Caleb Challenge: Baptists Reaching Unchurched Seniors

We as a nation are getting older. There will soon be more people aged over 65 than those under 16 in the UK. Churches in the Southern Counties Baptist Association, part of the Baptist Union of Great Britain (BUGB), have started to become aware of the potential mission opportunities this societal shift will bring.

Four years ago some churches in the association contacted regional minister Kathryn Morgan with a desire to work with older and retired people. Whilst working with one church, Kathryn and the minister decided to use the biblical example of Caleb, who took charge of a difficult part of the Promised Land when he was 85-years-old (Joshua 14: 10-11).

From this, the Caleb Challenge was born and a conference was held in July 2005.

The conference was oversubscribed with 150 people attending from forty-eight churches. "It was wonderful," says Kathryn. "The feedback indicated great enthusiasm, people were challenged and wanted to follow this up."

"The purpose was, and is, to mobilise people in the retired age group for mission in the same age group - which includes fourth-agers (much older people, dependent and possibly either living in residential homes or perhaps rather lonely at home) and also the growing number of active retired people known as third-agers (aged 55-75+)."

There have been two subsequent Caleb Challenge days in 2007 which started to look ahead to when the Baby Boomer generation will retire and how they may be reached as a group.

The ideas behind Caleb Challenge are now spreading beyond the Southern Counties. The BUGB Mission Department has recently published a Mission File on third-age mission and ministry called Fresh Horizons and a DVD and national tour are being planned over the next year.

One of the churches already feeling the call to mission to un-churched seniors was Winchester Baptist Church, and their story was shared at the first Caleb Challenge. Since then, Liz Stacey has been appointed as Pastoral Coordinator for Mission to Seniors in June 2006. Liz was involved, together with a steering group, in each Caleb Challenge event.

At Winchester Baptist Church they have a monthly Silver Service which has grown from fifteen to over fifty-five people attending and two successful Silver Seekers Alpha style groups (aged mostly in their 80s and 90s).

Six people have made commitments to the Lord, leading to an 82-year-old disabled lady and a 67-year-old helper being baptised.

"We are overwhelmed at what God is doing," says Liz. Her steering group and helpers are mainly in their 60s and 70s.

"We have found some of the 'buried treasure' that lies within all our churches; the wisdom, collective common sense and insight held by these dear saints is an available resource to us all if only we will recognise and utilise it."






[Re-printed in Christian Today with the kind permission of the Baptist Union of Great Britain]