Ministry to Older Adults - FAQ (Plain Text Version)

Making a case for an objective assessment of older-adult needs

Doctors have stethoscopes, thermometers and EKG machines. Carpenters have tape measures and levels.  Butchers have meat scales. The Highway Patrol has radar guns. Cooks have measuring cups and spoons.

We take measurement for granted. We get up at 6:00 and drink our 5-parts espresso with 1-part cream and a dash of sugar as we make our 55-minute commute to our 8-6 job. Our car gets 23 miles per gallon, the tires take 34 PSI and we don’t exceed the posted speed limit or we may pay a 10% surcharge on our automobile insurance. Our kids get a 92% average in school, score in the top 10% of their class, rank their top 5 college choices and have a 30% chance of getting an early entrance decision. We project 10 years into the future and calculate that we will need a second mortgage at 7% for 4-years of college. 

Measurement and data crunching is everywhere...and for good reason. Quantitative measurement not only tells how well we are doing (from losing weight to investment returns), but with the right analysis measurement statistics can inform us what we need to do to improve our situation. As the management adage states, “You cannot manage what you do not measure.” Effective local management requires effective local measurement. 

Church Resources helps congregations and judicatories understand the quantitative face of aging. Using case-study research methodology Church Resources does not combine data from one congregation with another. Each congregation is treated as a separate case-study. The aging profile differs from one congregation to another and only specific local analysis can identify the difference.

Church Resources’ signature aging ministry tool is the Senior Ministry Inventory—a life inventory for older adults. On the next pages you will see the most common questions asked regarding the Senior Ministry Inventory, and you will discover how this diagnostic instrument can help you target specific ministry needs among older adults in your congregation and the communities you serve.

The wave of births that began after WWII has become the age-wave of the 21st century. The 20th century was a century of youth. The 21st century will be a century of age as the first baby-boomers will reach retirement age in 2011. As we enter the 21st century the age wave has become a threatening tsunami and the reality of aging presents the church with both our greatest peril and our greatest potential. Facing the aging tsunami, every congregation needs a dependable, objective measurement of their aging needs.

What is the Senior Ministry Inventory?

The Senior Ministry Inventory is a ministry research tool of 174 questions that provides an assessment of needs and preparedness for pre-retirement and retirement age individuals, their families and congregations. The 174 questions sample eight life-arenas and form the most comprehensive and inclusive ministry Inventory available today.

How was the Senior Ministry Inventory Developed?

Following a research model developed by Dr. Merton Strommen, founder and former president of Search Institute, Church Resources worked with volunteer focus groups across the United States. Focus groups consisted of medical doctors, nurses, social workers, attorneys, pastors, educators, teaching theologians, finance professionals, housing providers, and seniors themselves.

The focus groups surfaced more than 550 potential questions that could be included in an inventory for assessing older adult needs. The 550 questions were evaluated and gleaned to a final list of 174 questions which were tested for bias and understanding. After the bias and readability testing was complete the 174 questions were printed in a 20-page document and again tested in rural, metropolitan and suburban settings.

Church Resources also reviewed research instruments used previously by the research departments of both modality and sodality structures within the church. After 19 months of research and development, the Senior Ministry Inventory was available for implementation in congregations by April, 2001.

Who benefits from the Senior Ministry Inventory?

A unique feature of the Senior Ministry Inventory is the reporting structure. Three reports are generated from the data. First, every person who takes the Inventory receives a four-page, full color Confidential Report identifying specific life-arenas that need attention as they grow older. This Confidential Report assists individuals to prioritize life decisions that may have been neglected for too long.

Second, every congregation receives a 60+ page summary Congregation Report of all Inventories completed in their congregation. Every Congregation Report is unique—identifying the aging needs within that specific congregation. This reflects Church Resources’ case-study approach to congregation research.

Third, a regionally compiled Judicatory Report of older adult and senior needs is provided to each co-sponsoring district, synod, conference, presbytery, etc.

Does the Senior Ministry Inventory have a particular ministry perspective?

The Senior Ministry Inventory is a holistic research instrument that focuses on the needs of the whole person – physical, mental, social, and spiritual. Of the 174 questions in the Inventory, two-thirds (115) of all questions focus on the medical, social, psychological, community, housing, legal and relational needs of the individual. One-third of all questions (59) focus on the faith needs of the individual. Addressing the needs of the whole person, the Senior Ministry Inventory is the most comprehensive older adult research instrument available today.

NOTE: At present, the Senior Ministry Inventory is only available in English. The Inventory is intended for native English speakers/readers, and those who have acquired an 8th – 9th grade reading level of English as their second language. Special vocabulary terms used in the Inventory are normally those acquired by older adults from experience (medical specializations, types of health and legal services, etc.). The Inventory questions have not been trial tested among 1st generation immigrants.

