The baby boomer wave is sweeping over senior adult ministries, and people from all across the country are registering to “catch the wave” with the National Boomer Ministry Conference Sept. 5-6 at First Baptist Church in Allen.
Baby boomers remain the largest population group.Baby boomers remain the largest population group, now ranging in ages 49 to 67, said Keith Lowry, Texas Baptists’ single adult/family ministry/senior adult specialist. They tend to have a different mindset about church participation than the previous generation and often are turned off by the term “senior adult.” Most have led successful lives and yearn to leave a legacy, he noted.
“Boomers have great gifts and skills,” he explained. “We are going to have to allow them to utilize those gifts and skills in ways that can be a blessing to others.”
A baby boomer himself, Lowry believes the conference will encourage churches to revamp their senior adult ministries.
“The point of this conference is to help our churches understand some things they can do to engage with and be attractive to baby boomers who are looking for a way to have an impact in the second half of their lives,” he said.
The conference is geared toward churches of all sizes. People who minister to senior adults will identify well with the topic, as will baby boomers eager to minister to their own generation, Lowry noted.
Author Amy HansonKeynote speaker Amy Hanson, author of Baby Boomers and Beyond: Tapping the Ministry Talents and Passions of Adults over 50, is “probably the foremost authority on baby boomers in the country,” Lowry said.
Timothy Jennings—voted one of America’s top psychiatrists by the Consumer’s Research Council of America in 2008, 2010, 2011 and 2012—also will speak at the conference.
Between the two days, participants will be able to attend three breakout. Session options include “This Ain’t Your Momma’s Senior Adult Ministry,” “Boomers Living out Loud,” “Caring for the Caregiver” and “Alzheimer’s Disease—Looking Beyond the Negative Picture.”
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Entertainment will be provided by SQuire Rushnell, who created Schoolhouse Rock, and his wife, Louise DuArt, who toured with comedy icons Tim Conway and Harvey Korman. Their act, featured at 7 p.m. Thursday as “Boomer Celebration,” will be open to the public for $10.
For more information about the conference and to purchase tickets, click here.
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