1. A Christian Vision of Aging, Dr. Sarah Moses
“In every age, the church carries the responsibility of reading the signs of the times and of interpreting them in the light of the Gospel We must be aware of and understand the aspirations, yearnings, and the often dramatic features of the world in which we live.”
Gaudium et Spes, 1965
“I can do a lot if I have others to help me.”
Elizabeth Touhey

2. A Christian Vision of Aging, Dr. Sarah Moses
The task of interpreting the “signs of the times” in the light of the Gospel
What does our Christian faith offer us in terms of how we as individuals and a community find purpose and meaning in old age?
And what does that Christian vision have to say to us about how we as individuals and as a community respond and act?
Rembrandt, Simeon and Anna Recognize the Lord in Jesus (c.1629)

3. A Christian Vision of Aging, Dr. Sarah Moses
The New Old Age

4. A Christian Vision of Aging, Dr. Sarah Moses
“The New Old Age”
“The defining characteristic of our time seems to be that
we are both younger longer and older longer;
we are more vigorous at ages that once seemed very old and
we are far more likely to suffer protracted periods of age-related
disability and dependence because we live to ages that few people
reached in the past.”
The President’s Council on Bioethics, Taking Care.
Increased lifespan/longevity
Population aging
Third Age and Fourth Age

5. A Christian Vision of Aging, Dr. Sarah Moses
What does our Christian faith offer us in terms of how we as individuals and a community find purpose and meaning in old age? Does that vision take into account both to the potential and the challenges of contemporary aging?
O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to all the generations to come.
Psalm 71: 17-18

6. A Christian Vision of Aging, Dr. Sarah Moses
From the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament:
1) The story of Abraham and Sarah (Genesis 17-21)
2) The story of Moses (Exodus 2-7; Deuteronomy 31)

7. A Christian Vision of Aging, Dr. Sarah Moses
From the New Testament:
1) The story of Elizabeth and Zechariah (Luke 1)
2) The story of Simeon and Anna (Luke 2)
3) The story of Nicodemus (John 3)
James Tissot,
Portrait of Zecharias and Elizabeth
(c )
Rembrandt, Simeon and Anna Recognize the Lord in Jesus (c.1629)

8. A Christian Vision of Aging, Dr. Sarah Moses
Biblical realism and old age:
The pastoral epistles (Titus, 1 Timothy)
-no automatic wisdom/virtue in old age
The temptation of resignation
-Abraham’s and Sarah’s disbelief (Genesis 17:17; 18:12)
-Zechariah’s muteness (Luke 1: 18-20)
Physical decline and frailty
-the weariness of Moses (Deuteronomy 31:1-2)
-Isaac’s blindness (Genesis 27)
-Naomi’s financial and social vulnerability (Ruth 1)
-Barzillai’s limitations (2 Samuel 17, 19)

9. A Christian Vision of Aging, Dr. Sarah Moses
The biblical vision of old age:
“In late life, Christians remain subject to the possibility that God will act decisively in history and in their lives in such a way as to turn their lives upside down. They may be called to a new ministry. They may receive new revelation. They may see the fulfillment of a long-awaited hope.”
Richard Hays & Judith Hays, “The Christian Practice of Growing Old: The Witness of Scripture” (2003).
“In old age [the righteous] still produce fruit;
They are always green and full of sap, showing that the Lord is upright.”
Psalm 92

10. A Christian Vision of Aging, Dr. Sarah Moses
Theological resources:
1) The elderly as disciples for life
2) The church as a community of equality and mutual love
3) Christian friendship
“A Christian sees in another Christian [a person] who like himself
is called to faith, obedience and service, and who is therefore his
brother, and that he thus recognizes that he is united with and
under an obligation to him as a brother The fact that the
brother is also a [human being] cannot be overlooked. It has to
be acknowledged. But it is precisely as a [human being] that he
needs the freedom to be able to be a Christian, and it is to this end
that I am summoned to help him in his humanity.”
Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics, Vol.3/4.

11. A Christian Vision of Aging, Dr. Sarah Moses
What does a Christian vision of aging have to say to us about how we respond and act in relation to the new old age?
As individuals?
As a community?

