Events

Reimagining Care

A Faith in Later Life Event with Bishop James Newcome

Faith in Later Life is delighted to offer an opportunity for you to hear Bishop James Newcome, co-chair of the Archbishops' Reimagining Care Commission, as he shares the findings of their recently published report. During the evening you will have your opportunity to ask questions to Bishop James. This event is open to all those who have a passion for older people inside and outside of the Church.

It will be lead by Stephen Hammersley, Faith in Later Life's chairman and CEO of Pilgrims' Friend Society.

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If you would like to send a question in advance, please email [email protected].

BISHOP JAMES NEWCOME

The Rt Revd James Newcome is the Bishop of Carlisle and the Church of England’s lead bishop for healthcare issues. Since November 2013, he has also been the lead bishop for medical ethics and healthcare issues in the House of Lords. He is also co-chair of the Archbishop's Commission on Reimagining Care.

If you missed Bishop Newcome's talk at our conference last year, we recommend watching this video to catch up on the discussion and insights shared by the Bishop, and we look forward to welcoming you to our upcoming event.

Retiring Well Course in Spain 2023

Have you retired in the last year or are planning to do so this year or next? Are you hoping for a fruitful, enjoyable and fulfilling retirement?

There’s a Retiring Well course at El Palmeral Retreat House near Alicante in Spain from 3 to 7 July 2023 led by Helen Calder, founder of Retiring Well and an associate of Faith in Later Life.

If you’ve retired in the last year or you're planning to retire this year or next, this is for you! Sessions include exploring your calling in retirement, leaving work well, taking a gap, supporting others and yourself, identity, pacing life, more time at home for singles and marrieds, moving home and developing your devotional life.

Sessions will run each morning and late afternoon, with a long gap for lunch and siesta or a trip out. We’ll end the day with drinks and dinner on the terrace.

This is a delightful venue with lovely rooms, delicious food, a refreshing pool, pretty garden, prayer labyrinth, chapel and excellent hosts.

Further information about the Retiring Well course at www.helensheadlines.net/retiring-well-courses

Further information about the venue and to book at www.m.palmgrovecommunity.com/helen-calder

Faith in Later Life Event, Thursday 9th March 2023

Hello,

We would love to invite you along to our upcoming Faith in Later Life Event on Thursday 9th March 2023.

A few years ago, we worked together with David Thompson from the Presbyterian Church of Ireland to produce "All the Days of my Life", a resource based on Psalm 23 for those working with or discipling older people. Come and hear David on why this particular Psalm was chosen, how you can use it in your local contexts, and why focussing on and working through a Psalm like this can bring light to dark places.

Date: Thursday 9th March 2023

Times: 1.30pm or 7.30pm, whichever one suits you best

Online: It will be an online Zoom session. The link will be sent to you once you sign up.

To join: Please sign up through Eventbrite by clicking on one of the following links:

Sign up for our 1:30pm Session

Sign up for our 7:30pm Session

We look forward to having you with us!

Grace and Peace

Church Champions Training, Tuesday 7 February 2023

WORKING WITH CARE HOMES

In our upcoming Church Champions Training session, Stephen Hammersley from Pilgrims' Friend Society and Rebecca Chaplin from Keychange will be speaking to us on how to work with care homes.

For many who have a heart to minister with older people, this will involve working with care homes in your local area. This work has been difficult in recent Covid-hit times. We would love to invite you along to our upcoming Church Champions Training session so that you can be inspired and encouraged in this vital work and envisioned to do so with faith that God will work through you as you do. Care Homes are full of people who need assistance, company, and a listening ear, but most importantly, they need Jesus. Whether you have been into care homes for fifty years, or you're looking to do so for the first time, we hope that this session will be a fresh inspiration to you.

We will be running a 1pm session and a 7.30pm session. If you would like to sign up, please email [email protected] stating which session you'd like to attend.

To sign up as a Church Champion and receive details of regular free events like this, just fill in the form at the bottom of this page (ticking the 'church champion' box) or contact us.

Faith in the Second Half Annual Conference 2023

The Church; for me, you and everyone

Keswick Ministries and Faith in Later Life are partnering together again in 2023 to bring you a conference about faith in the second half of life.

Focusing on what it means to be church, we will have a range of talks and seminars that will help you. God's design is that the church is open to all, but often we forget that. This conference will give practical tips to enable you to get started or how to continue on that journey.

Taking part in the beautiful Keswick countryside, leading thinkers, speakers and practitioners will bring teaching and insight into a variety of aspects of later life from death and dementia to creating opportunities for older and young people to come together.

This conference is for you; whether you are firmly in later life, have retired recently, or are reflecting on what life looks like now your children have left home.

Our passion is to inspire, equip and empower those in the second half of life to live for Christ.

To book to join us in Keswick, please visit: https://keswickministries.org/event/fish-2023/

Keynote Speaker
John Risbridger

John is a trustee of the UK Evangelical Alliance which he serves as Chair of Council and has a long association with the Keswick Convention. Until recently John served as Minister and Team Leader at Above Bar Church in Southampton. John became a Christian at a young age before going to Nottingham University. He then worked in NHS management before spending 10 years on the staff of UCCF. Bible teaching and whole life mission lie at the heart of John’s work, alongside a long-term interest in the theology and practice of worship. He is married to Alison who works closely with him in ministry and teaches English to adult speakers of other languages. They have two young adult daughters. In his spare time John loves running, walking, and cooking food to share with friends.

Church Champions Training, Thursday 10 March 2022

In our upcoming Church Champions Training session, Mandy Smith from Pilgrims' Friend Society will be speaking to us on how to connect churches and care homes.

We will be running a 10.00am session and 1.30pm session. If you are already a Church Champion and would like to sign up, please email [email protected].

