Ministering to the elderly (Full Version)

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gotochurch -> Ministering to the elderly (6/25/2008 6:48:24 PM)

What does your church do to minister to the elderly people who are too sick to attend church? I know what the Bible says about taking care of widows and orphans, and sadly I see very little of this. I am thinking more of couples where one is taking care of the other and therefore neither one is able to attend church.



musicboss11 -> RE: Ministering to the elderly (6/25/2008 7:13:25 PM)

When my grandfather could no longer get to church, his priest would come by once a week to pray with him, give him communion, and give him a tape of that weeks message. They also had volunteers (usually couples) that would go to shut in's homes, hospitals, and residntal centers. Don't know how often. I'm not sure what the couples did for the people they visited, or who else the priest visited. Hope this helps, and welcome to the message boards.



mvic -> RE: Ministering to the elderly (6/25/2008 7:39:50 PM)

Our church has Eucharistic Ministers who take communion to elderly peoples' homes and hospitals.



deborlie -> RE: Ministering to the elderly (6/25/2008 9:27:39 PM)

Hello,
We have divided our shut ins and nursing home people up in 5 or 6 groups, depending on the need. Our voluteers are divided up by two's to make monthly visits. It takes just one afternoon a month to fulfill our obligations and we rotate so we see a differnt group each month. We leave a card with the members we visit so they have something to remember, or that a family member might know we were there. We report anything to the pastor that we may observe that may not be exactly right, so that proper measures can be taken for the welfare of that person. The visits are warm and friendly and welcomed, so much so they have come to expect us, and inquire if they think they haven't seen anyone from the church. The response has been favorable both with the visited and the visitor. In fact we have come away wondering just who helped whom. If by chance, a visit can't be made that month, a card is sent or a phone call is made to keep the contact. We have shut-in members who live out of town, and there are people who are willing to send cards on a monthly bases to them, as their own personal mission.. Some who have been shut ins at one time and have recovered have joined us to visit the others. We have been doing this for at least ten years. It has worked well.

We also have a separate program where we record tapes of the service each Sunday and then someone distributes these tapes to the shut ins. This is another mission they look forward to. This keeps them informed on church activities and of people they know.

I hope this gives you some ideas.



doinkdom -> RE: Ministering to the elderly (6/26/2008 11:46:45 AM)

Even though we are just a church plant, we have one shut-in that we minister to. He is not what we consider elderly, but he is definitely a shut-in.

We visit this person weekly...we have at least one phone conversation each week. We bring them communion regularly. We rotate the shopping needs among our group for this person. And whenever someone goes to visit, they plan to stay for at least 2 hours, usually there are 2-3 people going together.

And we would minister to anyone unable to physical come to us the same way.



rcjames -> RE: Ministering to the elderly (6/26/2008 1:06:05 PM)

The "Shut-ins" from our Church are ministered to weekly by myself or an Elder. They are also give cd's etc. for their edification.

Thanks
RC



gotochurch -> RE: Ministering to the elderly (6/30/2008 11:49:44 AM)

Is it up to the family members to request these sort of visits or shouldn't the church know enough to initiate?



doinkdom -> RE: Ministering to the elderly (7/1/2008 1:32:44 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: gotochurch

Is it up to the family members to request these sort of visits or shouldn't the church know enough to initiate?


Some of both really. If the shut-in status is temporary, then family, etc. should inform the church.

If it's permanent, then I would think the church as a body would know.



KPOP -> RE: Ministering to the elderly (7/4/2008 1:26:56 AM)

HI THERE.

A LOT OF CHURCHES DOES NOT GET INVOLVE IN TAKING CARE FOR THEIR ELDERLY CONGREGATION

FOR ONE THING -- A CHURCH SHOULD NOT MIX WITH FEEDING THE SOUL AND FEEDING THE BODY

IF A CHURCH GETS TOO MUCH INVOLVE WITH TAKING CARE OF OLDER PEOPLE -- IT MIGHT CAUSE A CONFLIC -- WILLS AND TRUST AND INSURANCE AND ALL THAT KINDS OF STUFF

WHAT A CHURCH CAN DO THOUGH -- IS TO HELP DIRECT THE OLDER ONES TO GET SOME ASSISTANT

LIKE MAKING SURE THAT THEY ARE IN CONTACT WITH THEIR RELETIVES WHEN THEY ARE OLD

THEN ONE THAT IS DONE -- IT IS NOT THE CHURCH RESPONSIBILITY

A CHURCH IS NOT A BABY SITTING JOB

IT IS A PLACE TO LEARN HOW TO HAVE YOUR SALVATION INTACT BEFORE THE COMING OF JESUS CHRIST

GOOD LUCK

KATHY



musicboss11 -> RE: Ministering to the elderly (7/4/2008 1:45:47 AM)

KPOP, welcome to the forums. Glad your here. I'm afraid I must disagree with you. As Christians we are to look out for each other, and care for each other. I don't understand how ministering to someone who can't get to church is babysitting. If it's not the church's place to minister to those who need it, than who's place is it?



doinkdom -> RE: Ministering to the elderly (7/5/2008 9:28:37 AM)

The bible distinctly tells us to care for the widows and orphans - us, as in Christians. It also talks about caring for those without.

I would say that shut-ins and the elderly are "without."



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