Here are a number of ideas for outreach and evangelism that take into consideration the particular needs of older adults. Use these or create your own to reach out intentionally with the love of Jesus Christ to older adults outside your congregation.

1. Sponsor an Older Adult Friendship Sunday
Ask older members to invite their friends to worship with them. Children can bring grandparents. Adults can bring their parents. Focus the entire service on building friendships and sharing life.

2. Provide Transportation
Some older adults don’t consider attending church because they can’t get there. Provide a team of drivers who agree to offer door-to-door service for older adults. It will remove an obstacle to participation and be hospitable at the same time.

3. Offer Care
Offer the church’s caregiving ministry to neighboring older adults who are nonmembers. The deacons or pastor can visit the ill or bereaved. Another model of care is the Congregational Care Team Ministry. Click here for more information.

4. Celebrate Milestones
The church can help celebrate significant milestones, such as anniversaries or birthdays. Often these occasions are announced in the local newspaper. Follow up with a card of congratulations from the congregation.

5. Form Support Groups
A support group for members and nonmembers alike can meet in the church. Support can be offered for grief, health issues, parenting grandchildren, financial challenges, retirement living, or other topics important to older adults.

6. Offer a Special Class or Presentation
Plan a lecture series or special musical program that will interest older adults. Encourage each member to bring older persons as their guests.

7. Hold a Health Fair
Sponsor a health fair and make it open to the community. If your congregation doesn’t have a parish nurse, invite members who are health professionals to help put the event together. “A Guide to Holding a Congregational Health Fair” is available from Health Ministries.

8. Welcome New Residents
When new persons move into the community, provide some kind of welcome kit from the congregation. It may include anything from material from the Chamber of Commerce to a loaf of homemade banana bread.

10. Invite Older Adults outside the Congregation to Provide Leadership
Older adults are a wealth of expertise and experience that can benefit the congregation. Identify older adults in your community with particular expertise or experience that would be of interest to an adult education class, the youth group, or a children’s event. You may also invite older adults in the community to serve as consultants on a particular issue to the Session or Board of Deacons.

For more information about meeting the needs of older adults, read Older Adult Ministry: A Guide for the Presbytery Committee. To order, call (800) 524-2612 and ask for item #090300, $9.95, or go to our Marketplace.