The Big 6-0

The generation known as the baby boomers is rapidly moving into its retirement years. This demographic "wave" presents a marvelous opportunity for the church to reach out to assist boomers in connecting more deeply to the life they have in Jesus, including active participation in Jesus' ministry in their world. If we are to be effective in doing so, it's important to know how the boomers are "wired."

In 2006, the oldest boomers turned 60. An AARP telephone survey of a national sample of 800 of these oldest boomers explored their thoughts about the significance of reaching this milestone, assessing their satisfaction with their lives up to that point and noting their personal goals and expectations for the future. Here's what the survey showed:

• While substantially satisfied with their lives, most were optimistically making plans for making the future even better. Only 1 percent saw age as a barrier to achieving their goals.

• Virtually all had some substantial life change they want to make:

• 87 percent want to take better care of their physical health
• 72 percent plan to spend more time on interests and hobbies
• 47 percent want to do more volunteering [church take note!]

• Work was likely to continue to play a major role their lives. Currently:

• 54 percent are still working (compared to 74 percent of all boomers)
• 54 percent of those still working plan to quit as soon as they can
• 37 percent plan to work “until I drop”
• 14 percent of those not working plan to go back to work in the next few years

Further information about the survey may be obtained by contacting Linda Fisher of AARP Knowledge Management at 202-434-6304.

Preventing Child Abuse in the Church

Every children's ministry should take steps to provide children with a safe environment. To that end, I reproduce here (with permission) an article from LifeWay (www.lifeway.com/pastor) titled, 10 Steps to Prevent Child Abuse in the Church by Keith Hamilton. I commend these steps to you.

1. Anyone who works with children age 18 or under should be given the legal definition of child abuse in writing, as well as the policy of the church on the reporting of child abuse. New paid or volunteer workers should also be required to view a child abuse prevention video(s) and read the written materials available on this subject to help the worker gain an appreciation for the reality of the concern. The definition and training should help workers identify child abuse in the future if they see signs of it.

2. The church should adopt the “two adult” rule, which requires a reasonable number of adult workers to be maintained in each situation involving the supervision of the children and youth, but with a minimum of two workers at all times.

3. The leadership should supervise on an ongoing basis and make unannounced visits into classes or other program sites from time to time.

4. Every worker should have an application on file with the church. The application should include relative questions pertaining to working in a children or youth ministry. The application should include areas of current address information, former churches, references, prior instances of child abuse as a victim or accusation, and general experience in working in a children or youth ministry. Also, a legal release statement should be on file in the church office to conduct criminal background and reference checks. A volunteer should be a member or attending a church for six months before serving.

5. References should be checked on anyone working with children or youth. A reference
check includes the references listed on the application plus former churches of membership. It is always helpful to ask references for additional references.

6. A criminal background check should be conducted on all workers having contact with children under 18 years old. The criminal background check could be accomplished through a local law enforcement agency or through a web site like www.screenchurchstaff.com or www.volunteerselect.com . It is very important the criminal background check is conducted as a nation-wide criminal background check.

7. Each worker should be interviewed personally by the supervisor of the ministry area. Documentation of the interview like the application or other personnel documents must
be kept confidential and in a secure location.

8. An identification system should be adopted so that the adults who drop off a child are the same adults or the adult’s designee who picks up the child to reduce the possibility of kidnapping and liability.

9. Comply fully with your state’s child abuse reporting statute.

10. Keep the church leadership informed of any suspicion of child abuse and report the child abuse suspicion to the appropriate authorities.

Family Driven Faith

More and more churches are recognizing that age-segregated approaches to discipling young people (children and teens) are not working well for producing life-long followers of Jesus.

There is a growing movement toward family-based, cross-generational ministries where all age-groups are joined in Christ-centered worship, discipleship and mission. This is coupled with the equipping of parents and other guardians to be the primary disciplers of young people at home.

The book "Family Driven Faith" by Voddie Baucham Jr. (Crossway, 2007) discusses these issues and offers helpful tips and strategies. To read a book summary online click here.