Baptist Church Identifies the Need for Elderly Ministry amid Ageing Population

Last week as the Social Trends report was released by the Office of National Statistics, and Baptist ministers have identified the area of the Church mission that needs to be improved in face of the ageing population in the UK.

The statistics revealed that between 1971 and 2003 the number of people aged 65 and over has risen by 28 percent, while the number of under 16's has fallen by 18 percent. The trend projects that within 10 years there will be more people aged 65 and over than children under 16 - a obvious sign of an ageing population.

The Revd Derek Allan, head of mission for the Baptist Union of Great Britain (BUGB), said to the Baptist Times, these statistics underline the "urgency" for churches to have strategies to reach older people.

"We need to consider creating ‘senior specialists’," he continued. "I know of one or two churches which have said they want a pastoral person to care for older people.

"Some churches are in retirement areas where almost all their ministry is among older people," he added.

"There is an urgency there because of their age."

He added that older people respond to a "relational approach", such as befriending over a cup of tea, and also said that Songs of Praise events where familiar hymns are sung work well.