications on the lasting influence your church has with all generations.

Think with me. Alongside reaching and teaching young adults, the youth and children of the church family entrusted to you, have you planned for effective ministry to and through boomers and builders as well? Who are the ‘new elders’ in your church? What are their names? Do you know their passions and concerns, their hopes and dreams? What kinds of ministry to and through adults in life’s second half will you inspire as you seek to reach your world for Christ?

We can help you find at least some of the answers you need.

Is your church or organization an active CASA Network ministry partner? If not, visit the ministry partner page right now and join. We will be your researchers and trainers, your inspirational resource and a reminder that, like fine wines, the salt and pepper dust of age you see on Sundays often conceals the best the vineyard has to offer (John 15). Check it out!

 

 

 

 

 

Ward

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