What About the Graybee Boomers In Your Parish?

The demographic of your parish is changing; the largest growing cohort in the population is people over the age of 62. As Baby Boomers continue to age, more and more attention will be focused on how we reach out, communicate and serve these Graybee Boomers.

• Between 2000 and 2010, the population 45 to 64 years old grew 31.5 percent to 81.5 million. This age group now makes up 26.4 percent of the total U.S. population. The large growth among 45- to 64-year-olds is primarily because of the aging of the baby boomer population.

• The 65-and-older population also grew faster than younger population groups at a rate of 15.1 percent to 40.3 million people, or 13.0 percent of the total population. (US Census Bureau, May 2011 data)

Concurrently, seniors’ use of digital resources like the Internet and Facebook is rapidly increasing. All age groups are relying on their computers and mobile devices for news and information; and as the country races to become a paperless society, even commerce (what we spend and where) will inevitably rely solely on using a computer device.

• The number of seniors actively using the Internet has increased by more than 55 percent, from 11.3 million active users in November 2004 to 17.5 million in November 2009.

• While younger people still greatly outnumber their elders on sites like Facebook, Myspace, and LinkedIn, a new study shows older generations have begun to catch up. The Pew Internet and American Life Project found that people 74 and older represent the fastest growing demographic on the sites. Sixteen percent of Internet users in that age group now visit them, compared with four percent in 2008.

According to Gallup analysis documents, Americans in their 60s, 70s, and 80s are significantly more likely to attend church than those who are younger. The oldest of the large group of baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) have entered their 60s. Thus, with each advancing year, more and more baby boomers enter the age range that traditionally has been associated with higher religious service participation. If baby boomers do in fact attend church more frequently as they age, it follows that church attendance would increase steadily in the years ahead. As John L. Allen, Jr. wrote in The Future Church (2010): “The “Graybee Boom” will obviously present steep challenges to the church. Since elderly people are, statistically speaking, far more likely to invest time and treasure in their faith than any other demographic cohort, today’s rapid increase in people 65+ represents a potential “boom market” for religion.”

In 1999, the U.S. bishops published a pastoral document in, ‘The Blessings of Age,’ which states: “How the community relates to its older members – recognizing their presence, encouraging their contributions, responding to their needs, and providing appropriate opportunities for spiritual growth – is a sign of the community’s spiritual health and maturity.”

Often forgotten is the truth that our seniors are among the most important teachers and companions we have on our faith journey. Pope John Paul II addressed this in his Letter to the Elderly in 1999:

The Christian community can receive much from the serene presence of older people. I think first of all in terms of evangelization: its effectiveness does not depend principally on technical expertise. In how many families are grandchildren taught the rudiments of the faith by their grandparents! There are many other areas where the elderly can make a beneficial contribution. The Spirit acts as and where he wills, and quite frequently he employs human means which seem of little account in the eyes of the world. How many people find understanding and comfort from elderly people who may be lonely or ill and yet are able to instill courage by their loving advice, their silent prayers, or their witness of suffering borne with patient acceptance!

Our evangelical outreach to this vital segment of our church population must rely on virtual access to seniors to accommodate them physically, socially and geographically (for example, your pews are emptied in the winter as “snowbirds” leave for the sunshine in southern states). By 2030, says Mr. Allen, “6.8 million additional Catholics in the United States will be entering the stage of life where they are most likely to pray, to go to church, to volunteer time, to reflect on religious subjects and to be open to a deeper religious commitment.” A plan that anticipates and nurtures the needs and expectations of our seniors is a single and important (and too often overlooked) plank of a comprehensive communications strategy for the parish. If someone were to dream up a program of outreach to marginal Catholics that drew 6.8 million back into active practice of the faith within a quarter-century, it would be hailed as one of the great evangelical success stories of all time.

Along with often substantial resources, the Graybees (not only discretionary financial funds but real time and talent they can contribute to ministry), the aging population present a set of particular needs and require services often not now available in the average parish.

This generation has seen the largest strides in medical and health advancement and consequently the greatest increase in life spans and longevity. That means that very many of them have been involved not only the care of their children and grandchildren, but often children and relatives with special needs well into their adulthood. Many have assumed the responsibility for caring for their own aged parents too and might very well look to the parish for spiritual, moral and social support for the rigorous demand of providing such care. A few churches have experimented with pilot programs but there is nowhere near the outreach and service that our caretakers could profit from.

The Alzheimer’s Association (http://www.alz.org) estimates that approximately 4.5 million Americans suffer with the disease. More than 7 out of 10 people with Alzheimer’s disease live at home, where almost 75 percent of their care is provided by family and friends.

Then too, as these people age, they too are confronted with loss, and especially loss of their life partner. Grief management and support is almost never a part of the repertoire of the church community. And it is a serious oversight. Events such as: death of spouse, death of close family member, retirement, change in health of family member, death of close friend, change in living conditions, change in recreation and change in sleeping habits. They say, “The older people become, the more frequently they experience life-changing events. These events provide windows of opportunity for the church in that people seem to move from resistance or indifference to the gospel to receptivity to its message of hope and salvation when a caring person offers help.”

The mental and spiritual health of seniors is showing significant and marked increases in depression, isolation, addiction and suicide. Again, a proactive parish can provide families with the resources to identity and support their aging members and heal inter-generational relationships–a vital component of recovery.

With the Internet’s vast ability to anticipate and deliver information, the parish website is a natural place to post information and provide fellowship through e-communications, audio and video presentations, accessible liturgies and blogs and chat rooms. Leadership Network’s Don Wilcox says, “Too many churches see older adult ministry as peripheral, perfunctory or even optional. The 50- plus ministries that are thriving are those that the church leadership views as central, strategic, and critical to the mission and vision of the church.”

With a positive communications strategy that matches seniors in the parish with their internet usage, like the Psalmist we can all say,

“You have taught me, O God, from my youth, and till the present I proclaim your wondrous deeds. And now that I am old and grey, O God, forsake me not, till I proclaim your strength to every generation that is to come.” (Ps 71:17-18).

There is great power in age: power in wisdom, power in experience, power in time and financial resources! It is time to unleash that power within congregations and churches across the country!