Loving your neighbour at Christmas

Welcome to this month’s Faith in Later Life newsletter, and may I take this opportunity to wish you a very happy Christmas. We thank God for all He has blessed us with, for your support and interest, and most importantly for your prayers. We hope you enjoy reading this update, and as ever, if there is any content you would like to see in our newsletters that is currently missing (or anything you would rather not see), do get in touch.

Loving your neighbour at Christmas

 

Do you know of anyone alone who is seeking fellowship this Christmas? You can find events and information about what’s going on in your area by visiting the Activity Directory on our website. Many of these events and groups will be doing something at Christmas, so it is worth enquiring. Faith in Later Life is also partnering with Premier’s “Christmas Alone” campaign, which provides a map of activities that churches are holding over Christmas. Links to all of this can be found at https://faithinlaterlife.org/whats-on/christmas/. If you have any queries or need further help, then you can contact us via the website or by calling 02045772694

Signposting services

Following my update last month about the way the Faith in Later Life directory of activities is being used by local authorities and GP surgeries, I am pleased that Chippenham Community Hospital, Bath RUH Hospital and Great Western Hospital in Swindon have all now also asked for promotional material so they can publicise the directory of activities. A key factor in the interest of these major hospitals is that the directory of activities is a national one. Faith in later Life’s profile continues to grow in the Chippenham area, and this is a model we will seek to replicate across the nation in 2019.

With 2300 activities listed in the directory, it continues to grow as more churches share what they are doing with us; if your church has a group or activity which is open to older people in the community, do let us know so we can share it. You can submit your church’s activity here.

Christmas conversations

Our website has a number of Christmas focused resources, and an excellent free one is a leaflet about friendship and loneliness at Christmas. This very helpful practical guide includes tips for conversation, a scriptural overview and links to some other useful resources. You can find this resource here.

Church Champions

Does your church have a Church Champion? If not, would you consider becoming one? A Church Champion would be someone with an interest in older people but doesn’t have to necessarily be leading any ministry in this area in their church- just someone who is interested in this vital area. The idea is that a Church Champion can point to www.faithinlaterlife.org but also be a point of contact for us to send new material and updates to. A Church Champion would also be able to contact us at Faith in Later Life for any extra support/answer to questions that may be raised in their church, and that our website doesn’t provide an immediate answer for.

If you would like any further information do get in touch with me.

Once again, I hope you have a happy and blessed Christmas.

Yours in Christ,

Carl Knightly
Director, Faith in Later Life