Wisdom is a Verb:
Supporting older adults, deepening their spiritual lives and creating communities to encourage and support them

Wisdom Conversations: opportunities for learning and sharing experiences of ministry with older adults

Wisdom Conversations 2023: The Power in Ministries for Older Adults

Tuesday, May 30, 2023

3:00 – 4:00 EST

Zoom Meeting

Faculty

  • Jan Aerie, MS; gerontologist and family counselor; Consultant in Ministries with Older Adults
  • Elizabeth B. Boyd, PhD; Director of Congregational Resources, Seabury Resources for Aging
  • Greg Smith, MDiv, DMin; Chaplain, King’sBridge Retirement Community; retired Pastor, Scott Boulevard Baptist Church
  • Beth Truett, MDiv, BS; President, Aging with Grace, Inc.


The Power in Ministries for Older Adults

When churches focus on reaching young families, older adults can believe they don’t matter and their service is now relegated to simply watching and waiting for the inevitable. Their opinions are rarely sought; their stories are seldom heard.

Vital churches understand the importance of offering options to elders to deepen faith, spirituality, and wholeness as well as opportunities to serve and lead.

The number of people in later life is growing faster than any other demographic, offering faith communities a rich resource of wisdom, lived experiences, and faith stories.

Pastors, educators, volunteers, and all who work with and among older adults are invited to attend this Zoom Meet where Rev. Beth Long-Higgins, executive director, Ruth Frost Parker Center for the Abundant Aging, will be in conversation with a panel of church leaders who will reflect on their experiences in creating and growing ministries with elders. You’ll learn strategies for building community, integrating older adult ministries with other church ministries, as well as developing leadership and service opportunities.

 

Wisdom Conversations 2023

Objectives:

  • Build connections with others who are engaged and interested in older adult ministries.
  • Share from a variety of contexts for older adult ministries to stimulate creative thinking and connections.
  • Offer resources and key concepts for participants’ ministry contexts.

Wisdom Conversations draw on the work of Mary Catherine Bateson (Composing a Further Life, 2011) who suggests wisdom is the accumulation of information and/or experiences that are ripened through continuing reflection over time during which we draw connections, find similarities and underlying patterns.

Wisdom is a process—a verb not a noun.

So how do we encourage individuals to engage in this process of ripening and deepening our relationships with the divine? What are the experiences of others who are called to work with older adults in ministry? And what is the role of community in this sacred wisdom growing work?

Registration


Wisdom Conversations is a program of The Ruth Frost Parker Center for Abundant Aging and a donor-funded program of United Church Homes—a registered, Ohio nonprofit organization. All donations are tax deductible to the fullest extent allowed by the law.