Questions often come to mind as we think about forming ministry to older adults in our congregations… What are their needs? How can we help them? Who will lead and serve them? Perhaps there is an assumption that ministry to this demographic will be a net drain on congregational resources. Do those thoughts, perhaps, mirror the culture we live in? Could a biblical worldview challenge that mindset?
At the NCD Spring Conference I had the opportunity to meet Pastor Jon Van Dine, who serves the Refuge Church in Zimmerman in an interim capacity. Jon recently authored a book, When God Calls “Encore”(1), which I found to be compelling. Jon outlines a trend in Western culture starting post WW2 in which those in the work force were encouraged to plan for retirement years. The Social Security Act had started dispersing payments in 1940. Many corporations carried pension plans encouraging long-term employment. Over time the financial services industry started offering incentives to save and invest toward retirement years. In 1980 this was furthered with the 401(k) tax-deferred retirement savings plan to allow employees a paycheck auto deduction mechanism and freedom to direct their investment strategy.
The American dream became more than owning a home. It was the promise of worry-free post-retirement years filled with leisure and travel. The concept of retirement communities was pioneered with the development of Sun City, Arizona in the 1950’s. Large tracts of homes were built around golf courses, swimming pools and community centers, a model since widely replicated throughout the American sunbelt. In the words of Marc Freedman, “Retirement became the great national repository of delayed gratification, the fun-filled pay-off for all those years of hard work. It was the liberation from labor, graying as playing.” (2)
What does this mean for the church? Does it not represent enormous potential for those in the earlier decades of post-retirement to serve the Body of Christ? What if the church created an alternate vision of purpose filled ministry? What if all the expertise and wisdom gained from 60+ years of life and living were deployed in mentorship/discipleship or outreach to the community or caring for those in need? What if those who had spent their careers scaling up businesses were tasked with scaling up ministries? What if those who had served in lay ministry throughout their working years were challenged to add to their ministry toolbox with theological training? What if some were to join the church staff, even in flexible or part time roles? What if…
As age takes its toll, physical capacities wane, and more care is required from others, our dear saints often feel their purpose is compromised or even over. Not so! Ministry opportunities may take a different form but all in the body of Christ are called to serve. Mentorship, telling their stories as a testimony to the grace of God, sharing the Gospel with those in their circles yet to believe, or laboring in prayer are examples. The Bible has no hint of the concept of retirement, rather “…you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part in it” (1 Cor. 12:27).
The term “encore” has been used most often in the music world as a call for the performer(s) to return for more. Its origins are French and mean “again” or “still”. Jon Van Dine posits that God is calling “encore” to each of us in our later years. He is looking for more. More faithfulness, more service, more exercise of Spirit given gifts. It must involve all of our heart, mind, soul and strength (Lk. 10:27). In Paul’s example we must be willing “to spend and be spent” for the souls of others (2 Cor. 12:15), so that we can say with him “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Tim. 4:7). Finishing well, all and only for the glory of God.
Biblical and missional. United and free. This is the cry of our movement. Let us be faithful in building compelling mission and purpose for those in the fourth quarter of their lives. And let us “prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:12-13).
Jon Addington
Director for Older Adult Ministries
(1) Jon M. Van Dine, When God Calls “Encore”, Soul Care for the most important stage of your life. (Jon M. Van Dine, 2022).
(2) Marc Freedman, Encore: Finding Work that Matter in the Second Half of Life! (New York: Perseus Books Group, 2007), 37.