In this post I want to write about the theology behind what Church Resources does and why you should care.  In addition to offering a unified vision for ministry to older adults, I hope to offer a reason why you and your congregation should give attention to the different needs and gifts that older adults present.

Humans have an equal distribution of original sin (Romans 3) which is what makes the gospel so universally relevant to all, both saved and non-saved alike. This is the main reason for the question, “How helpful is demographic data to congregations?” If the message is the same to both groups, how will knowing the gender, population change, density metrics, median income, etc. of your community help the proclamation of the gospel? If the remedy for sin and unbelief is to proclaim the perfect work of Christ, what else is needed but a clear voice and some ears to hear?

Poor or rich, single or married, apartment or home, rural or inner-city, all are in equal need of a clear gospel message. But young and old hear with different ears. Sure, the same words free from sin and death to both old and young, yet as we age and scripture has its way with us, we hear those words of grace with experiences of death and dying, and they are sweeter still. Age brings with it a breadth and depth of understanding that is often ignored.

The Scriptures often include both old and young in the task of the Gospel, even while making distinctions. Luke quotes Joel 2 in Acts when he writes “And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.” Both young and old are directed to the task of proclaiming the gospel but have been distinguished in their tasks by their age. Psalm 71 also speaks to this, “So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come.”

Paul also deals with young and old in Timothy chapter five, “Do not rebuke an older man but exhort him as you would a father; treat younger men like brothers, older women like mothers, younger women like sisters, in all purity”. Scripture does not negate the distinction of old and young. The lines that mark old and young should be important to us because they are important in scripture. The prayer of the old sinner in Psalm 71 is that they would not die until they are able to proclaim the wonders of God to another generation.

At its core, Christianity is not concerned mostly about living, but with dying. We often forget that after a worship service, many pastors deliver the same words and sacrament to those who are dying, unable to attend: “Take and drink.” The word and sacraments are sustaining, real things, even to the end. Death and dying is the ultimate line of demarcation between the young and the old. Gospel words matter most to those who sit at the edge of heaven. The elderly who have allowed this fact to touch them hear those words “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest” more deeply than I.

Have Your Elders Heard the Gospel?

The Senior Ministry Inventory is a unique research tool in that it provides data about people that can be used for and by the church for the purpose of the church. Although we include detailed demographic data for all our congregations, the congregation report is really about how the gospel message influences body and soul and how death to resurrection is understood through the work of the church.

Our Case Study survey has a different objective than merely identifying how to classify men and women into age, ethnic and income brackets. It asks that people indicate if the word they hear really lives! It focuses on assurance of salvation issues and relates them to the way life challenges our minds and bodies. Christ speaks to us about our minds and bodies when he says in Matthew 11, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”

If it turns out that many in your flock do not hear the Gospel, or that it has not sunk into their understanding, no business model will help.  Demographic data will not be a launching pad for a shiny new program, but our Case Study approach could aid a serious effort to identify who needs pastoral care while there is still time to reach them.  Our data can help you identify who still needs to hear the living voice of the Gospel.

I have one more post in this series that will bring the practical and theological together and provide the way hundreds of congregations are now viewing ministry to older adults. Stay tuned.

Peace

Aaron

‘Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it,’ Solomon tells us. Clearly, the future is in the care of our parents. Such is the responsibility, promise and hope of fatherhood. Such is the gift that our fathers give us. Our fathers bear an awesome responsibility — one that they shoulder willingly and fulfill with a love that asks no recompense. By turns both gentle and firm, our fathers guide us along the path from infancy to adulthood. We embody their joy, pain and sacrifice, and inherit memories more cherished than any possession. On Father’s Day each year, we express formally a love and gratitude whose roots go deeper than conscious memory can recite. It is only fitting that we have this special day to pay tribute to those men — our natural fathers, adoptive fathers and foster fathers — who deserve our deepest respect and devotion. It is equally fitting, as we recall the ancient and loving command to honor our fathers, that we resolve to do so by becoming ourselves parents and citizens who are worthy of honor.

Developing better ministry choices reminds me of what shopping in my Grandpa Mueller’s turn-of-the-20th-century Oklahoma general store was like. What folks needed or wanted might have been in there somewhere, but finding it called for digging through dozens of bins, baskets and barrels – with a sharp eye. If they couldn’t find exactly what they were after, those pioneer farmers would then try to figure out how they might adapt what they did find. Then, as now, “Necessity is the mother of invention.” Robust parishes, pastors and leaders are creative adapters. They are skilled at making do with what they have or making what they have do.

Dr. Mueller has been involved in Older Adult Ministry for many years. We hope you will enjoy him as much as we do.

Peace

Throughout the Bible, the role of older men and women of faith, both in Israel and the Church, was essential to the community’s understanding and rootedness in God. Older saints were not merely purveyors of good advice because they had been around the block more than once, they were the ones who trained the community how to enter the presence of God.

Listen to Leviticus 19:32, “You shall rise up before the grayheaded, and honor the face of an aged, and you shall revere your God: I am the Lord.” Our posture in the presence of age is connected with our honor of God’s nature.

Customs of respect and deference to older people are rooted in God and the fear of God. And the loss of these manners of respect from baby-boomers and teenagers is directly related to their small view of God and the contemporary foreignness of the idea of the fear of God. If God has become a buddy, you can hardly expect people to stand when an old man enters the room.
John Piper, Pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church

I see this as a major category for older adults in the church, what are other ways that God uses “grey hair” for His purpose?

