I recently read an article in “Faith Today” magazine which gave me a new perspective on an old topic – seniors. Maybe it resonated with me since I realize (believe it or not) that I now fall into this demographic. It was called “A Heart for Seniors” and written by John Longhurst, a freelance writer from Winnipeg. Here’s a brief summary…
A Greying Nation
Statistics Canada reports that seniors are now the fastest-growing group in Canada. That’s encouraging for us because we don’t do anything too fast anymore. There are 7.3 million of us (65 years or older) in Canada composing 20% of the population. That means one in five Canadians looks like me (scary). By 2068 (I don’t expect to be around) that percentage will increase to 25% or one in every four Canadians. As someone quipped, “God must like old people. He keeps creating more of them.”
A Greying Church
Longhurst writes, “As society greys, so do churches.” An American research group discovered that “there are now more churchgoers older than 65 than younger than 35 in U.S. churches.”
That translates into 36% of American church-goers and Canada probably reflects the same trend. While everyone agrees that youth and young adults are the future of the Church and need much attention, these stats point to a growing need to provide adequate services and resources for seniors as well.
A Great Opportunity
Some believe that “an aging congregration is a dying congregation”. One B.C. Christian leader (Scott Tolhurst) strongly disagrees and calls this attitude “agism”. Certainly seniors need to be ministered to as they deal with health issues, grief, loss of independence and other limitations. However, many seniors still have a lot to offer in ministry to others. Says Tolhurst, “Seniors are disciples too. They still want to serve. They have given all their lives. They’re not ready to stop now… They still have much to give… Seniors in a church are a blessing.”
Another Christian leader from Ontario (Jane Kuepfer) says, “God will call us to different things at different stages of our lives.” She believes that the way to discover those callings is first to listen to seniors, their needs, their hopes and even their dreams. Ironically, many seminaries today provide little training on ministry to seniors. However, many of these future young pastors will serve in local churches that have a lot of seniors.
Ray Harris is the “pastor of care” at a large B.C. church. He says, “Seniors have a wealth of wisdom, experience of life and stories of dealing with challenges along the journey. I often go on visits with the idea of blessing them, but it usually ends up that they are a blessing to me.”
Harris continues, “People have been predicting this church will die for 40 years because it has so many older members. We decided to stop apologizing for who we are. We have been called to serve this community.”
Related to all this is the need to provide care for the caregivers (those who care for seniors).
Remarkably, one in four Canadians is now a caregiver. My wife and I experienced this firsthand for the last five years caring for my aging mother.
I have said many times when visiting a senior – “You may not have the same energy to do the things you once did for God, but now you are less busy and have more time to pray for those who need the Lord and for those who are serving them like you used to. Prayer is the foundation of all that we do.”
An inter-generational church is a beautiful thing as each generation blesses the others with their gifts, abilities, insights and wisdom. The apostle Paul compared the Church to a body when he wrote, “Those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable… There should be no division in the body, but its parts should have equal concern for each other.” (see 1 Corinthians 12:22-25)
My prayer is that more local churches will balance their ministry to the younger generations with meaningful ministry to the “hidden treasure” who are already sitting in their pews – seniors.
Rob Weatherby is a retired pastor and “young at heart” senior.
