The Seniors Ministry Summer Dinner: An Invitation
This weekend’s Summer Dinner (Friday, August 8th) marks the end of Harry Riggs’ 9th year as Director of the Seniors Ministry.
He assumed leadership in 2016, after a career as preacher, Bible teacher, and fundraiser for Christian organizations. He initiated programs for the elderly based on a vision of helping them cope with the challenges of aging and encouraging them to “keep on keeping on” in the Lord’s work.
Harry's annual series, “Empowering Seniors Program (ESP),” features speakers on “coping” topics ranging from the medical, like this summer’s “Brain and Balance” test with Dr. Cody Sipe of Harding’s Physical Therapy Department, to the spiritual, as in advice on grandparenting from a Christian perspective by Kay Gowen.
But coping with old age requires more than solid medical or even spiritual advice. Like everyone else, Seniors need connection, but their stage of life presents barriers to it. That’s where the ministry’s three annual dinners come in: “We have 500 seniors (65 and older) in this congregation,” Harry says; “many of them can be lonely—they’ve lost mates, are away from their families—these dinners provide meaningful fellowship.”
A small sampling of regular participants in the ministry echoes Harry’s comment. John and Donna Prysock attend Senior events faithfully, and John, with sly self-deprecation, explains why: “We geezers have a hard time going out and meeting people. These events connect you to others in your age group.”
Martha Hodges, another veteran of the ministry, now 91, puts it bluntly: “Everyone should do something, accomplish something. Being with others helps you help them!”
Danny Crow exemplifies Martha’s call to action and John’s sense of reward: “I ‘haul’ Seniors to doctor’s appointments, and I took Bill Spears so many times that he became a friend I see every week!” He and wife Bernetta feel “blessed” to be involved with the group, perhaps because, to quote John P. again, “it makes them better Christians.”
Harry is expecting 200 people at the Summer Dinner, his budget year’s final event. But he’s arranging more ESPs and three more dinners in the coming months. He invites new Seniors to join in: “It’s a rich fellowship. I think they would find enjoyment and encouragement.”
By the way, if you’re 65 or older and reading this before 5:30 P. M. on Friday, you can still make the Summer Dinner in the Family Room. Martha Hodges would like to see you there.
He assumed leadership in 2016, after a career as preacher, Bible teacher, and fundraiser for Christian organizations. He initiated programs for the elderly based on a vision of helping them cope with the challenges of aging and encouraging them to “keep on keeping on” in the Lord’s work.
Harry's annual series, “Empowering Seniors Program (ESP),” features speakers on “coping” topics ranging from the medical, like this summer’s “Brain and Balance” test with Dr. Cody Sipe of Harding’s Physical Therapy Department, to the spiritual, as in advice on grandparenting from a Christian perspective by Kay Gowen.
But coping with old age requires more than solid medical or even spiritual advice. Like everyone else, Seniors need connection, but their stage of life presents barriers to it. That’s where the ministry’s three annual dinners come in: “We have 500 seniors (65 and older) in this congregation,” Harry says; “many of them can be lonely—they’ve lost mates, are away from their families—these dinners provide meaningful fellowship.”
A small sampling of regular participants in the ministry echoes Harry’s comment. John and Donna Prysock attend Senior events faithfully, and John, with sly self-deprecation, explains why: “We geezers have a hard time going out and meeting people. These events connect you to others in your age group.”
Martha Hodges, another veteran of the ministry, now 91, puts it bluntly: “Everyone should do something, accomplish something. Being with others helps you help them!”
Danny Crow exemplifies Martha’s call to action and John’s sense of reward: “I ‘haul’ Seniors to doctor’s appointments, and I took Bill Spears so many times that he became a friend I see every week!” He and wife Bernetta feel “blessed” to be involved with the group, perhaps because, to quote John P. again, “it makes them better Christians.”
Harry is expecting 200 people at the Summer Dinner, his budget year’s final event. But he’s arranging more ESPs and three more dinners in the coming months. He invites new Seniors to join in: “It’s a rich fellowship. I think they would find enjoyment and encouragement.”
By the way, if you’re 65 or older and reading this before 5:30 P. M. on Friday, you can still make the Summer Dinner in the Family Room. Martha Hodges would like to see you there.
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