wfn.org | New resource focuses on older adults

[PCUSA NEWS <PCUSA.NEWS@ecunet.org>]

Note #7135 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

19-April-2002
02153

New resource focuses on older adults

ACSWP booklet casts light on burgeoning segment of population

by John Filiatreau

LOUISVILLE - The Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP) has published a Resolution on the Ministry of Caregiving in Relation to Older Adults, calling attention to the increasing number of elderly people in the U.S. population and the growing challenge of ministering to them.

The resolution, developed at the behest of the 1998 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA), was adopted by last year's Assembly.

"Trends related to an aging society and ... opportunities for caregiving are explored" in the document, said Peter A. Sulyok, the ACSWP coordinator. "It explores in a concise way the challenges presented ... by the changing family patterns and contemporary values the church is experiencing in society." 

The large number of post-World War II "baby boomers" and the lengthening of the average life span in the United States demand that churches and communities develop new resources for caring for older people.

Sulyok said the Older Adults resolution is "an urgent call to the church to begin now to actively plan for the realities of the not-so-distant future."

The document - which offers "Biblical and theological resources to assist congregations in reflecting on their caregiving responsibilities" - is intended for broad use throughout the church as a discussion starter and spur to action, Sulyok said.  

The new document, which also speaks of the needs of people with debilitating or terminal illnesses, includes GA-recommended ways for the church to meet its obligations to the elderly "in a way that affirms that they are a vital part of our church family," Sulyok said.

Copies of the Resolution on the Ministry of Caregiving in Relation to Older Adults are available at $3 apiece from the Presbyterian Distribution Center (PDS), by mail at 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, KY 40202-1396, or by phone at (800) 524-2612. Specify PDS order number 68-600-02-001.
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