To sign up as a Church Champion and receive details of regular free events like this, just fill in the form at the bottom of this page (ticking the 'church champion' box) or contact us.

Faith in Later Life at Spring Harvest Harrogate!

Spring Harvest Restore Renew Rebuild We are thrilled that there will now be a whole Faith in Later Life stream throughout Spring Harvest Harrogate, 9th - 13th April 2022, as part of their theme of 'Restore, Renew, Rebuild'!

The stream will include talks from speakers like Professor Keith Brown and Debs Fidler from Silver Cord, training sessions and a chance to meet and pray with other like-minded people. There will also be an opportunity to meet some wonderful Christian organisations working with older people in the church and community.

There are early bird priority discounted tickets just for Faith in Later Church Champions. If you're not already signed up as a Church Champion, you can do this for free by using the form at the bottom of this page, remembering to tick the box. You can find out more about Spring Harvest Harrogate and book tickets here.

Church Champions Training, Tuesday 7th December 2021

At the next of our popular monthly training seminars for Church Champions for later life, Pippa Cramer from Connexions Holy Trinity Claygate, author of 'Hymns We Love', recipient of an award from Lambeth Palace for her services to evangelism and Faith in Later Life ambassador, will share on moving from a solo ministry to a team ministry. We know that ministry with older people can be isolating. Pippa will inspire us on how to draw in others and help them catch our vision. We will also have an opportunity to share ideas and ask questions about how to make the most of Christmas, and ensure that older people are not forgotten. It will be a great place to come away inspired for the festive month ahead.

To sign up as a Church Champion and receive details of regular free events like this just fill in the form at the bottom of this page (ticking the 'church champion' box) or contact us.

Keswick - Faith in the Second Half, May 2022

For the third year we will be partnering with Keswick to deliver two days of training on 'Faith in the Second Half' with keynote speaker John Wyatt, and streams on Retiring Well and the Fourth Age.

Whether you are firmly in later life, have retired recently, or are reflecting on what life looks like now your children have left home, this stream of seminars aims to provide teaching and insight into a variety of aspects of later life. You may be someone who wants some practical ideas about how to engage older people in your community, or how to care for an elderly family member or friend, or someone with dementia. Or you may be reflecting on how to best prepare for later life and wonder what the Bible has to say about older age.

We want to inspire, equip and empower those in the second half of life to live for Christ.

This will take place in May 10-12 2022 in Keswick.

You can find out more, and book a ticket here.

Church Champions Training, Thursday 11th November 2021

At the next of our popular monthly training seminars for Church Champions for later life, we will be joined by Tina English, the founder of Embracing Age, and author of the recently published 'A Great Place to Grow Old'.

To sign up as a Church Champion and receive details of regular free events like this just fill in the form at the bottom of this page (ticking the 'church champion' box) or contact us.

Faith in Later Life Church Champions Conference, 18th September 2021

To book your place, email us at [email protected]

Faith in Later Life Parliamentary Reception 2020

On 13th February we held a special parliamentary reception, to celebrate our gaining Charity Status, to reflect on the journey so far, and to share our plans for the future. We were delighted that Jim Shannon MP sponsored the event, and are grateful for his support.

In his presentation in Parliament, Carl Knightly, CEO of Faith in Later Life, urged Christians to be at the heart of changing the societal narrative around older people. Knightly said that Faith in Later Life is about 'rallying the UK church' to not see older people, particularly outside the church, as an optional extra, but at the heart of it's mission- and to recognise the rich benefits and wisdom brought by older church members.

Jim Shannon MP spoke about the almost 12 million older people (aged 65+) in the UK, which equates to 18% of the population. He said, "We know that many churches across the UK have a larger proportion of older people. So the church is ageing, but this doesn’t have to be seen negatively, and opportunities for older Christians to play a key part in their church are significant- as churches reach out to older people everywhere."

Since 2017, Faith in Later Life has become a leading voice for the church in matters relating to older age, with over 1.5 million hearing about its work in the media, learning of its library of resources as well as its Activities Directory, which lists around 2,500 church led activities across the UK, all focused on those in later life.

Moving forward for Faith in Later Life, 2020 sees the launch of a new book entitled 'Finishing Well' published by SPCK, a conference entitled ‘Faith in the Second Half’ in partnership with Keswick Ministries in May, and working with Neighbourhood Prayer Network on ‘Neighbour Sunday’, taking place on Sunday 12th October 2020.

Speaking after the Parliamentary Reception, Carl Knightly, CEO of Faith in Later Life said:

"Being in Parliament to celebrate how Faith in Later Life has grown since it's foundation in 2017 was humbling and encouraging; as we brought together old and new friends together in a room to see how we can continue to provide encouragement, support and challenge, to churches and Christians across the nation and beyond.
Having recently been awarded charitable status, we now have a springboard to develop our work even further, which we hope will galvanise our activity and impact.

Our passion is for the local church to be at the heart of societal change, and for older Christians to know their Kingdom value. We dare to believe that if the Church can lead the charge by fully recognising the value of older people, and by empowering older Christians, we could see the nation change!"

To watch an interview with Carl Knightly immediately before the event, broadcast live on CBN news, click here.

Pilgrims' Friend Society 2019 annual conference

This conference, focusing on building firm foundations, featured a keynote address from Professor John Wyatt, speaking about 'Finishing Well'. There were also excellent sessions led by Dr Jennifer Bute, Revd Roger Hitchings, Louise Morse and Debs Fidler.

For more information and/or to watch recordings of the talks, please click below:

https://www.pilgrimsfriend.org.uk/Pages/Category/annual-conference-2019

Pilgrims’ Friend Society held their annual conference in May 2018. Below are videos of talks from a number of the speakers:

Much more can be done in Dementia

(Dr Jennifer Bute)

Joy and peace in tough places