“The world population increases with a net addition of nearly1 million people age 60 or older every month. Additionally, two-thirds of all people in human history who have ever reached age 65 or older, and three-fourths of all people in human history who have ever reached age 75 or older – are living today.”
Gary Andrews , Speaking at the ASA’s 45th annual meeting

What categories of questions are asked in the Inventory?

Eight life-arenas have representative questions included in the Inventory:

What congregations are best served by the Senior Ministry Inventory?

The Senior Ministry Inventory has a ministry perspective that focuses on the needs of all congregations independent of size or location. The Inventory is an important ministry tool for small, medium and large congregations in all settings—rural, small town and urban. The results of the Inventory are as important to congregations with 30 active members as they are to an urban congregation of 7,000.

Why should we consider implementing the Senior Ministry Inventory now?

The Senior Ministry Inventory is a timely resource. The growing needs of older adults cannot remain on the back-burner forever. Every congregation is fast approaching the time (year 2030) when the U. S. Census projects that we will have more people over 65 than under 18. Many of our congregations will reach that divide 13-15 years early and some are already there. Mass-aging in our culture and our church brings with it challenges that we cannot meet alone. It is impossible to slow down the locomotive of mass-aging as 77.5 million baby boomers prepare to retire beginning in 2011—and one-third of all baby-boomers will retire early. Further, the aging challenges within all mainline denominations is accelerated from the communities in which we live because the median age within the mainline protestant congregations is much higher (54+) than the national median.

What age groups should take the Senior Ministry Inventory?

Church Resources recommends 100% of all individuals in a congregation who are 50 years-old, or older, take the Inventory. Although individuals in their 50’s are not chronologically old, they are the generation that is becoming care-givers for aging parents and other family members. The Senior Ministry Inventory is a great help to care-giving families as well as to seniors.

Imagine a Congregation Aging Profile so comprehensive that you discover how many older members cannot care for their feet and trim their toenails, to how many members have a “law” orientation to their faith...and all the questions in-between.

Are there any financial costs to implement the Senior Ministry Inventory?

There is NO fee or implementation charge for congregations to implement the Inventory. Congregations are only requested to pay UPS shipping charges for supplies received and returned (approximately $20-$30 each direction.)

There is NO fee or implementation charge for a co-sponsoring judicatory. Upon invitation from judicatories Church Resources will conduct Information and Awareness Workshops to review the implications of mass-aging and explain the ministry advantages for congregations that implement the Senior Ministry Inventory. When Church Resources conducts workshops throughout a geographic region, the co-sponsoring judicatory is only responsible for travel, lodging and meals. All expenses for workshop materials and Church Resources’ staff time are covered by Church Resources’ budget and not passed along to the judicatory.

Every individual who completes the Inventory pays a $12 processing fee. The processing fee covers the expense to print the 20-page Inventory with a 9 x 12 security return envelope; process and score data; print a 4-page, full color confidential report with a window return envelope; prepare a 60+ page congregation report; compile the judicatory report(s); plus warehouse and handling/shipping costs for the reports.

NOTE: If there are individuals in a congregation that truly cannot afford the $12 processing fee, and if the congregation does not have the financial resources to provide a scholarship, then Church Resources provides a complimentary grant to cover the $12 fee for those individuals. This grant is provided on the sole recommendation of the pastor.

Are older adults and seniors reluctant to pay $12 to take the Inventory?

Generally not. Any reluctance to pay $12 is usually removed when an individual understands the difference between a basic survey, designed to discover personal likes or dislikes, and a comprehensive inventory designed as a diagnostic tool. Church Resources provides educational materials for congregations to use in their newsletters and bulletin inserts that explain the comprehensive and diagnostic nature of the Inventory. It is important that congregations use these materials to lay the necessary foundation to alleviate financial concerns.

Diagnostic inventories almost always require a processing fee. Pastors and lay counselors often use these diagnostic tools (e.g. Prepare/Enrich—a marriage compatibility inventory; Meyers-Briggs—a Personality Type inventory; Taylor-Johnson—a Temperament Analysis; etc.). These helpful tools are used by secular and Christian counselors to inform and direct their counseling ministry.

Each of these inventories require a materials and processing fee. For example, Prepare/Enrich is used by many pastors when they counsel couples who want to get married. The Prepare/Enrich program is part of the curriculum of some seminaries. Each person who completes a Prepare/Enrich marriage inventory pays a processing fee of $35. This processing fee is paid to Life Innovations who funded the development of the inventory, scores the data and makes reports available to the pastor and/or counselor. For purposes of comparison, the Prepare/Enrich inventory is 165 questions and the processing fee is $35. The Senior Ministry Inventory is 174 questions and the processing fee is $12 (approximately 1/3 the cost).

How does Church Resources guard the confidentiality of information collected?

We look forward to speaking with you:
Church Resources
Reverencing Christ by serving those who have borne his image into old age
16835 Algonquin St. #231
Huntington Beach, CA 92649
Phone (714) 846-7507
Fax (714) 846-7898
www.elderministry.com
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