Preparation

• If teachers and leaders in your group only relate to middle adults, skip this section.
  
  
• Prepare a printout or summary of the current statistics of middle adults in your church. This information will be used in considering how many persons will become senior adults in the next five years. Duplicate as a handout or write the information on the marker board.
  

Reflect and Practice

1. Open the session with fellowship and prayer.
   
   
2. Ask, "How does our church family consider senior adults?" Let the group openly reflect on ways your church values or fails to value senior adults.
   
   
3. As a group, review the quiz in the article "The Real Senior Adult". Discuss any surprises to the group.
   
   
4. Reflect on the disengagement and activity approaches to aging. Identify church actions that indicate disengagement on the part of your church. Discuss ways teachers and leaders of senior adults can advocate for the needs and participation of senior adults.
   
   
5. Distribute the statistics on middle adults in your church, or point the group toward the marker board. Ask your group to reflect on the number of persons who will be retiring or becoming senior adults in the next five years. Ask, "How will these new senior adults affect our senior adult ministry? What can we do now to minister to new retirees?"
   
   
6. Ask participants to divide into five groups. Let each group select one of the "Aging Adult Groups". Ask the groups to evaluate the senior adults in your church who are in these groups. Are the concerns of the elderly true for your senior adults? How do they differ? Ask each subgroup to report their conclusions to the whole group.
   
   
7. As a group, list the names of persons who are caring for aging parents in your church. Ask, "How can we learn more about caregivers and their needs in our church?" Let the group be creative in developing a strategy. Encourage them to do something with the strategy. These actions will take place beyond your group sessions.
   
   
8. Close the session with a season of prayer for senior adults and caregivers. Remind your participants to read the section for the next session.