6 Vital Planning Tips for Senior Adult Ministry
Some images fall far short of reality for senior adults today as well. No longer is the “typical” senior adult an elderly person sitting in a rocking chair on a veranda. Today’s senior adults are involved in countless challenges and experiences that often catch us off guard.
Many church leaders may need to rethink how they see senior adults today. Most of them are eager not only to live life to its fullest, but also want to be useful and productive in kingdom work. Most love a challenge and want to stretch and grow throughout the remainder of their lives. Have you thought about how to help them? Here are some suggestions to consider.
Ministry Involvement
Senior adults simply want to get involved. They need to be needed, so providing opportunities for ministry can meet that need. Senior adults want to be productive. This often can be seen in their hobbies, crafts, trips and so forth. They want opportunities to use the knowledge, skills and experiences they’ve developed over the years to serve their Lord.
Spiritual and Intellectual Growth
Senior adults want to learn. They want depth in Bible study. Spiritually speaking, they don’t want pat answers; they need meaningful answers that help them cope with life and personal issues.
Leaders can enable seniors to discover a deeper relationship with Christ by offering learning opportunities beyond the Sunday School class. Combining with senior adults in other churches can provide enhancing quality to Bible study seminars while sharing the leadership roles with more than one church.
Life Changes
Medical research and technology are extending the lives of countless seniors today. The dilemma comes from discovering ways to extend their limited, often fixed income longer than they might have expected. Escalating costs are having a significant impact on their quality of life after retirement.
Consumerism
Senior adults represent the primary recipients of the health care industry. Pharmaceutical, nursing and assisted-living care, and insurance businesses will focus a great deal of their promotions to senior adults. Leaders should help senior adults make good choices by helping them explore options, costs benefits and liabilities, then conducting seminars on being wise purchasers.
Leisure and Travel
Senior adults are somewhat adventuresome. They want to travel, but without the hassle. They don’t adjust well to changes in flights, long waiting lines, security issues and so forth.
Fellowship
Most senior adults want to have fun. In fact, that’s true of almost all of us anyway. The catch is that they want to have fun without extra expense. Fellowship activities in and through the church represent one way of connecting seniors and building friendship bonds. Planning weekly or monthly fellowship activities that emphasize developing new and deeper relationships is a worthy goal. Plan them generally for daytime or early evening.
Planning around issues related to senior adults can be very at times. If you’re wondering what to do, just ask them. Chances are they will tell you exactly what they want to do, and will help you get it done.
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