Big surprise! Canada is getting older and older and BC is one of the retirement meccas in Canada. I don't think any of us needed a census to tell us that society is getting older and the number of children per family has decreased in the last 20 years. The average woman now lives 82.5 years and man 77.7 years. Add to that the migration of elderly into Canada (particularly out west) where the climate is mild and you can see why our median age is 40.8.
That doesn't sound far off from our church demographics. As a church we complain about how our congregations are aging and children aren't as prominent as they once were. But that's society at large! We say that we have to offer more ministry to seniors because they are more prominent than they once were. That's society as well!
So here's a couple questions I have. How do we do ministry in a culture of recreation and retirement that we have here on the island? With people generally marrying later and having less children (or having them later in life), does the church need to provide for more inclusivity to singles, marrieds without children? (the church is VERY geared around marrieds and places a high value on families and if you ask an adult, single, childless person, they will tell you that the language and activities of the church can be quite exclusive!) Does seniors ministry need to change/improve? How do we provide better opportunities for a mixing of the ages? (not only has our average gotten older as a society but our age range has also greatly increased!)
1 comment:
Good post... A few things come to mind:
-This isn't as much of an issue at St. Andrew's as it is in other churches that I've observed, but we often ask ourselves "where are the 20-somethings? Where are the young adults?" Well what's there for them? I think you're right in saying that churches tend to be geared towards families and not so much around singles. There isn't anything wrong with being geared towards families, but that doesn't mean that we should give the short end of the stick to the young adults... or the seniors... or the youth.
Random fact: There is no young adult ministry in any of the churches in Duncan; zero.
-This is also not an issue at St. Andrew's, but I've seen in other churches that seniors sometimes get the idea that they can "retire" from ministry stuff and serving. "...I've paid my dues..." or "...I don't have much to offer anymore..."
The fact of the matter is, I think seniors get the short end of the stick when we're looking for servants and ministry leaders. Seniors play a vital role in the work of the Kingdom and they're needed in several areas of the church so that ministries can be carried out. Sure, maybe seniors can't help move pianos or lead games at the youth group all-nighter, but they can create a homework club for community kids after school... they can volunteer to drive for youth events... they can play a vital role in organized intercessory prayer for the church... (and I'm just scratching the surface)
-Mentorship. You never hear much about it, but it would be a great way to get people involved and to edify the body. Seniors have something to offer to those younger than them, and the "young'ins" have something to offer the seniors. Yep, we need each other and anyone has something to offer everyone; that's the beauty of the Church!
Just my $0.02.
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