Listening to the Current Reality
The most notable aspect of Global Ageing is that it is a universal human experience. All of us are on that journey, and it ends, for all of us, with our mortality. However, ageing in this era differs from any other point in human history. Lifespans are increasing across the globe. At the same time, technology, economics, culture, and society are accelerating towards an unknown future.
As we race forward, the generation gap in lifestyles, values, and social norms gets ever wider. It also results in vast differences between the old and the young regarding financial outlook and, even more significantly, birth rates. People are living longer and longer while having fewer and fewer children. Diseases that afflict older bodies and minds are becoming worldwide issues. We are culturally obsessed with youthfulness, but power and wealth are increasingly concentrated in the hands of older generations. This, in turn, fuels resentment and ageism. Digital advancements make us more connected than ever, but isolation and loneliness are reaching epidemic proportions. The factors contributing to all of these are many-layered and complex, but what is clear is that global ageing is an onrushing tsunami, the impact of which everyone will feel. Unsurprisingly, most nations’ governments are woefully ill-equipped to ready their constituencies for what is coming. Most public policy focuses on the economic consequences of global ageing, but we also see the needles of culture and bioethics moving with chilling implications.
More concerning is the lack of preparedness in our churches for the current and looming challenges. For starters, there is the issue of awareness. Most Christians—like everyone else—remain ignorant of the trends and long-term implications of global ageing. Most congregations tend to be well-populated by the senior generation. Still, those who encounter the difficult realities of getting old are usually relegated to well-intentioned prayer notices in the announcements. The Church and many parachurch organisations have instead focused on the young. The sad irony is that despite the immensity of resources poured into youth and children’s ministries, young people are turning away from Christianity in unprecedented numbers. Nuclear families become the target of congregations eager for numerical growth, and they bank their future on attracting them, even as social and economic realities make such families less and less common. Those who do not fit this traditional mould are too often left feeling unwanted.
Church leaders are ill-prepared and untrained to work fruitfully with older adults. Better training and resources must be developed, especially as these issues will only increase. There is a pronounced need for biblical teaching on ageing, death and dying, resurrection hope, and relating to and equipping the senior generation.
Despite these challenges, there are encouraging developments. Networks that minister into this space mostly fly under the radar and are necessarily local. Working with seniors does not give you a high profile or a global platform. Entering such ministry generally requires you to serve not before large crowds, but amongst ones and twos. But these networks exist and are quietly spreading.
The area of most significant potential is revealed in the hunger for connection that people of all generations experience. Multigenerational ministries and intergenerational mentoring are more than niche opportunities; they are essential to demonstrating the gospel’s reconciling power to a divided, hurting world. No entity on Earth is more well-equipped than the Church to make a difference. But she must step up and own this issue before any real impact can be felt.
Imagining a Preferred Reality
Ageing is truly universal. Its many effects will never cease to shape us—at least not until death is finally defeated. But if the body of Christ can step up, there is genuine potential to see breakthroughs in these domains:
- Informing and advocating with effectiveness on issues related to global ageing
- Evangelizing the senior generation—the fastest-growing population segment in the world
- Making disciples who faithfully follow Jesus in intergenerational Kingdom communities—from their first until their last day
- Mobilizing the untapped mission force of the older adults
- Partnering across all spheres of society to provide holistic care, dignity, and purpose as people age
What would this look like? How would it happen?
- First, there would be a shift in how we think about ageing. People’s worth would not be calculated based on their productivity or economic potential. The sanctity of life would be recognized, especially at the beginning and end of life. Ageing and the aged would be destigmatized. The Church would be able to dispense with unbiblical mindsets and cultivate biblical, holistic ways of understanding and engaging with this issue.
This would include the development of robust theologies of ageing, disease, disability, suffering, and death. How younger generations relate to older ones would be informed and shaped by Scripture. Christians would be equipped to face the ageing process and the end of life with hope and expectation, celebrating lives well-lived amidst confidence that death is not the end. - Second, there would be a transformation in how the Church ministers into the sphere of ageing. Churches would be spaces where every generation feels a sense of welcome and belonging, giving according to their areas of strength and receiving according to their areas of need. Churches would inculcate a culture of reciprocal care. Congregations would become communities of integrated elder care, mutual encouragement, intentional mentoring, and multigenerational ministry. This will bring shalom to Christians of all ages and will offer a compelling witness to society.
Churches will also commit as proportionate a level of resources and energy to senior ministry as that devoted to youth and children. Leadership would become informed, equipped, and motivated to lead well into the ageing space. Older adults would be released into their full potential, not living out their final decades as bystanders but as experienced, wise, respected ministers of the gospel. Retirement would not be extended holidays but new opportunities for fruitfulness. - Third, the Church’s engagement with government, health care entities, medical research and technology, and the marketplace will yield policy changes that improve the quality of life for mature adults and encourage a more sustainable and humane approach to ageing.
Churches would partner effectively with communities to eradicate the loneliness epidemic plaguing seniors. The younger generation will be mobilized to enter the burgeoning care profession as marketplace missionaries, providing both meaningful employment for millions and the opportunity for Kingdom impact amongst seniors. - Finally, all of this would be accelerated by forming networks and platforms for collaboration at the local, regional, and global levels. This includes, but is not limited to, the Lausanne Movement.
Creating a Way to Close the Gap
The first and necessary step toward solutions is generating awareness. People are mostly unaware of the scale and implications of global ageing, even in their own contexts. More research needs to be done, which needs a higher profile and more distribution and traction. Along with awareness comes advocacy. Government policy, prevalent values, church practices, leadership formation, etc, are much more likely to shift when an army of advocates is working for change. Inevitably, this requires creating and pooling financial, human, and informational resources.
