Church and Diaconate Eldercare

While today’s Church has often lost sight of its role to the elderly, the Word of God is clear that Church leaders have a responsibility to provide for the elderly in their need:

• “Do not let a widow under sixty years old be taken into the number…” 1 Tim 5:9a [exhorting the church’s role to provide for the needs of widows]
• “….their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.” Acts 6 [Establishment of church officers for the purpose of daily serving elderly widows in need, commonly referred to as deacons]

The Christian Church today should thrive in its role of caring for the elderly and supporting families who directly care for elderly. The Church’s role in elderly care is two-fold:

1. Encouraging and providing opportunities for Church members to serve caregiving families, to directly care for the elderly (mainly through respite care), to visit elderly in senior homes, and to serve the elderly in our communities (James 1:27); and
2. Enable the Church diaconate (or servant leadership body) to care for elderly of the Church by primarily providing for or funding the care, perhaps in a family or home setting where the seniors can be in relationship and part of the Church community (1 Tim 5)

This represents a distributed approach where care is lead through local relationships, rather than where a detached “service” is provided. As Christians, we must communicate to the world that Christ cares for these people, even at a time when many seniors are ignored; the Church is here to stand for life and respect for our seniors.

Join us as we strive to encourage church leadership teams and diaconates to fulfill their role in senior care.