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.