Churches are being urged to take seriously the contributions of older members – or run the risk of facing a ‘silver uprising’ of discontent from seniors in their congregations.
The warning comes as the United Nations marks Thursday October 1 as the International Day of Older Persons, dedicated to recognising the role of older people across the world. In the UK, the US and other western countries, populations are ageing, with many more people reaching retirement age and beyond.
Now Chris Spicer, a UK-based preacher and teacher with more than 50 years of experience working with Christian communities and learning centres throughout Europe and North America, has written of the dangers of churches not making use of older people in their congregations.
In ‘Living Life in the Last Lane,’ Spicer warns, “As long as church leaders equate age with ability, they run the risk of fuelling a silver riot. To lead with a declinist view of age and the ageing process is to risk a popular uprising of revolutionary retirees.
“Not that an army of placard-waving grey-haired protestors is about to picket church buildings. But rather than suffer in silence, maybe it’s time for those old warhorses tired of being hitched to an ageist agenda to respectfully air their grievances and speak out against those entrenched ideologies and their unfulfilled aspirations regarding life in the last lane.”
As an example of ageism, Spicer – who has lived in Portland, Oregon and Peoria, Illinois – explains, “When middle-aged worship leaders are ‘encouraged’ to step aside so as to be replaced by their young counterparts for no other reason than to look ‘relevant’ and ‘cool,’ then the future is flawed. When being cool overtakes being Christlike, Christianity has stepped onto a downward spiral of no possibility.”
Chris Spicer’s warning comes as UK organisations like Faith in Later Life and the Anna Chaplaincy have focussed attention on the important role that older people can play, both in supporting churches and in tailoring outreach to seniors.
In many churches, declining congregations have meant older people have had to continue in their roles, or take on new responsibilities, without younger people to replace them. But larger, growing congregations can pose risks of older members being sidelined.
Spicer encourages older Christians to continue to be engaged in supporting church leaders and being willing, as appropriate, to take on mentoring or encouraging roles. He advises, “Even when becoming understudies to those who have taken on those roles and responsibilities we once occupied, super seniors stand ready to cheer their proteges on.
“But, if necessary, they should be ready to lovingly prompt them when they stumble over their words. For as seniors move on to new spheres of active service, the success of others becomes their success.”
Spicer believes that “living life in the last lane proposes a very different vision for an age traditionally associated with withdrawal and even passivity”. He calls for older Christians to embrace a vision of what God may be leading them into in later years – and for Christian leaders to welcome the gifts of experience that the seniors can bring to churches.
He admits, “To make the necessary comeback, third agers will need to: lose the air of superiority; learn the dynamics of second-chair leadership; listen to those younger and less experienced individuals now in positions of authority; lead from a place of security and daily draw on the oxygen of God’s amazing grace.”
Spicer’s book raises uncomfortable questions, both for older Christians seeking a quiet life in their later years, and for Christian leaders overlooking the talents and abilities of third agers.
In a set of tough challenges, church leaders are asked to respond to questions such as:
Do those on your platform or in the pulpit reflect an inter-generational community? How age-relative is your welcoming team? Does your diversity, equality and inclusion policy address ageism? And, do you infantile your conversation when speaking to the elderly?
Spicer explains, “Whether it’s within the family, church or society at large, many third agers struggle to fit in. Feeling like an uninvited guest at a public event has become something of an occupational hazard for the elderly. Ignored, isolated and invisible, many seniors are increasingly being made to feel unwanted and uncared for.
“If church congregations become so youth-centric that other age groups are made to feel unwelcome or unwanted, the body of Christ can no longer be said to truly represent the heart of a loving heavenly Father. Just as racism is an affront to the gospel, so is ageism.”
Rev Peter Crumpler is a Church of England minister in St Albans, Herts, UK and a former communications director with the CofE.