Older People and the Church, worship prayer and action!
It is estimated that over 60% of church attenders are over 50 years old and a significant proportion of those are over 60. This proposal is intended to build on the work of Faith in Older People, the Church of Scotland Guild and others to look at how churches might develop their work with such people in terms of worship, prayer and action…seeing older people as a huge resource for the church and people “with whom we can work rather than people we do things “to and for”.
The purpose of the project is to develop an ecumenical consultative group which can identify and make recommendations for action on issues affecting older people.
Project Aims
- Acting as advocates for older people in the churches
- Appreciating the active role that many older people play in our churches
- Evaluating and promoting good resources for those who are involved in Christian education and pastoral care
- Developing support material for ministry to older people ensuring the inclusion of people experiencing dementia and other frailties
- Training for clergy, leaders and pastoral carers
- Learning about issues relating to ageing and older people
- Hearing the voice of older people, particularly in relation to end of life concerns
The current focus is the role of the church in combatting loneliness and isolation and the first meeting was held in May 2017. The outcomes of the discussion are in the conference report: The Role of the Church in Combatting Loneliness and Isolation.
The Scottish Government is currently consulting on a national strategy to combat loneliness and isolation.
The Scottish Parliament Equal Opportunities Committee carried out an inquiry into ‘Age and Social Isolation’.
Voluntary Health Scotland has been very active on this topic and published a briefing paper ‘Loneliness: a threat to Scotland’s health‘.