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Older Americans Month is an annual observation during the month of May, a keen time of year to uplift the gift of older adult ministry.
Columbia Theological Seminary’s (CTS) Center for Lifelong Learning is addressing this reality through its Older Adult Ministry certificate program, to help people understand the joys and challenges of aging while supporting the spiritual formation of older adults.
In the following interview, former CTS Lifelong Learning Director and Theological Reflection in Older Adulthood course facilitator, Sarah Erickson, reflects on her time working with the older adult population.
Older adults naturally engage in a process of reflection as they get older. Reflecting theologically helps them do so by thinking about their experiences and beliefs through the lens of faith, seeking to understand God’s presence and activity in those experiences. It involves drawing insights from Scripture and tradition and identifying how those insights and beliefs have changed over time.
The act of remembering that God loves and cares for us through all ages and stages of faith alone is a profound reassurance for older adults who may find themselves outliving friends and family, or who increasingly live great distances from loved ones.
As a process of coming to terms with aging, older adults appreciate a chance to reclaim, reframe and rework the chapters of their lives into a narrative that allows them to see the whole cloth of their lives honestly. Theological reflection invites us to think about our hopes for the future, including practicing forgiveness and reconciliation with ourselves and others.
It’s no surprise that most church participants are older than 65. While many congregations may plan and budget for children or youth ministry, even for a handful of families, I’m often surprised by how few include plans or a budget for older adult formation ministries. It’s just as important to pay attention to faith and human development for adults in the “third thirty” as it is for our children and youth.
We miss opportunities to show that faith communities are different from Western society, which tends to value youth and resist aging.
No longer are our elders revered for their wisdom and experience. We miss the chance to learn from them and with them.
Older adults yearn for connection and relationships. They often feel left out or overlooked. The baptismal vows we make are for a lifetime, from cradle to grave. Some congregations do very well at this. Others do not.
My colleague in Older Adult Ministry, Joyce MacKichan Walker, shares this quote by Kathrine May in her section about Guiding Principles for Older Adult Ministry on the Expressions of Older Adult ministry website. The quote gets at some of the challenges and rewards of older adult ministry:
“More and more I crave being part of a congregation, a group of people with whom I can gather to reflect and contemplate, to hear the ways that others have solved this puzzling problem of existence. Most of all, I want them to hold me to account, to keep me on track, to urge me towards doing good. Holding spiritual beliefs on my own is lonely. I want to be part of a group that makes me return to ideas that bewilder and challenge me. … Congregations—ones that are allowed to express diversity of thought— hold us to account.” Katherine May, Enchantment: Awakening Wonder in an Anxious Age (page 88-89).
That it is a ministry for older adults, not with older adults.
Older adults want meaningful involvement in worship, fellowship and service among their older peers as well as intergenerationally. They want to be involved in planning and implementing projects for as long as they are able.
Another common misconception is that only older clergy or volunteer leaders can effectively minister among older adults, or that older leaders already “know” what older adults need. A leader of any age or experience level can engage in ministry across generations. Courses like the older adult courses the CLL offers can help people do so more effectively, regardless of their chronological age or experience.
Well, I’ve officially been an older adult now for about 10 years, so part of my answer is I want to be included in the life of my Christian community as fully as I can for as long as I am able. This means as a congregation member, as a retired clergy member of a judicatory, as an educator, and as a coach. It’s a call to continue to use my gifts as an educator and coach to support leadership development in the church broadly and among those who minister among older adults specifically.
Whether you are a chaplain, lay leader, pastor, or other professional working with older adults, Older Adult Ministry (OAM) courses will help you address the needs of older adults, helping them find meaning, purpose, and resilience as they journey through the latter stage of life. The OAM courses are open to anyone from any denomination or faith tradition and can be taken as stand-alone classes or as part of a certificate. The OAM classes are offered on a regularly scheduled basis, currently two per year.
Click HERE to register for the Process of Aging and Implications for Ministry
Click HERE to learn more about the Presbyterian Older Adult Ministries Network – POAMN
