RE: Mission by the aged

[Tom Stuart]

I’ve decided to have a conversation with myself.   Tom, did you know that when you do a search on Google with the search string as “Ministry by the Aged” you don’t get one single hit!   Ah, there is only such thing as ministry “to” the aged.   But I found the title of a book: Claiming a frontier : ministry and older people  By: Robert W McClellan   So is ministry by older people a frontier?!   Not bad that it is still a frontier when the Uniting Church has one of the oldest memberships of all denominations.  It would seem more probable that this is something we would have down pat.   Actually the Catholics have done some work here: http://www.ewtn.com/library/CURIA/PCLOLDER.HTM The Pontifical Council of the Laity in fact … on the subject of: The Dignity of Older People and their Mission in the Church and in the World   I will stop talking to myself now and have a read.  And maybe Stephen Webb will remind me of which Insights magazine had this as its subject (I liked the one on healing Stephen!).   (It’s so embarrassing when you talk to yourself Tom … everybody not only sees how ignorant you are but how mad you are as well! Perhaps you should get back to the subject of homosexuality … far bigger issue in the church than age you know).   Tom   From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Tom Stuart Sent: Monday, 9 August 2004 12:21 PM To: 'insights-l' Subject: Mission by the aged   Hi everyone,   We have a worship group in Parkes that nearly 10 years ago had a section of it split off creating what is (probably not accurately) described as the “contemporary worship group.”   One unfortunate thing that happened was the original group became described in terms of how it is different to the break away group and was called the “Traditional Group”.  I say unfortunate because I see that over the years this, and perhaps the other group, has had a role forced on it in terms of how it is different to the other rather than whatever it might be that God wanted the group to become.   That is a small portion of the history.   So now what we have is a so-called “Traditional Group” that is near the point of imploding … they have simply got to that age.  While their bodies are frail they have wonderful hearts.  They probably do the typical things that people of their vintage do.  They cater, they have fellowship meetings, they have a craft group. Now, all of these things are very positive but the ethos is one of inevitability of decline and a sort of blaming, or hoping, depending who I talk to, toward the group that separated itself.   What I want to see happen is that this so-called traditional group can discover what it is to be a people of God at their age – with their confidence in themselves as they walk in the path God has dreamed for them.  Of course the last thing they need is a call to more work.  What needs to happen is for them to take advantage of their age as an asset for introducing the kingdom into their own lives and the lives around them.   Now I think this has to be an ENORMOUSLY complex thing and would take considerable energy to break through the perceptual stereo-typical boundaries we have asserted onto such groups.  It would take a strong will and plenty of time to work out the new thing God is doing in this context. I can see the potential for drawing on all their wisdom and faith, and some how celebrating that in a way that affirms their mutual encouragement and in a sense communicates that grace and faith filled joy beyond their own grouping into the wider world.   Is any one else intentionally working on this in their congregations, or are there any authors on the subject who may even be able to show some places that have had some wins in this regard.   The truth is that I preached to this group last Sunday and stirred them up a bit and I’m hoping to catch some of their anger at me into positive energy of walking a path of exploration as to how they can sense they are “walking humbly with their God” at this significant point in their journey of faith and life.   Tom   [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.milman.uniting.com.au Ph: 6862 5502  Mobile: 0427 625 502 14 Bushman St Parkes NSW 2870   'Comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable'. I prefer to die living than to live dying! "War is a poor chisel with which to carve out the future." - Martin Luther King, Jr "There is one rule for the industrialist and that is: Make the best quality of goods possible at the lowest cost possible, paying the highest wages possible."  Henry Ford   __________ NOD32 1.835 (20040806) Information __________ This message was checked by NOD32 antivirus system. http://www.nod32.com