STATEWIDE – Senior seniors. This is the third in a series of center spreads on early Louisiana leaders and the church members who “put their shoulders to the plow” for most of the 20th century, to help build God’s kingdom in this state and around the world.
STATEWIDE – Senior seniors. This is the third in a series of center spreads on early Louisiana leaders and the church members who “put their shoulders to the plow” for most of the 20th century, to help build God’s kingdom in this state and around the world.
We could go on for several issues more, and still not do an adequate job of reporting on our Senior Seniors – who they are; what they’ve done; what they continue to do – but we’re out of space.
In this third and final center spread, the Message talked with several senior adult leaders and with the Louisiana Baptist Convention evangelism/church growth team to see the needs today of the senior seniors who have served God so faithfully for so many years, and for those who never have served God at all.
Their needs: to be loved, valued, needed. Their circumstances: Decreasing contact with people; fixed income; things they’ve never dealt with before – government paperwork for all; auto repairs for women who outlive their husband and still drive.
“Their number one need is contact with people, somebody just to call them and say hi and check on them,” said Mike Headrick, pastor of First Baptist Ball. Headrick and other members of the church are involved in ministry to seniors imprisoned in their own homes by age or infirmity.
“I find a lot of them have to struggle to find ways to doctors,” Headrick said. … “In so many cases they don’t have enough money to buy both medicine and groceries. They go without food or without either one. Nobody sees after them and they just do without.”
Brian Wells, minister of education and senior adults at First Baptist Jennings, said seniors who have been in church want to continue the relationship.
“What I’m observing is they have a need of belongingness,” he said. “We try to keep them attached so they still feel significant.” More active seniors weekly take bulletins and other church publications to homebound members, he explained. “We all long to feel special and needed, and this is how we strive to meet the needs of those who aren’t as mobile today as they were a few years ago.”
More active seniors, Wells said, have a need for “fellowship and activity with one another.” First Jennings provides a monthly luncheon for seniors to help meet that need.
In Shreveport, Murry Hodge is associate pastor for pastoral care and mature adult ministry at Summer Grove Baptist.
“By and large, when I think of seniors, they need to know they’re loved, that there’s somebody looking after them,” Hodge said. “They need to know they can come and someone will listen to them and they’ll not be taken advantage of.”
Seniors at Summer Grove are called Forerunners because they’ve run ahead of the pack and learned a thing or two along the way, Hodge said.
“They have learned God’s word is true, his promises are true. They can trust him even when their families are not around,” Hodge said. “They’re teaching me and my wife how to live, and how to finish well. … The main thing a local church can do is recognize the heritage they have in them.”
Another way the church can minister is by providing travel opportunities seniors otherwise would not have, he added. When seniors take their nonchurched friends, the adventure can become an evangelistic opportunity. The Forerunners recently returned from a Hawaii cruise, and they’re going to Branson, Mo., in December.
“The main thing is that people need to know they’re loved,” Hodge said. “They don’t just exist. They don’t just fill space.”
Fair Park Baptist West Monroe has a Senior Adult Communication System in which seniors call one another every day, and a schedule by which deacons and Sunday school classes check on seniors at least once a week, said Herb Peterson, minister to senior adults.
“Basically I think they need somebody to talk to every day,” Peterson said. “If they’re sick or going into the hospital, at least someone knows about it. … I have several call me and say they have no way to get to the grocery store, or to the doctor.”
Fair Park periodically does a survey of people living in its community.
“If they’re not going to a church, we feel a responsibility to take care of their needs, whatever they might be,” Peterson said. “The idea is to find those not going anywhere and possibly not be a believer. Our prayer as we minister to them is that they would see Jesus in us and be drawn to Him.”
The LBC evangelism team suggested several ways to evangelize seniors, such as a health fair that would provide blood pressure checks and monitor other vital signs.
“In the same way that you have a block party for kids, you could have a health fair for seniors,” said Wayne Jenkins, director of the evangelism/church growth team.
Or bring in a medical professional to take blood pressure before Sunday school, since many seniors arrive 15 to 30 minutes early in order to visit with class members. Another health-related idea: Provide a weekly stretching or exercise class for seniors in a church gym or fellowship hall.
What about helping seniors fill out paperwork such as for Medicare or Social Security, or do their taxes for them?
“Find the needs and the interests of senior adults in your community, and match that with the giftedness and interest of the church,” Jenkins said. “One of their biggest subjects of conversation revolves around staying healthy. … Women tend to live longer than men. What about having some people at the church once a month or once a quarter, do auto checks for them? Sometimes they’re afraid to take their cars in for fear someone will take advantage of them.”
Sean Keith, church growth strategist, suggested partnering Sunday school classes, so the younger could assist the older with lawn care, painting, minor repairs, and the older could assist the younger because of their years of wisdom.
“It’s mutual ministry,” Keith said. “Think of a young mother, with her mother several states away. The wise counsel of an older woman could be very helpful, and rewarding for both.”