Getting There

[Mustang]

I will be retiring for the second time March 2009. The Senior's Fellowship at my church doesn't seem to be too exciting so I'm wondering what your Senior's Fellowship or Ministry is like. Let's talk!

[Happily Retired]

My husband and I have a Senior Ministry in our church which began in 2004 when we retired. We meet the last Monday of the month Winter at noon; summer in the evenings. My husband is a retired minister, and I plan the activities and meetings. I also send out a newsletter once a month and sometimes postcard reminders and still they have to ask what and when, lol

I don't want this to sound like I'm doing it all. As you read you'll notice a lot of "I", but it's just that I do about everything but the devotion! :>)

I am planning a Chili/Nacho feed Dec. 29, at noon. They are to bring left-over Christmas appetizers or goodies. We will do a white elephant exchange. I'll let them pick a gift and then I'll read the Nativity Right-Left Game. I take extra gifts in case they forget to bring one. I'm making two "Whisk You A Merry Christmas and a Happy Root Beer" gifts, taking Bath/Body Lotion I have on hand and am baking a small pumpkin bread in a holiday bread pan from Michaels. Also, I'm handing out the phrases to the Twelve Days of Christmas and they will each have a day to sing to the rest of us.

If we remember, we take an offering each meeting and put in fund for small expenses. We provide a lot of the things needed.

In Oct. the Lion's Club in the area always has a Fall Color Train Ride which lasts about 1 1/2 hrs. I bring small water bottles just in case and always make caramel corn, which they look forward to. Once in a while we carpool to gospel sings, which there aren't a lot in the Northwest area where we are.

The first year we went to Yuma/Mexico for the winter, we took videos and when we returned in the spring, we showed the video on TV and had a Mexican/Southwest theme. Fourth of July is always a patriotic theme picnic.

In our meetings I try to have a fun activity or reading about seniors. We have picnics in the summer, and this past fall had our 3 annual camp out, We started with two RVs the first year and this year we had 8 RVs and 15-21 people. We plan the camping around our last Monday of the month and those who don't have an RV or are still working come that evening for our monthly meeting. This has been a great bonding time for us.

The Seniors love to visit, get prizes, eat, and play games. Second childhood, I think!! It takes commitment to this ministry, because you have to be there for them and send reminders and telephone or contact them often just to let them know you're interested.

If you send me your home address by "pm" I can send you a newsletter or two. We try to recognize their birthdays either at the meeting/meal or in the newsletter, or card.

I'll be praying for you.

[mheavrin]

We also have a monthly lunch get-together for our Seniors. They call themselves the "Golden Lunch Bunch". The last Wednesday of each month, they choose a local restaurant and everyone meets there for lunch and fellowship. While there, someone will give a devotion and have a door prize with a little game for the door prize. Everyone loves it!

[Happily Retired]

I forgot to say that our group is named BRIDGE BUILDERS. Our focus is to build a bridge across the generations--emphasizing being there for the younger generation and setting an example for them. My husband has called us the Proverbs People--trying to remind them to read a Proverb each day and patterning our lives by what they read.

[Mustang]

Happily Retired (Karen)
Thanks for the newsletters. They are great and lots of good ideas. I'll keep you posted and thanks for your prayers.
Mustang (Marsha)

[Nemobuddie]

Hey to everyone!
I hope to be able to add a little inspiration also to the senior ministry. The only to have one is to jump right in and help start one. My husband and I are ministers also and felt a great need for one in our area but "no one knows how to get started".
We started in January with the theme "Everyone is unique just like snowflakes". The great thing has been that our seniors are wanting to meet at the end of the months, so whatever theme there is for the month, you can cash in on reduced items at the stores. Snowflakes and snowmen were our decorations and at 75% off from December this was really easy to accomplish. For food we had soup and sandwiches (comfort food for the winter).
February - being heart month- we had a guest speaker from the hospital cardiac wing tell about different things seniors can do to protect their heart. We have also found out that CVS will send a pharmacist to review seniors medications to ensure that they do not affect each other. Once again we hit the discounts and for lunch we had baked potatoes provided by us and asked the seniors to bring their favorite toppings. This went really well as we had heart healthy lunch and good fellowship. We also try to ask different members of the area and church to provide lite entertainment. Since we have several in the church who are musically inclined, we have different ones lined up through August.
Now working on March, you guessed it, the theme is going green. Not necessarily the Luck of the Irish, but being blessed to be seniors.
Later in the year we plan to do "field trips" and cookouts. If anyone has any other ideas, please let me know. I would love to see your style newsletters as we would love to start one here. Also if there is anything else I can share, do not hesitate to let me know. Knowledge is power, however it is nothing if not shared.
Hope this helps. I look forward to chatting with each of you again! Ann

[Happily Retired]

Ann I sent you a "PM"