In churches, this must begin with engagement. The effort to change mindsets, break down prejudice between generations, and pioneer collaboration is daunting but essential. Changes in church practice will follow changes in understanding. Therefore, new theological frameworks must be developed.
New perspectives on biblical family, community, and corporate discipleship must be articulated. Church life must include mutually edifying connections between different generations. When such shifts are made, we will see every older person in the church enjoying a sense of belonging and the opportunity to be fruitful to the fullest until the end of life.
Potential collaborative partners are countless. They include:
- Existing entities that provide care for seniors – hospitals, care homes, retirement communities, hospices, homeless shelters, soup kitchens, and much more
- Government departments, social service providers, and charities focused on this sector
- Domain experts and specialists, especially in the research sphere
- Marketplace/business entities
- Theological training institutions
- Groups of churches together
- Mission organizations and mobilizers
- Believers already active in local networks
There are several cross-cutting themes across the Issue Networks within the Lausanne Movement. Lausanne Regions provide contextually appropriate connections since the impact of global ageing is felt quite differently from region to region. YLGen and the need for mentoring relationships are potent opportunities.
Many collaborative solutions were proposed:
- A registry of Christian providers within the ageing space
- Forums developed to share and learn from one another—formal and informal, virtual and in-person
- A bibliography of existing resources that inform and equip the Church on global ageing
- The publication of best practices for ministry to, with, and among older adults
- The publication of best practices for intergenerational ministry
- A collection of case studies on ministry in the context of global ageing
- A book of testimonies by seniors who found purpose and fulfilment through being (re)mobilized into ministry later in life
- The creation of teaching/modules for theological institutions to equip future leaders to be effective in this sphere
- A theological resource—even as short as a Lausanne-style Statement—that offers biblical perspectives on ageing, honouring the senior generation, healthy intergenerational relationships, dying, death, and resurrection hope
- Advocacy for intentional focus on this issue at all gatherings that are global in scope—Christian or otherwise
Communicating a Prayerful Proposal
The above collaborative solutions all beckon. However, responses need to be multi-faceted since the issues are far-reaching and can vary significantly from locality to locality. They fall broadly into four categories: Connect, Organize, Speak, and Act
- Connect: Those serving in the global ageing space often feel like a voice in the wilderness. The Fourth Lausanne Congress showed that many like us operate below the radar. We will endeavour to keep in touch with one another and engage within virtual spaces, including the Lausanne Action Hub. We are energized as we discover and connect with others serving in these same spaces and learn how consequential this issue truly is. We also commit to building regional connections, recognizing the commonalities of experience within our regions.
- Organize: We aim to see the formation of a Global Ageing Issue Network in Lausanne. This issue’s impending impact is too monumental to be ignored. It was agreed that an issue network would better serve—and more likely accomplish—the many dreams and goals that emerged from discussions. Of course, a great deal is already happening in this area, and much of it can be appropriately tied into any newly formed issue network. The task ahead is immense, and resources/traction are lacking. There is no desire to reinvent the wheel or duplicate what is already happening.
- Communicate: Issue network or not, we are committed to increasing information circulation and sharing data, articles, reports, and resources. Doing so will raise awareness of the need for and possibilities of fruitful ministry in the global ageing space.
Another commitment was to change the narrative by changing our language. There is no “next generation” and no “past generation”. There is only the “now” generation, and all of us are a part of it. From the oldest to the youngest, we are all needed, we all have value, and we all have the opportunity to show the world who Jesus is. And we do it better together.
We will begin to tell our own stories of ageing, of retirement, and the journey of discovery that each stage of life brings. Telling our stories inspires and encourages others. Displaying vulnerability as we share our struggles will break down walls and foster authentic connections. Demonstrating humble and listening attitudes as we invite others to share will validate their own very real experiences of ageism and isolation. - Act: Everything begins with our own immediate, local situations, so it is vital to identify and engage with what is already going on in our local communities. We want to see our own local congregations gain an expanded vision of what the church can be and provide practical ways to get involved. This especially applies to mobilizing the older generation into ministry and connecting people with opportunities.
It seems appropriate to close with a term that is new to many of us: intergenerationality. We recognize that dismantling the walls between generations is incredibly strategic but will also require patience, faith, and grace. It will take people who can lead by example. It is easy to make suggestions and say what “should” be, but buy-in from the young and the old will be needed.
By definition, intergenerationality will require collaboration. It will also require greater comprehension; perhaps Collaborative Action Teams will form to explore the concept further. It will take much investment, but it has the potential to bear orders of magnitude more fruit. Deliberate intergenerationality must be cultivated in every activity and expression of the local church—in worship, cell groups, ministry trips, community engagement, leadership and direction, prayer gatherings, Sunday school, and the rest. While such activities are part and parcel of congregational life, ultimately, authentic relationships are at the core. Believers young and old long for such connections, but trust must be built. Strong intergenerational ministry will bring life to the whole body. It will offer value and dignity to mature adults who feel discarded and will help prepare and equip those earlier in their lifelong journey.
The world, the flesh, and the devil seek to drive a wedge between the generations, but the finished work of Christ has joined us all as one. May it be reflected in the life and activity of the global Church!
*No single term is universally approved, so seniors, senior generation, older adults, and mature adults have been used interchangeably.
Acknowledgements
Content Specialist
Tom McCormick
Facilitators
Ronald Paul Sitompul & Isac Abinmanyu
Affinity Hosts
Michael Amamieye, Andi Bachmann-Roth, Becky Douglass, JD Gilmour, Leow Wen Pin, Sabrina Siga
Author
Jason Mandryk
Jason helps to lead Operation World. He and his wife, Becky live in Seoul. Learning more about Global Ageing convinced him that it is to 2024 what Unreached Peoples were to 1974—a massive blind spot that the Church must wake up to if we are to see significant progress in the Great Commission.