12. A Christian Vision of Aging, Dr. Sarah Moses
The church as a community of friendship with the elderly:
Substantive, life-stage appropriate spiritual formation
A community that invites and empowers older people to service and ongoing participation: helping one another in our humanity
3) Fostering sustained, genuine intergenerational relationships
4) Rediscover and emphasize “non-active” forms of Christian service and faith
5) Be a source of support for caregivers
6) Public engagement and advocacy around aging and elder care

13. A Christian Vision of Aging, Dr. Sarah Moses
“Our reluctance to honestly examine the experience of aging and dying has increased the harm we inflict on people and denied them the basic comforts they most need. Lacking a coherent view of how people might live successfully all the way to their very end, we have allowed our fates to be controlled by the imperatives of medicine, technology, and strangers.”
Atul Gawande, Being Mortal, p. 9.
“Free societies are also creative societies,
with a capacity to adapt to, as well as overcome, hard and novel circumstances.”
The President’s Council, Taking Care, 19.
“Can we imagine a society that welcomes
aging and makes good use of all that it
has to offer us?”
Bill Thomas, founder of the Green House

14. “Empowering the Elderly through Friendship:
“Empowering the Elderly through Friendship: the Experience of the Community of Sant’Egidio”
The Sant’Egidio Model
A. Organizational Background
-founded 1968, Rome, Italy
-lay association of the Roman Catholic Church
members worldwide, 70 countries
-ecumenical membership
-non-residential, voluntary
-two main pillars
1) communal prayer
2) service to the poor

15. “Empowering the Elderly through Friendship:
“Empowering the Elderly through Friendship: the Experience of the Community of Sant’Egidio”
The Sant’Egidio Model
B. Service as Friendship
i. Mutuality of giving and receiving
ii. Dialogue
iii. No financial remuneration
iv. Genuine relationship of whole persons
v. Equality
vi. Personal development and growth

16. “Empowering the Elderly through Friendship:
“Empowering the Elderly through Friendship: the Experience of the Community of Sant’Egidio”
The Sant’Egidio Model
C. Elder Care Initiative
i. Service at home
-direct care
-accessing/coordinating existing services
ii. Service in institutions/congregate care settings
-”skilled care” institutions (nursing homes)
-alternative models of congregate care
iii. Fostering social participation and community
iv. “Collaboration with all”
-cooperate alliances/partnership with:
-families
-elder service sector (private, civic, & governmental)

17. “Empowering the Elderly through Friendship:
“Empowering the Elderly through Friendship: the Experience of the Community of Sant’Egidio”
II. Implications of the Sant’Egidio Model for Elder Care in the US
A. Organization/provision of elder care
1. Direct care
-transportation
-activities of daily living
-adult day programs
2. Accessing/coordinating existing resources
-”mediating actions”
-Caregiving Coaching Program

18. “Empowering the Elderly through Friendship:
“Empowering the Elderly through Friendship: the Experience of the Community of Sant’Egidio”
II. Implications of the Sant’Egidio Model for Elder Care in the US
B. Training and educational awareness programs
-adult religious education programs
-family caregiver support/education
-conferences on aging/elder care

19. “Empowering the Elderly through Friendship:
“Empowering the Elderly through Friendship: the Experience of the Community of Sant’Egidio”
II. Implications of the Sant’Egidio Model for Elder Care in the US
C. Fostering meaningful social interaction and participation
-religious services
-service activities
-stable, consistent personal visits

20. “Empowering the Elderly through Friendship:
“Empowering the Elderly through Friendship: the Experience of the Community of Sant’Egidio”
II. Implications of the Sant’Egidio Model for Elder Care in the US
D. Alternative models of congregate care
-Green House model
-religiously-affiliated elder services

21. “Empowering the Elderly through Friendship:
“Empowering the Elderly through Friendship: the Experience of the Community of Sant’Egidio”
II. Implications of the Sant’Egidio Model for Elder Care in the US
E. Public advocacy
-home- and community-based care services
-oversight/regulation
-affordable long-term care options

22. A Christian Vision of Aging, Dr. Sarah Moses