Older folk do not seem part of most churches vision for growth. This is despite the fact that seniors are already the fastest growing segment of the community and will continue to be so as "Baby boomers' begin to join the ranks of seniors. ALAN LANGDON sets out a practical way forward.
While fully supporting the need to plant new churches - perhaps of an unconventional kind - to attract the unchurched, what about reaching the ranks of the many older folk who are the "were-once-churched'?
Ministry with seniors is not even mentioned in the vision statements of some parishes. Nor does it feature prominently in reference to achieving the goal of a project such as the Sydney Diocesan Mission with its goal to see ten-percent of people in our churches.
If your parish's ministry to seniors is limited to visits to nursing homes (valuable and essential as they are), note that statistics show that over 90 per cent of seniors are not to be found there!
We seem to have forgotten that in their childhood and youth, a goodly percentage of both the older and the newer band of seniors attended Sunday School.
This is particularly true of the Baby Boomer generation who in the two post-war decades were the cause of the building of many Christian Education Centres in parishes. They were also in school Scripture classes and participated in youth groups, fellowship teas and evening services, houseparties, camps and rallies, as well as sporting teams under the auspices of the churches. As they approached adulthood, the rapid secularization of our society in the 60s and 70s presented them with competing influences, interests, activities and commitments that left no time for God or church-related activities.
However, not all their earlier contacts had been negative. In many cases there is a reservoir of positive experiences and good relationships waiting to be tapped. For many, in the absence of a genuine Christian commitment or parental example, it was not a matter of conscious rejection, as much as neglect in the face of attractive alternatives " and those attractions no longer apply today.
Those who are invited to "come back' to church often find nothing that accords with their memory, nothing familiar, nothing they recognize and not even one hymn or song or chorus they can even follow, let alone attempt to sing!
As quoted in the September 2006 Southern Cross: "New research by the Southern Baptists indicates many Boomers are profoundly nostalgic. Among "de-churched' Boomers, it was found that a significant number would return to church if it resembled the church of their 1950s childhood."
If it is appropriate to hold services that are specially designed to appeal to youth or to young families, with their kind of music and message, why not for seniors?
Any evangelistic outreach to this potential harvest field of seniors must be planned and conducted by seniors and be sufficiently "traditional' in form, style, music and noise level for invited seniors to feel welcome and "at home'.
Why should they virtually be told they "must be prepared to change and adjust', with the implication that otherwise the gospel is not for them? Indeed, an 8 a.m. service of the Lord's Supper is, by its very nature, not the ideal context for outreach ministry!
The above line of reasoning does not only apply to evangelistic outreach to seniors, but also to their pastoral care, nurture and growth in study groups, and to opportunities for ministry to their peers within the life of the church.
Provision of Services
It is unrealistic and unreasonable to think that all people can be forcibly squeezed into one mould of worship service. The range of services offered must enable major age groups to worship at their own level of need and preference, with intergenerational services and other activities from time to time.
Most parishes provide services that cater for the sub-culture of youth and of young families, but services suited to the sensitivities, interests and learning needs of seniors are equally as essential. In any case, many older Christians with hearing aids are physically unable to attend some modern services!
As the Southern Cross article stated: "Amplification is a huge turn-off due to failing hearing", to which I added the observation that what such seniors cannot do is to come into a high pressure, loud environment that automatically rules them out. There are people I wouldn't dare invite to certain services or activities because it would be an offence to their health.
Moreover, if seniors are to continue to grow and mature in worship and fellowship, being restricted to an 8 am Holy Communion service is not the answer.
Participation in Services
Seniors belong to a generation brought up to community singing and, of course, to congregational hymn singing. Not only are they pre-TV, but some are even pre-radio. They sang around the piano in homes, sang hymns and choruses at Sunday School, fellowship meetings, fellowship teas, "squashes', rallies and the like.
Many of us gathered around the piano in the rectory after an evening service and sang hymns and choruses for an hour or more. Many were members of church choirs consisting of children, youth and adults who practised and sang hymns, psalms, canticles and a wide range of anthems (a significant example of intergenerational co-operation and fellowship).
Seniors predate the "listening' culture of the transistor and walkman era, rock concerts, singing groups, bands and soloist, and the unsingable syncopated metres of many modern hymns and choruses. They therefore expect to be able to join actively in a service, both in the liturgy and in the singing. Such forms of services are not mere nostalgia or a yearning for sentimental self-gratification, but are a means of spiritual refreshment and encouragement to spiritual growth. They are also essential if seniors are to have confidence in inviting their peers to evangelistic and outreach services.
By some odd form of logic, choral evensong, a choir singing an anthem or a cantata, and the very playing of an organ are seen as signs of senile self-indulgence, in fact almost a form of idolatry. Yet the domination of a service by a band (with strong beat and loud amplification) is an indication of vitality in worship! The value of well planned intergenerational services and social activities from time to time within the total parish program will lie in the degree to which they are generationally representative.
Timing of Services
Similarly, services are required for seniors at a time of day suited to their age and state of health. If 8 am is the only time on offer it disfranchises many elderly people who cannot be up and dressed by that hour, having also coped with essential medication and toiletries. (8 am is not the best time for many aging bladders!)
This applies especially to those who have to travel by public transport to reach the church, provided any such transport happens to run at that hour on a Sunday morning! These difficulties are exacerbated during the winter months.
By way of contrast, most of their grandchildren are still sound asleep in bed and would not appreciate their Youth Service being at 8 am.
Some parishes provide a midweek service (at least monthly or fortnightly) for those needing transport, wheelchair assistance etc, often followed by a substantial morning tea or early lunch, greatly appreciated by those in nursing homes or living alone. But they constitute a minority of seniors in the community and many otherwise very able and active seniors also need such an opportunity " but as a regular feature of parish life, not as an occasional special extra!
Provision of Transport
Has your parish a register of elderly (or infirm) former parishioners who can no longer attend owing to a lack of transport? Such people (and potential elderly newcomers) will rarely take the initiative in asking for a lift as, quite understandably, they feel they are being a nuisance. There is need for Area Contact Persons [ACPs] for the various sections of a parish with lists of people willing to provide transport on a regular basis. It is a sad fact that older people can disappear from the congregation due to ill health and no one knows that they no longer attend or why!
Canon Alan Langdon was the Sydney Diocese Director of Education 1955 to 1977 and Executive Chairman of the Education Commission 1977 to 1989. This is an edited extract from Alan's new book ‘Ministry with Seniors’ distributed by CEP.
