What does Summer look like for Seniors?
‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: Old men and old women shall sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of great age. And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets’. Zechariah 8: 4- 5 (ESV)
Welcome to our ‘Faith in Later Life’ July newsletter, and thank you for your continued interest and support. As ever, please do invite others to sign up to receive our news, so we can share our mission more widely. Anyone can sign up to this newsletter here.
Holidays at home
As we approach usual holiday season, with churches often providing ‘Holiday at home’ days or weeks for seniors, this August things will look very different, with most churches either still closed, or cautiously emerging. Does your church have any plans? Will you be hoping for warm weather and planning any outside activities- and if so how are you encouraging your seniors to attend? We would love to hear from you, if you have any plans, so we can share them and encourage each other. Debs Fidler, one of our church champions, in the below section has shared some of what she is doing.
For some other thoughts and suggestions do read our Holiday at Home: Ideas for churches blog by clicking here.
Mobile Matinee
“How are you doing Moira?”
“Awful, this is like a horror story.”
“Are there any comparisons to your memories of growing up in World War 2?”
“No – in the war we had a strong sense of community. People came together. This is dreadful! Not seeing family or friends, not able to go out. You wouldn’t wish it on your worst enemy.”
Read more in our latest blog, about how Debs Fidler a Community Worker with Hope Community Church in Mottram, Greater Manchester, is reaching out to older people in her community. Click here to read the blog.
“Zooming” around
Earlier this month I was interviewed in a Zoom workshop hosted by Capital Mass, part of the Church of England London Diocese. I shared reflections on how we can continue to engage with older people (and each other) amidst many feeling fatigued and fearful, and with churches “unlocking” at different rates. You can re-watch the session on our website by clicking here.
On Thursday 23rd July we co-hosted two Zoom seminars with the Salvation Army. We discussed the future of seniors’ lunch clubs. We will be publishing a video of the session on our website in the next few weeks, so keep an eye out for it!
Daily Hope: Impact
It was encouraging to read about Catherine, someone who found comfort in listening to Daily Hope while recovering from Covid19. You can read her story here.
Have you told someone about the ‘Daily Hope’ phone line yet? It is available 24 hours a day and free to all UK landlines and mobiles. The number you need is 0800 804 8044
As Daily Hope passes 190,000 calls comprising 2.3 million minutes, it remains a privilege to be a key partner in this initiative. If you would like some more information about ‘Daily Hope’, or posters to promote ‘Daily Hope’, you can look on our website.
Virtual visits
With the current situation with most churches being closed or only partially open, we are unable to undertake the usual regular visits to churches or Seniors groups that we usually do. But that doesn’t mean we can’t still share with you!
We’d love to know if we could provide your church, small group or gathering with a video call presentation or pre recorded video about our mission and work, and how you can get involved. If you are interested get in touch via our website or at [email protected]
Prayer points
If you are praying for us and our work, we would love to try and inform your prayers a bit more specifically. Below are three prayer points at this time:
- We thank God for all of our Faith in Later Life supporters and pray for rest, for anyone taking time off over August.
- We thank God for Ruth joining the small Faith in Later Life team, and pray for her as she settles in.
- We thank God for church leaders and all their hard work, and pray for wisdom as they try and navigate through reopening, or planning to reopen, their church buildings.
And finally
We continue to receive lots of positive feedback from people who have bought our Faith in Later Life commissioned book, ‘Finishing Well’. Revd Ian Knox and I have been recording various media snippets, which I will share when they become available. In the meantime, don’t forget to order your copy of the book!