While I gained much from the book, two things stick out that are especially applicable to those of us who care about ministry with boomers and beyond.

First, Corrie was in her 50s when she took on the ministry of hiding Jews and working with the underground against Hitler. She was in her 50s when she was suffering in a concentration camp under horrendous conditions. She was in her 50s when she began speaking to groups about her experiences. She was in her 50s when she established a rehabilitation center for those who had suffered in the war and helped bring them to wholeness. And then she continued on for several decades to travel the world, speaking and writing about the love of Christ and the power of forgiveness. In no way was her life on the downward slide once she hit the age of 50. To the contrary, it may be argued that some of her most powerful ministry occurred in the second half of her life.

Second, Corrie’s story reminds us that there is much to be gleaned from hearing the faith stories of those who have gone before us. As I read, she taught me about suffering and caused me to consider how I might apply her Christ-like attitude towards suffering to the difficult circumstances in my own life. I thought about how to grow in loving the Bible and valuing the words written in it as much as she and her sister, Betsie, did. I pondered how I might pay attention and look and see where God’s hand is showing up in my daily life, just as He showed up for them. The reality is the story has lingered with me even though I’ve finished reading it and it is helping to refine my faith. How many stories reside among those 50+ in your church, in your family, in your neighborhood, or in YOU? Not all the stories are happy and easy to hear but when told they can encourage and challenge others in their faith. If we don’t share those stories – if we don’t give people the forum to tell those stories – then something valuable is lost.

“Remember the days of old; consider the generations long past. Ask your father and he will tell you, your elders, and they will explain it to you.” Deuteronomy 32:7

What do you do to ensure that faith stories are shared with others?

This article in the New York Times gives more proof as to why churches cannot ignore ministry with the new old.

I’ve said for some time that church planters need to pay attention to the growing boomer demographic. And while I wish this author would not have referred to older adults as geezers, (Smile), I am SO glad a veteran church planter is talking about this!

How should the church respond to the information presented? Any thoughts?

This article is about an organization that is attempting to come alongside older adults and help provide transportation. What can the church learn from this and how could we put together an army of volunteers through our faith communities that could reach out and respond to those in need of a ride? I will be the first to say, the actual transporting cannot be the sole job of the minister. But rather lay-people, serving others in this way would be a beautiful thing. Yes?

What have you done or seen or heard in regards to creative and effective transportation ministries for older adults?

In this podcast, produced by the Older Adult Ministry Network, I talk about specific ways we as church leaders can come alongside older adults and help them find their unique place to serve and invest themselves.

Listen to the podcast here.

I’d love to hear your thoughts. What have you found to be effective methods in engaging older adults to serve?

One of the ways to break stereotypes about aging and change the view that people hold about the later years is to draw attention to those who are doing amazing and meaningful things with their second-half. 

Jane Gross in Next Avenue’s E-Newsletter recently wrote a great piece about an 85-year old woman who graduated from college this year and landed her dream job accompanying a doctor on house calls to work with the elderly.She breaks so many of the myths that exist about aging, such as ‘old people can’t learn new things’ and ‘a young person could do the job better’ and ‘old people can’t change.’ 

This woman’s compelling story resembles the type of stories we need to be telling on a regular basis in our churches.  Has someone in their 60s moved overseas for a year to do mission work?  Is there an 80+ year old who is teaching Vacation Bible School?  What about someone who is 70 and works with kids in the inner city?  Start telling these stories so that others begin to see that these are the kinds of opportunities that they too can engage in during the second half of life. 

What are some of the inspiring ways that you see older adults serving in your church and community?  How can we better share those stories?

I was reflecting on this after hearing a young mother in my mom’s group negatively talk about her parents. She wasn’t feeling supported with their 4 young children. I didn’t ask questions, but from what I gathered, her parents had moved away once their children were grown and were now serving on the mission field. My mom friend said, “I’m not going to do that to our kids.”

Obviously there is a lot that could be unpacked with this story and I don’t want you to read too much into it. But the conversation did cause me to consider this question:

“How do we as leaders encourage people to invest themselves in mission efforts that may take them away from their families, but also give them advice and suggestions for fulfilling the ministry they have to their own family?”

A practical question to ask people to consider is: “If you were living close to your adult children and grandchildren, what would be helpful to them?” And then, “How can you do those same things from a distance?”

Here are a few suggestions, but I know there are more:

1. Parents need help with daily chores, such as cooking meals. Obviously if you are living miles away, you can’t swing over with a home-cooked meal but you can send them $25 to use to order a pizza or takeout at one of their favorite places. Another way to help with this is that when you visit, bring or make a meal that they can put in their freezer and pull out on some busy night after you are gone.

2. Parents need help with babysitting. Consider utilizing skype, not only to stay connected, but even to give your son or daughter a break in the day. Could you read a book via skype to your young grandchild? Could you play 20 questions over skype or share some jokes or riddles? Maybe even play a version of Pictionary? No, it is not real babysitting. But it might give your adult child a 30 minute break to make dinner or clean the bathroom or even read the mail knowing that her child is being entertained and kept occupied. Not to mention the quality time and memories they are making with their grandparents!

3. Parents need to know you are thinking about them. A great way to do this is to send packages and cards in the mail…frequently! Make sure you send something to your adult children at times and not just the grandchildren. For Valentines’ Day my parents send a package for our kids, but also some money for Jon and I. We look forward to that and can use it for a babysitter and our own date night. We love it!

Your turn…how do we encourage people to invest in the lives of their children and grandchildren even from a distance?

How might we use the momentum of an all-church big event or service to help propel our ministries with older adults forward?

In my example, the church was doing a huge Christmas program called, “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” which was going to feature Big Band music and drama set in the 1940s around the time of World War II. The program was presented 5 times with over 5,000 people attending. I was leading a brand new ministry with active adults and saw this as an opportunity to gather a crowd of people that I would have no chance for reaching otherwise. So, I piggybacked on one of the performances and planned a fun ‘after party’ for all those who were alive in the 1940’s.

I enlisted a team of leaders and we got busy several months before the event planning a party that would be filled with memorabilia, stories, photos, music, door prizes, areas for conversation, and refreshments. The event was a huge success – we sold out of tickets and the room was filled beyond capacity.

Making it Work

1. Older adults were already planning to come to this particular Christmas program with fantastic music and a great message. They were already going to be there for this, whether or not I had an after party or not. So, I had a captive audience.

2. It was clearly communicated on every bit of printed material that there was a special reception following one particular performance.

3. In addition to this clear communication, people were invited ONLY if they were alive in the 1940s. This helped people feel special and wanted and valued. They were being singled out in a good way.

4. I utilized lots of lay-leaders and volunteers who put their energy and creativity into planning the reception.

5. The names and contact information of people who attended was gathered so that I now had a list in which to begin to grow our older adult ministry.

6. We made sure the reception was done with excellence and that it exceeded people’s expectations so that any negative or wrong stereotypes about older adult ministry were dispelled.

Of course, you could do something like this with just about anything – it doesn’t have to be a church-wide Christmas program. For example, does your church already have a strong Sunday school system in place with several boomer-age classes? One church planned a special Sunday where all 5 of the boomer age classes were gathered together (a total of about 200 people) and invited me to be the guest speaker on that particular day. They used this to introduce the idea of a boomer ministry with their ultimate goal being to launch a church-wide boomer ministry.

Have you ever tried piggy-backing on something else at your church to help expose more people to your older adult ministry? What did you do? How did it work? How was it received?