Celebrating the Graying Church: Mutual Ministry Today, Legacies Tomorrow - Softcover

OLSON, RICHARD

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1538139677 ISBN 13: 9781538139677

Publisher: Alban Books, 2020

Synopsis

Today, many churches and their related agencies and ministries are shrinking. Often a large portion of those who remain are older adults. Celebrating the Graying Church suggests that this is an opportunity for a new and different kind of ministry—a ministry to, with, and from older adults who may have wisdom to pass on to the legacy of the future generations. This book offers opportunities, ideas, and guidance for this new vision and practice of ministry, while also describing how aging adults in ministry can support each other and their faith communities.

About this title

About the Author

Richard P. Olson has served as pastor or staff member of churches in Massachusetts, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Colorado, and Kansas. He has been a pastoral counselor and a teacher in college. Most recently, in early retirement years, he was the distinguished professor of pastoral theology at Central Baptist Theological Seminary, from which he retired in 2016. He received his bachelor's degree from Sioux Falls College, MDiv and STM from Andover Newton Theological School, and PhD from Boston University (social ethics). He was also a fellow in the American Association of Pastoral Counselors. He and Mary Ann, his wife of sixty-five years, have three daughters, six grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. They have relished their roles with this family. It is out of this journey and conversations with other enthused grandparents and grandchildren that this book was created. In 2018, they moved to a retirement community, Oakwood Village at Prairie Ridge in Madison, Wisconsin. This move brought them closer to family members and more frequent contact with the grandchildren and great grandchildren. This is the twenty-first book for which he is author or co-author, the most recent being Laughter in a Time of Turmoil; Side by Side: Being Christian in a Multi-faith World; A Guide to Ministry Self-Care: Negotiating Todays’ Challenges with Resilience and Grace; and Celebrating the Graying Church: Mutual Ministry Today, Legacies Tomorrow (the last two are also Rowman & Littlefield publications).

Edition details

• Publisher: Alban Books
• Publication date: 2020
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1538139677
• ISBN 13: 9781538139677
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 212