Everyone knows the importance of ministry to the elderly. They constitute a larger than national average proportion of Anglican congregations, and humanly speaking, are closer to meeting their maker.
But it is also a ministry we often don't think too much about; sometimes for good reasons. The future of gospel proclamation in our cities is through young people; clergy are usually younger than the seniors to whom they minister and following the apostolic model of the younger following the older, they leave the leadership of this ministry to older saints; clergy have closer ties to family ministry as this is their stage of life and so focus on that ministry.
But it is seniors who have the time to sit, listen, talk and interact with gospel things; and it is this generation that still carries an affection for Christianity, if not a vibrant faith.
A few months ago I met Bruce Geeves who is employed by the Diocese of Tasmania to ministry to older people. Bruce sees his ministry as "equipping 50+ for mission". It is this age group that has not been mobilsed, so Bruce set himself the task of training seniors mission teams in every parish in Tasmania.
He also created a program through which these people could minister. So was born Nostaligia Now, a program that listens, enters the person's world of thought and feeling, understands their objections to the gospel and shares the good news of Jesus.
Nostalgia Now is a 3 day program which senior Christians can use. On Fridays the mission team visits seniors from the area and gets to know them and their story. Saturday is an opportunity for these people to gather and share their faith and experiences, using videos, audio tapes, books, photos, records and other memorabilia to encourage conversation and discussion. Sundays brings the weekend together, recapping the events and preaching to the group at the Sunday morning service.
The thing I love about Bruce's program is that it trains and equips saints for ministry, but doesn't leave them alone. It offers a 'doable' ministry that is appropriately tailored to the age group, and allows input from leaders as necessary.
In Sydney there is also a group commencing called Prime Time. Their goal is to help those 50 and over to see these years as the prime time to minister. It is at this age that financial and child raising burdens have diminished, and some can even opt for early retirement or part time work.
We need to be imaginative about ministering to this sizable and growing age group. Bruce can be contacted on (03) 6220 2020.
