|
Is not wisdom found among the aged? Does not long-life bring understanding? Job 12:12 (NIV)
In his book Growing Older, Thinking Younger: Ministry with Boomers, the Rev. Keith Haemmelmann says, “We take older adults in the church for granted. We believe naively we will always have them. We treat them, smugly, as our ‘safe demographic.’” In 2022, the Wisconsin Conference took seriously this challenge. A group of clergy and lay people from the Wisconsin and Michigan conferences formed a committee under the leadership of St. Louis-based educator and gerontologist Jan Aerie, who is coordinator of older adult ministries for the Mid-America Region of the Disciples of Christ.
Over the past two years, committee members have spent time educating one another and sharing resources. Now, in 2025, we have decided to share what we have learned with the wider church. We will be providing short articles with the hope of sharing resources with more people and encouraging them to undertake a more intentional ministry with older adults.
“Gazing at the signs and placards (on a Starbuck’s Community Board), Keith Haemmelmann said it dawned on him that most pastors and local churches wrongly assume that older adults are the safe, reliable demographic. But Baby Boomers, and the Gen Xers that will follow them into older adulthood, can no longer be looked upon as the easy-to-keep crowd. Now they have many viable and fulfilling options to pursue. Their needs, passions are far different from the generation(s) that preceded them.”
We have experienced this insight first hand as we have recently moved into Cedar Community in West Bend. Cedar Community is a senior facility that was started 70 years ago when a retired farmer gave his farm on Cedar Lake to the United Church of Christ for the purpose of building a home for older adults. Now, decades later, there are more than 900 residents in the area on many levels of care. Community members have numerous activities in which to participate: spending time in a fully equipped workshop, swimming, various art classes, Bible studies, book clubs, exercise classes, yoga classes, bocce games, cornhole, sheepshead, bingo and many other activities – including a soon-to-be- built recreation facility for pickleball and tennis. Seniors are living longer and involved in activities that would never have been thought of before.
At the turn of the previous century, life expectancy in this country was barely 50. As of 2025 life expectancy has risen to 79.4 years, an increase of 0.18 percent from 2024. That expectancy is projected to rise close to 85 years by 2060 (U.S. Macrotrends, Life-expectancy 1950-2025). “Church is one of the only places in our culture where three, four, and five generations of people gather to experience and share in community” as disclosed in a CHHSM resource on Age-Friendly Congregations. CHHSM, the Council for Health and Human Service Ministries, is a national association of 400 organizations, all related to the United Church of Christ, that provide compassionate care, service and advocacy for people of all ages. CHHSM-ministry organizations that serve older adults developed this resource in response to inquiries from individuals and congregations about how best to develop more effective ministries to seniors.
This is one of many resources we hope to highlight and share with individuals and congregations as part of articles we will publish. If there are special topics or concerns you wish us to address, please forward those requests to our committee. Also, the committee is open to expanding and if anyone is interested in joining our efforts, please let one of our committee members know.
Questions for reflection: (The curriculum, Age-Friendly Congregations)
- In what ways do congregations take older adults for granted?
- How might our churches grow, change and expand if they treated ministry to persons of all ages with greater intentionality?
- How does intergenerational understanding make congregations stronger and more faithful as Christians?
Resources:
- Guess, J. Bennett and Barbara A. Powell (editors), Age-Friendly Congregations: A new curriculum that explores how to minister well with, to, and for older adults. Council for Health and Human Services, Cleveland, 2017.
- Norris, Gunilla, The Light of Evening: Meditations On Growing in Old Age, Twenty-third Publications, New London, Connecticut, 2023.
- https://www.unitedchurchhomes.org/the-center-for-abundant-aging/
Committee Members: The Rev. Art and Cathy Wille (facilitators); Jan Braby; Dr. Susan and the Rev. John McFadden; the Revs. John Tschudy Bev Davis Katya Ouchakof, Kathleen Gloff, and Emma Sancomb; and Lisa Hart and the Rev. Franz Rigert (staff liaisons).
| 