1. The Bible teaches that God has a purpose for people in all age categories.
   Do you agree with that proposition?  I’m confident you do and my confidence is based on never finding a Christian who disagreed.  In all of Church Resources’ workshops and training seminars there is 100% agreement 100% of the time.  God has a purpose for people in all age categories.  Of course the logical consequence of this first proposition is the second proposition.
2. There is no retirement age in the ‘royal priesthood,’ the ‘priesthood of all believers.’
   Since God has a purpose for people in all age categories, he will continue to enable and empower his people to accomplish his purpose… independent of their age.
3. Life as an older adult can be a time for continued learning, productivity and meaningful ministry.  Seniors do not only seek or desire “busy work,” but also meaningful kingdom work.
   We need to be clear that “busy work” can be meaningful kingdom work… busy work needs to get done even in the Kingdom of God.  What do we mean by “busy work”?  Sharpening pew pencils, dusting pews, folding bulletins, arranging hymnals and bibles in the pew racks….  Do older adults form the available volunteer labor force to get these jobs done?  “Yes.”  Do they do these tasks willingly and joyfully?  “Yes.”  However, are they adequately challenged by these tasks?  In almost all cases, “No.”
4. Older adults seek new ways to answer life’s basic questions:  Who am I?  Why am I here?  Where am I going?  Is God with me?
   These are the questions we ask in 7th and 8th grade confirmation programs.  But older adults and seniors also ask these same questions, and they often have an increased urgency because older adults often face these questions in the midst of an end-of-life crisis. Seniors are confronted by gigantic challenges to faith.  When you bury a spouse, when you are the last living sibling in your family, when your body falls apart so you can’t even fold a bulletin and get the corners to match, when the church has no use for you and when you have outlived many of your friends… the consequences of these senior life events are not merely sociological and psychological… they are spiritual and affect faith.
5. A high percentage of seniors are un-churched and do not know Christ.  Senior evangelism needs to become a high priority for the 21st century church.
   How many specialized church sponsored ministries and programs can we name that specifically focus on challenging youth with the gospel of Jesus Christ and his call to discipleship? We have programs for the very young.  Pre-school children watch cartoon series VeggieTales and Davey and Goliath.  Then we have grade specific Sunday School materials, Confirmation curriculums, retreats, camps, youth choirs, church sponsored sporting programs, scouting, national youth conventions, special bible translations with youth-oriented application questions… and the list goes on and on.

   But how many specialized church sponsored ministries and programs can we name that specifically focus on challenging older adults with the gospel of Jesus Christ and his call to discipleship?  Are there any evangelism programs that focus on reaching the fastest growing segment of our culture?  Senior evangelism needs to become a high priority for the 21st century church.

   Why do we need to focus on the evangelization of older adults and seniors?  Because, and this leads us to our next Christian proposition…

6. Sin doesn’t lessen with age.  The longer a stain remains the deeper it sinks.  Only Christ can both forgive and cleanse (I John 1:9).
   Our culture promotes a national myth regarding sin.  One half of the myth is that teenage years are the Velcro years—sin sticks to them.  However, the other half of the sin-myth is that older adult and senior years are the Teflon years—sin just slides off them.

   But older adults and seniors know this is not true.  The process of aging doesn’t lessen the attacks of Satan—or the allure of the world—or the desires of our flesh.  Older adults are deeply troubled and bothered by sin.  Satan does not lessen his attacks because of our age.

   Further, older Christians are the ones who need to be trained and equipped to evangelize their contemporary non-Christian neighbors and friends.  Older adults and seniors who are troubled by sin need to know Christ who alone can forgive and cleanse from sin.  But this will happen only if we make evangelism to older adults a top priority.

7. The Median Age in Christian churches requires that we prioritize ministry to, with and by older adults.
   In 2002 the Lilly Foundation funded a study of the median age in protestant denominations.  Various national churches participated.  Individuals, 15 and older, who attended church were asked to complete a 4-page survey.  While the median age varied, depending on the church body, there was a striking similarity as depicted in the comparison chart below. This median age study is extremely helpful in identifying the two large  groups that challenge the ministry of all congregations.



The first group that challenges the priorities of the church are those NOT represented on the chart.  Notice all the space below the national median line for those who are between the ages of 15 and 39.  This space illustrates the reason why congregations have made a high priority to reach out to youth and families with young children.  The church has been targeting youth and family ministry ever since the mid-1960’s when Dr. Merton Strommen and Search Institute compiled their data that was later published in The Study of Generations (1970) and The Five Cries of Youth (1974).

The second group that challenges the priorities of the church are the ones who ARE represented on the chart.  They are the ones who are represented by the orange bars that extend above (way above) the national median line.  These orange bars represent the need for the church to add a second main priority to our ministry agenda.  We need to prioritize ministry to, with and by seniors.

For example, notice the bar that represents individuals between the ages of 70 and 74.  Approximately 9% of those who attend church fall in this age range… however only 4% of the general U. S. population are in this age category.  Church attendance is two times greater in this age range as the national median.

Also notice that the aging of the church, for most congregations, will get greater every year.  Mass-aging is taking place within the general population and the church is running ahead, way ahead, of the aging curve.

8. Every congregation needs to develop a strategy of how they will minister to the fastest growing segment of their congregation and the community they serve.
   The 21st century will be a “century of age” just as the 20th century was a “century of youth.”  Every individual, family, congregation and national church needs to engage in a guided assessment that helps them prioritize the older adult needs to which they should give attention.  Healthy, active, growing congregations in the 21st century need to gather information on their community of older adults and families of seniors.

   What short and long range plans should be implemented as congregations face the challenges of evangelizing an aging population in the 21st century?  What facility, budget and staffing considerations need to be implemented?  What ecumenical cooperation and networking among congregations is possible as they fulfill their commission as Christ’s apostles, sent-ones, or representatives (apòstolos, gk.; shäliach, heb.) in the 21st century?

   The Senior Ministry Inventory provides the objective data that a congregation needs so they can develop a strategy for older adult ministry and outreach.