wfn.org | Older adult committee calls for churchwide plan

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

March 8, 1999     News media contact: Linda Green*(615)742-5470*Nashville,
Tenn.     10-71B{126}

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) - A United Methodist committee will push for
establishing a churchwide Comprehensive Plan for Older Adult Ministries when
the 2000 General Conference meets next spring.

The Committee on Older Adult Ministries passed a resolution during its Feb.
26-27 meeting encouraging the General Conference, the church's top
law-making body, to establish the plan. The resolution calls for the
denomination to provide resources to individual United Methodists, local
congregations, districts and annual conferences in developing new older
adult ministries for the next four years.

The 24-member committee will send the resolution with a request for $500,000
for the 2001-2004 quadrennium to fund a full-time staff person at the United
Methodist Board of Discipleship for older adult work. The requested money
would also be used for printed visual and electronic materials; grants to
annual conferences for conducting needs surveys; and grants to local
churches and individuals for developing new ministries for older adults in
congregations and in communities.

A plan is needed because the United States currently has 35 million people
who are 65 years of age or older, according to the resolution. By 2030, that
number is expected to double to 70 million, and the world's population will
experience comparable growth in numbers of older adults. "The percentage of
growth in this age group is even greater within the United Methodist
Church," the resolution stated.

Fifty-two percent of people 65 years of age or older live in nine states:
California, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan
and New Jersey, according to a Board of Discipleship brochure advertising a
resource on aging.

The National Committee on Older Adult Ministries was authorized by the 1996
General Conference to promote a plan of comprehensive ministry by, with and
for older people in local churches. The plan includes spiritual growth,
education, training, mission, service and fellowship.

The plan will serve as a foundation for local churches to build their own
older-adult ministries. Its focus will be lay members, including those who
have been active in the life of the church, and retired United Methodist
clergy.

The church's work with older adults is part of the overall mission of making
disciples of Christ, according to Julius Archibald, a committee member and
lay leader for the Troy (N.Y.) Annual Conference. The mission is much
broader because not only must the church follow Jesus Christ's commission,
but must "support and sustain the discipleship of those who have already
become disciples," he said. 

The United Methodist Church has tended to take its "aging members for
granted and to ignore or neglect their special needs," he said. 

Rosalie Lawson, a gerontologist from St. Petersburg, Fla., and consultant to
the committee expanded on Archibald's comments. "Why does retirement hurt so
much?" she asked. Because "you do not know who you are anymore, you are
without a defined purpose or role." 

In a project called "Retired What," Lawson is asking how the church can
discover what people are doing in their third or fourth careers. With life
expectancy increasing by 17.3 years, those who are 65 will live an
additional 20 to 30 years, and they are wondering how they can be faithful
when they are told to go on a cruise, travel or volunteer, she said.

The committee also passed resolutions dealing with critical issues facing
older adults.

One, on "Aging in America", is currently in the Book of Resolutions and is
being revised to call upon all parts of the United Methodist Church --
congregations, annual conferences, boards and agencies -- to not
discriminate on the basis of age in the hiring, deployment and promotion of
older workers, including the appointment of clergy.

The Rev. Richard Gentzler, director of  adult ministry for the United
Methodist Board of Discipleship, said he often hears clergy members say they
face difficulty during the appointment process when they reach age 55 or
older. Congregations often will not consider them and want someone younger,
he said.

They ask, " 'Does God take away the blessing because I've reached 55 or 65?
Am I of no worth?' " he said. "Age should not be an issue in appointments
nor should it play a role in hiring."

Moses was 80 when God told him to lead his people out of bondage in Egypt,
Gentzler said. If the people had said "no thank you" to God and stated a
desire for a younger person to lead them, they might still be in captivity
today, he said.

"Age has nothing to do with one's ability to be in ministry," he said.
"Moses and Abraham were older when God called them, and he used them in
effective and meaningful ways." 

If the United Methodist Church does not take a lead in prohibiting age
discrimination, then businesses and other places should not be expected to
"hold the line" on the issue, he said. 

In another resolution, the committee asked the denomination to "break the
silence" and address the issue of older adult abuse through: education and
awareness; information, counseling and referral services; support systems;
and reporting suspected cases to the proper authorities.

Abuse is of particular concern because the older segment of the population
is expected to double in 30 years, and today, up to 2 million older adults
are "maltreated" annually in the United States. Of that number, the
resolution says that only one in eight of the cases is ever reported. 

In other actions, the committee:
*	discussed developing a book and study guide on older adults in
racial minorities and the gifts they share;
*	discussed developing a book for nursing home use containing hymns,
worship resources and liturgy;
*	heard about a national satellite teleconference on the 1999
International Year on Older Adults, Oct 16, which will focus on a "Society
for All Ages";
*	learned that over half of the denomination's 66 U.S. annual
conferences had endorsed 1999 as the International Year of Older Persons,
following the lead of the United Nations;
*	applauded the United Methodist Board of Discipleship for printing
and mailing more than 32,000 complimentary copies of the 1999 International
Year of Older Persons booklet to pastors; and
*	affirmed committee member Marie White of Garfield, Ariz., for
writing The Power of the Dream: Looking Forward in the Later Years, a book
to be released this fall.

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