An Update and Some Ministry Encouragement

My sincere apologies for falling off the blog wagon for well over a month. It is still my intention to share weekly articles with you that will help you in your ministry with older adults, baby boomers and the aging experience! (By the way, this is blog post # 50!! – Thanks for reading!)

It has been a busy fall with lots of wonderful ministry opportunities. I’ve crisscrossed the country a couple of times speaking with pastors and church leaders as well as older adults themselves and I’m encouraged that the conversation about older adult ministry and finishing well seems to be growing. But there is still much work to be done!

Let me share just a few encouraging highlights from my travels over the past 2 months:

1. I met a 90 year old woman who oversees the finances at her church. She is sharp as a tack and when I asked her if she had to learn the computer to continue doing her job, she said, “Yes! And that was no problem at all!” Once again, the myth that older adults can’t learn new things has been debunked!

2. It was great to partner with YES! (Young Enough to Serve) in their mission to engage older adults in meaningful service and see all the generations regularly interacting with one another. I loved speaking at their fundraising dinner and seeing an audience full of ALL AGES of people. People in attendance ranged in age from their early 20s to their 90s! This is how it should be! If you have not checked out their video called TED, you must do so. It communicates so well what I desire to have happen in churches across the country.

3. I’ve been encouraged that some lead pastors and executive pastors are responding to the swelling growth of our older adult population. These leaders are reading, strategizing and prioritizing this ministry. In the future, these churches will be some great models for us to learn from.

4. Finally, it is exciting to see all denominations from Lutheran to Southern Baptist to the International Pentecostal Holiness Church to the Church of the Nazarene to everything in between begin to dialogue about this important area of ministry. The discussion of unleashing baby boomers to make a Kingdom impact with their lives crosses denominational lines!

Thanks for praying for the ministry and for doing all that you do to encourage ministry with the new old. It’s no accident that God has allowed so many people to live into the later years of life at this precise moment in history. He’s up to something – – let’s be a part of it!

P.S. As always, I love to hear what is happening at your church and in your ministry context. Please share in the comments so we can learn from each other.

P.P.S. Be watching the blog next week for a post about the Benefits of Caregiving.