Elderly in the Church

Elderly in church doesn't mean what it used to. I pastor a small congregation that has an average Sunday attendance of 60-65. We have 4 90+ year olds with the oldest being 97. She recently beat pneumonia. For the second time in two years. For years we have been hearing about how the church needs to ready itself for the boomer generation to begin to move into retirement years. I've read numerous articles about how massive leadership vacancies will need to be filled, how new ministries will need to be created for this niche audience, etc. But most of that has been written with a paradigm in mind that they'll grow old and retired in their 60's and 70's. The article linked below talks about them, and now my generation of Xer's, working into our 80's. Lord have mercy. Recently we have seen news articles also that talk about the very real potential of people alive today living to 150. The article below also notes the problem of living too long: being unable to pay for it. Certainly the church will need to be the prophetic voice against those who will want to selectively eliminate the elderly because they cost too much, or can't pay for themselves, or have used up enough resources, etc. But the church will also need to be ready to teach and embody Biblical principles of care for the impoverished (even if they were once the wealthy), loving thy neighbor, sacrificial giving and living, and respecting the dignity of life from conception to unfathomably aged. How Americans Are Planning for Their Biggest Financial Challenge — Living Too Long | Credit.com News Advice