Building a Great Senior Adult Ministry
A few years ago, my wife and I decided we wanted to build a log home. We went through an extensive process in getting ready for a very demanding task. Through that process, I discovered that building a house is very much like developing a senior adult program in a church.
By following our home-building steps, you can construct a positive and exciting senior adult ministry. If you already have a program, perhaps you can start with a step representing a weaker area and help strengthen your organization. If you are building a new program, take the plans offered here, bathe them in a lot of prayer, and begin construction on a senior adult ministry that could revolutionize your church.
1. Gather Information
Know all you possibly can before you begin your adventure in building your program. Begin by learning:
- Who are the senior adults of your church?
- How many do you have?
- What is the breakdown in age ranges?
- What will be your beginning age for senior adults? Is it 55, 65, or 75?
Use your church roll so that you do not omit anyone. The information you gather will help you determine the direction in which to go.
2. Determine Interest Level
Develop a simple survey to discover the interests of the seniors you identify. You will get a better response by providing suggestions in the survey such as "Would you be interested in taking trips? If so, how long -- one-day, two-day, or weeklong trips? What would be your interests in mission projects, both short term and long term?" List activities that would meet needs in your community and church, such as:
- Ministering at a nursing home,
- Beginning a tutoring program,
- Weekly grocery runs for homebound members, or
- A Bible study in a hospital or nursing home.
3. Determine Structure
Determine the size of the senior adult organization you need, how often you would meet, and the kind of officers you would want. Should your meeting always be at the church? Would some meetings include trips or any number of other activities that interest your group?
4. Work Through Information
Compile the information from the survey, then call a group of seniors together for discussion, brainstorming, and additional ideas. Try to identify people who would be able to help in the different opportunities that you have discussed. Talk about the time frame in which you wish to implement the programs.
Invite church staff input. If your pastor is the sole staff person, then you would want to talk with him, share your findings, and receive his input. If you are a multi-staff church, then discover which staff member has the responsibility for working with senior adults and share your information with that person.
5. Get Approval
Take the plans you have constructed for your senior adult organization to the church. Share with the church all of the information concerning the structure, the age groups you will be reaching with the program, and some of the ideals and philosophies of your program. Provide as much information to the church family as possible.
6. Build the Foundation
Now that you have completed the preparation, it is time to go to work. The first aspect of building your foundation is to know the specifications. Very carefully build the organization that will best fit your senior adult program. Then, review people's qualifications and their willingness to serve. Enlist leaders for your program who can fulfill the required responsibilities.
Obtain leadership materials and information for conducting your program from your state Baptist headquarters and from LifeWay Christian Resources. Don't be shy in calling other churches in your association to see what they are doing.
7. Train Your Leaders
Many state conventions and associations offer leadership training for senior adult officers. LifeWay Christian Resources also provides leadership resources and training. Knowing what you're doing is important, as you are completing your foundation.
8. Develop the Main Unit
Decide how you want your structure to look to the church. Should it:
- Look like a social club, a playing organization, or a babysitting service for senior adults?
- Have more of a physical look or more of a spiritual look?
- Also have a ministry look?
Whether you like it or not, labels will be placed on what you are, and who you are. You can go a long way in choosing how you want to look in the very beginning. Units that are most successful are certainly units that are ministering and caring for other senior adults.
9. Establish Your Infrastructure
Set up the teams or committees who will be responsible for specific ministries in which your organization will be involved. Make sure members are committed and involved so that they can be responsible for carrying out the different ministries.
Because communication is so necessary for promoting your programs and ministry, you should also organize a team of communicators. Each communicator will have six, eight, or 10 names that they will call to inform of any senior adult activity or special event. These contacts will serve as a reminder and a method for taking reservations for events.
10. Outside Appearance
How will your program look to those outside the church? How will you project your purpose and your church to the community and the people around you? Look is important, and if your senior adult program has the look of caring, of love, of ministering, and of willingness to serve, it will say volumes to your community.
11. Final Inspection
This is the point at which all of the senior adult officers and leaders will come together to review all of the information that has been gathered, and all of the plans that have been made, in preparation for the move in. At this time you will want to see if there are any issues that still need to be addresses in order to launch a successful program.
12. Move In
Once you have satisfactorily reviewed and inspected your program, you are ready for the move in, or first meeting. Before the move in date, you should:
- Promote the meeting well to seniors in the church and community,
- Make sure the church knows about it and has provided finances for the program,
- Enlist support from the pastor and church staff, and
- Involve the pastor and church staff in launching the new program.
If you follow these steps, the move in will be most successful and you will have established a beautiful new senior adult program within your church that will be there to minister until the Lord returns.
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