|
|
 |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Friday, June 20, 2008 |
|
Unity, Relationships, and Connectedness
Church of God Ministries, Church of God - General
|
|
Conferences focus on the later years of life
By Sam Collins
Like all who participate in the 2008 North American Convention of the Church of God, senior adults are being encouraged to “Celebrate Unity.” In order to assist them in considering the ways they can and do connect with others, eleven senior adult conferences have been scheduled for this year’s annual gathering.
It’s estimated that by 2040, 25 percent of the U.S. population will be sixty-five years of age or older As the senior adult population in North America has climbed, the church has become increasingly aware of the underutilized potential of senior men and women. Of course, the ongoing contribution of seniors is hardly a recent phenomenon. George Burns won his first Academy Award at age eighty. Albert Schweitzer, the legendary missionary doctor, was still performing surgery into his late eighties. Grandma Moses produced one-fourth of her fifteen hundred paintings after reaching one hundred.
Significant senior adult contributions are not restricted to a few unusually gifted people who fall somewhere in the septuagenarian to centenarian range. Many seniors are not content to draw pensions and lounge about—not that there’s anything wrong with relaxation after many years of hard work and accomplishment. But growing numbers of senior adults also express a keen desire for active involvement in life and vital life issues.
This year’s conferences provide the opportunity for senior adults to delve into a number of areas that touch on unity, relationships, and connectedness. For example, “United in Love” will feature a panel of senior adult couples who will lead a discussion focused on growing closer as marriage partners.
“Points of Connection: Reaching Across Our Differences” will help senior adults think about how they can continue to grow in their ability to reach out and connect with those who are different from them. An enduring, though largely unfounded, cliché has it that we become more rigid and unaccepting of diversity as we get older. This session will underscore that human beings can become more open as they age and can deepen their capacity to lovingly embrace those who are unlike them in significant ways.
“Being People of Grace and Healing” will address the woundedness and brokenness that can lead to despair, bitterness, and separation from other people. God’s healing grace is available to us at any stage of life—and we can be conduits for sharing that healing grace with others no matter how many birthdays we have celebrated.
Before the convention comes to a close on Wednesday, other senior adult conferences will deal with coping with life’s losses, exploring relevant resources for senior adult ministries in the local church, and drawing on prayer and time alone with God to strengthen our internal spiritual lives and our external connections with others. During a Monday session, those who are involved in ministry to and with senior adults will have an opportunity to dialogue about senior adult ministry trends, concerns, and program ideas.
There also will be sessions to acquaint convention-goers with Upward Bound, an exciting church-based senior adult program geared to ministering to and with seniors in local churches and their surrounding communities. John and Nancy Ferguson, founders of Upward Bound and respected leaders in the Church of God, will facilitate a session that will help participants develop an Upward Bound program in their own church. A Saturday session will give participants the opportunity to experience a portion of the program firsthand.
A version of this article appears in the Preview, June 20, 2008, edition of the NAC roundup/08 newsletter. To view the newsletter in its entirety, click here (2.10 MB). The document is in PDF format and requires Adobe Acrobat in order to read and/or print it. If you do not have Acrobat installed on your computer, you can download a free copy of Acrobat Reader here. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|