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Activating Older Adult Ministries!
On Thursday October 15th Community Ministries held a workshop on Activating Older Adult Ministries. Here are some of the success stories that were shared, hoping to ignite similar ministries throughout the district.
With all the state funding cutbacks nursing homes are more short-staffed than ever and many older adults feel cut off from the world. Churches in both the Capitol Area North and South Districts are seeking a variety of ways of reaching out. Hopewell UMC in Pickaway County has developed a Vacation Bible School for older adults, which they are taking into the various nursing homes in their county. So far this VBS ministry lasts two mornings at each site, but it is so popular that there have been requests from an activity director at the nursing home for them to come for the whole week! They have a wonderful curriculum developed around a theme with crafts, hymn singing and other activities. More than anything, people seem to appreciate the hugs and companionship. Taye Moody, who has developed this curriculum, would be happy to share it with other interested congregations . Contact Taye at taye_nadine@hotmail.com. This ministry is her passion!
Marie Dilley, Director of the ADENA Adult Daycare Program at New Albany UMC, shared the story of "Clair" and what a difference companionship and the simple act of singing hymns has made in her life. Marie states, "She is fairly stable physically but cognitively her loss is profound. Mostly she paces up and down the hall, mumbling unintelligible, jumbled words. Imagine our delight and tear-filled eyes when she joins our volunteer pianist, and others for our hymn sing and she is able to sing the actual words and tune! What a joy for us all! The sing-a-long program has attracted many volunteers from both the church and the community." To volunteer with ADENA call Marie at 614-939-0350.
Recently I got a call from Mary at First UMC in Newark saying they would like to find a way to match older adults, who may feel isolated in their homes or in nursing homes, with churches or agencies needing volunteers. It could be helping with a newsletter mailing or other tasks. It can make such a difference when persons feel they have something to contribute, no matter what their age. This kind of older adult volunteer matching that First UMC is exploring is something that could be put into practice in any church. So often older adult ministry involves little more than a smile, a hug and a compassionate heart. Both the Old and New Testaments call us to reach out to "widows in their distress." (James 1:27)
In the midst of all the cutbacks, how are you reaching out? For more information, call Community Ministries at the district office at 877-228-0521.
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Seven Principles of Servant Leadership
The topic of our last Community Ministry Workshop on Oct 15th was about how to activate more persons into outreach ministry. Chris Sunami, Director of Youth Ministries at Church for All People, shared these seven principles of servant leadership:
1) Constantly Look For Leadership Opportunities:
Every project can provide a leadership opportunity for someone, and every person can be a leader in some capacity, even if it is a small one.
2) Know Your People:
You need to match the leadership opportunity to each person's strengths, weaknesses, interests and challenges.
3) Set People Up For Success, Not Failure
The opportunity should challenge the person, but not defeat them. Make sure the person has the resources, support, mentoring, training and guidance he or she needs to succeed.
4) Say "Yes"
Don't stand in people's way. Try to say yes to people's ideas as often as possible, even if they are different than yours. But also be willing to make sure they are considering everything they need to --saying "yes, but..." can be a way to help them succeed.
5) Stay Committed
Remember that delegating leadership tasks is almost always harder than doing it yourself, especially at first. Developing leaders is a long term task and takes sustained effort and commitment.
6) Work Yourself Out of a Job
Don't let people depend too much on you, and don't be afraid to be increasingly absent or hands-off as time goes by. Train others to do what you do, and then let them do it.
Most importantly - 7) Keep the "Servant" in "Servant Leader"
-Put God first, and give God the credit. Lead by example by always praising those who have helped work on your project, but never promoting your own contributions or "blowing your own horn". Quickly and firmly deal with any abuses of power by your assistants --no matter how minor they might seem. |
