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Practicing Significance Glorifying God by fulfilling your own unique purposes through the never-ending action of acquiring, using, and sharing diverse resources. |
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Ministry to Second Halfers
“They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green.”
Psalm 92:14
Introduction
In the past, ministry to second halfers tended to be a passive activity. As the baby boomers become second halfers, we are finding that they are not content with this approach. If the ministry to this group does not become more relevant and active, churches will find that they lose members of this group to other churches, to retirement communities, or to inactive status. In doing so, the churches will have lost a golden opportunity to provide a valuable ministry and have lost the active participation of members of one of their most valuable groups. This lesson will provide some ideas and resources concerning the structuring of a ministry for second halfers.
Who Are These Second Halfers?
Second halfers are generally people who are past fifty years of age, but may be as old as one hundred. They may be content with their business and personal achievements, but are now searching for more meaning in life. They may or may not be retired, and may be male or female, married or single. As a group they are relatively affluent, talented, experienced and active. They are used to being productive, and want to continue being so. Many of them travel extensively, unless they have a better alternative. They typically have more free time and willingness to serve than other age groups. Surprisingly, they are comfortable with taking risk and are found to be honest and open, yet free from strong egos. All of them have something to offer that they desire to share.
In the past, most church congregations treated people of older ages with some degree of indifference. They were often considered “used up” and irrelevant, but were tolerated as long as they attended, were quiet, and tithed. This type of attitude (which is also prevalent throughout American society) clearly violates the spirit of the New Testament. For instance, quoting parts of I Corinthians 12:21-25, Paul says, “…those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor…but God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other”.
In the future, if churches do not find a way to fully integrate second halfers, they will have little objection to finding alternative uses for their time, energy, and money. They will move to other congregations or even to other cities, will turn to other forms of gratification, or will just become wasted assets. It will be very sad to watch this lose-lose situation when much better choices are available.
An Overview of Ministry for Second Halfers
If this is a subject that is of interest to you, I highly recommend that you purchase the notebook How To Build A Positive Senior Adult Ministry, by Dr. Jim Hughes. You can contact him at 12016 Lock Ness Drive, Dallas, TX 75218; 214-340-2192; gerojim@aol.com. His notebook is wonderfully done and would be a great basis from which to start designing a ministry. It includes several ideas and forms which will keep you from having to reinvent the wheel. The following overview incorporates many of his ideas, but also includes ideas from my business and personal background.
In general, the purpose of a ministry for second halfers centers on allowing them to maximize their potential to serve God and others. Like all other adult age groups, they should serve and be served. Those who have resources are expected to share with those who need them, whether the resources are time, knowledge, talent, emotional support, or even financial. Dr. Hughes summarizes it by writing, “the goal of this ministry is for older Christians to help build up the body of Christ by their loving service to one another and by their reaching out to peers who are unchurched.” A successful ministry will allow the second halfers to achieve the potential of Psalm 92, “They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green”.
Here are some of the many steps needed to institute and maintain a successful ministry for second halfers:
· Earn support from the church leadership. The congregation’s leaders have to fully support the program. This will entail educating them about the reasons why a ministry is needed, convincing them to allocate the necessary resources, and involving them in the ministry. Their leadership is necessary before everyone can truly appreciate the value of the ministry to all age groups in the church. In larger churches, it will be necessary to have a special minister to this group. (I don’t recommend using a retired pastor just to have a place to put him. A successful minister will need energy and dedication.)
· Understand the resources of your second halfers. Dedicate the time and effort necessary to survey all of the congregation’s second halfers to learn about their talents, time availability, willingness to help and other factors. An important part of this process is reviewing and working with them individually about understanding their purposes, setting their goals, and making their life plans. This step as well as the entire ministry should be used to help them build and maintain positive self-esteem that is so difficult to maintain through the aging process.
· Understand the needs of your second halfers. In general, the bulk of the resources will be dedicated to service, but much of the service will be to certain elderly and needy persons who are also second halfers.
· Publish the results (in an anonymous type of fashion) and have several meetings with the entire second half group to verify that the answers in 2. and 3. are correct, and to try to fashion a group of programs which fit your congregation. Picking a small group of dedicated people will smooth this process. It will be helpful to do case studies of churches which have programs (some of which are detailed in the notebook or on our website at www.practicingsignificance.com), but in the end your members are unique and your programs should fit them rather than trying to make your members fit a predetermined set of programs. It is likely you will find it necessary to have many female leaders since a large majority of your older members will probably be female. It is unlikely that you can immediately meet all the needs of your group, but a long-term plan could be made to address the most important needs first, then work on the others.
· Recruit and train a core group of volunteers. As in most other steps mentioned, several good ideas are shown in the Dr. Hughes notebook.
· Begin up to three new ministries to test the process. Keep everybody’s enthusiasm up, but don’t build unrealistic expectations. It should be known from the start that alterations will likely be needed as experience is gained.
· As part of the evangelism efforts, include non-congregational people as much as possible
· Evaluate the results from the ministries which have been started, and begin new ones as appropriate.
Ministry Goals
There are an unending number of goals and programs which your ministry might try. Following Dr. Hughes’ general classification of Service/Spiritual/Social, here are some types of programs (although many overlap):
1) Service both within and without the congregation
a) Food Bank
b) Elder Law (if you have available lawyers as a second halfers)
c) Retirement housing or repair of housing
d) Nursing services (if you have available nurses as second halfers)
e) Education
f) Financial education or counseling
g) Care and communication partners
h) Volunteering for various civic organizations
i) Computer tutoring and repair
j) Emergency monitoring
k) Classes on government programs
l) Homemaker services
2) Spiritual outreach and edification
a) Making or transcribing worship tapes
b) Hospital, nursing home or retirement home visitation
c) Hospital, nursing home or retirement home church services
d) Neighborhood evangelism
e) Foreign mission trips
f) Mentoring
g) Evangelism to seniors
h) Grief assistance
i) Homebound ministry
j) Intergenerational Sunday School classes
k) Orphan home involvement
3) Social activities with peer age group and intergenerational
a) Sweetheart Banquet (inviting other age groups)
b) Thursday night talent night or game night
c) Trips
d) Singles parties or activities
e) Exercise classes
f) Skills or education classes for things that interest your members
g) Transportation
h) Secret Pals with annual parties
i) Fishing trips
Conclusion
In the future, an important part of being successful church leaders will be the provision of having a thriving program for second halfers. This will allow them to optimize the resources of all of their members and to more successfully follow the models and instructions of the Bible.
Additional Resources
The notebook How To Build A Positive Senior Adult Ministry, by Dr. Jim Hughes. You can contact him at 12016 Lock Ness Drive, Dallas, TX 75218; 214-340-2192; gerojim@aol.com. I believe this to be indispensable information.
Tomb, David A. Growing Old: A Complete Guide to the Physical, Emotional, and Financial Problems of Aging