Press Report of the Launch

Commenting on the launch of Faith in Later Life two weeks ago, the Church Times reported:

“New resources to help churches reach out to Britain’s ageing population and “release the potential” of society’s increasing number of elderly have been launched this week.

Five charities have joined together to create a website, Faith in Later Life, which provides resources to help churches connect with older people, and provide a theology of old age.

Alan Hare, from the Faith in Later Life partnership, said: “God’s view and society’s view of old age, are very different… We want to help churches to reach out to older people, and help older people themselves see that they are the solution, not a problem; that they can live a more fulfilled life”.”

A comment from one of the sponsor charities

The Chief Executive of Pilgrims’ Friend Society, Stephen Hammersley, who instigated the initial discussions which led to the launch of Faith in Later Life, writes:

“Our inspiration for getting involved in Faith in Later Life has been:

  • the hundreds of people we meet in and around our care homes who are living life in all its fullness, and
  • the thousands we meet in our conference work who are struggling to understand God’s purposes in older age.

We now have the biggest and most diverse generation of older people in history, and the challenge is

  • how can the potential of Christians in the first group, the active contributors, be realised?
  • how can they be encouraged and equipped to spread the gospel to others including older people living in the community who are lonely, isolated and worried?

These are crucial questions for the church, and we pray that Faith in Later Life might be part of the answer.”

Resource Hub

The featured Resource this week is neither new nor Christian, but is particularly relevant as we approach “National Befriending Week” (1-7 November). The Age UK Befriending Service website was last updated in August this year and contains stories from Age UK’s befriending work which might give helpful hints and inspiration for others wanting to start similar schemes. You can find it on the Faith in Later Life website here which will link you to the website where you can listen to Len, Joseph, Barbara and Christine tell how a scheme of regular ‘befriending’ visits has changed their lives.

Jesus’ words “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” ring as true today as they did 2,000 years ago and motivate Christian organisations, such as Linking Lives, to run similar schemes across the country with a gospel focussed heart.

Faith in Later Life looks forward to hearing from those running such schemes (see Directory below).

Directory

Befriending schemes, also known as “Good Neighbours” or other similar names, are just one kind of Christian “Faith in Action” which will feature on the Directory which is due to be launched in January. Please do encourage other churches and friends to go to the website and help to inspire others by registering the things they are doing for older folk. You can share recommended initiatives via the form at the bottom of this page: https://faithinlaterlife.org/inspire/directory/.