Nursing Home Ministry

Use this book to facilitate your church or group in organizing a nursing home adoption ministry. HEARTS TOUCHING HEARTS is an outreach ministry which works closely with volunteers and a nursing home staff in order to touch the lives of as many nursing home residents as possible. Imagine what would happen if every nursing home had a church or another organization that "adopted" that nursing home's residents as their special friends! This is the ultimate goal of HEARTS TOUCHING HEARTS. Organizations can work together, making sure every nursing home in their community is reached by this ministry. Included is "101 FUN AND CREATIVE IDEAS FOR NURSING HOME MINISTRY." Take the first step in touching nursing home residents' lives by reading this guidebook and then adapting the book to fit your ministry needs.

A companion to the author's earlier book Designing an Older Adult Ministry (Discipleship Resources, 1999), this book will provide new information and outline ways to develop and strengthen ministries by, with, and for older adults that can, and will, enhance the spiritual growth and well-being of people of all ages. The church is beginning to recognize that there are vast numbers of older people in its membership. It is becoming aware of its indebtedness to them for the leadership, support, service, and faith that has made the church of today possible. The church is uniquely positioned to help older adults respond to the challenges of aging; to see the tremendous potentialities in the lives of older adult for making the church and community better; and to assist older people as they experience new meaning and purpose in their later lives. Chapters include "Why Older-Adult Ministries?"; "Understanding the Aging Process"; "Aging and the Spiritual Journey"; "The New Seniors: Boomers?"; "Intentional Ministry by, with, and for Older Adults"; "Organizing for Intentional Ministry in the Local Church"; "Organizing for Intentional Ministry in the Conference"; "Congregational Care Ministry"; "Additional Ideas for Intentional Ministry"; and "Trends in Aging." Appendixes include a "Facts about Aging" quiz, information on creating and using older adult surveys, and suggested resources for further reading and study.

If your only experience with long term care is visiting a nursing home for the holidays, you may not have seen the need for doing anything else . You might even wonder if Jesus would have visited such a place or think that He only spoke to large crowds by the beach after doing miracles. But when Jesus walked the earth, before there was social security, government health insurance or nursing homes He often spent time with the same kinds people who live in long term care today. The way we serve now may look differently than from when Jesus was here, but the need to share the love of God never changes. New Beginnings takes a journey through four different kinds of long term care: nursing homes; respiratory units; special needs homes and memory care facilities. Care ministry and the long term care community community includes family members, volunteers and staff. Learn exciting new ways how to get involved and become a part of what God is doing today.

Inspiration, guidance and encouragement to care for those living in Long Term Care Homes.

Dementia diseases represent a crisis of faith for many family members and congregations. Magnifying this crisis is the way people with dementia tend to be objectified by both medical and religious communities. They are recipients of treatment and projects for mission. Ministry is done to and for them rather than with them. While acknowledging the devastation of dementia diseases, Ken Carder draws on his own experience as a caregiver, hospice chaplain, and pastoral practitioner to portray the gifts as well as the challenges accompanying dementia diseases. He confronts the deep personal and theological questions created by loving people with dementia diseases, demonstrating how living with dementia can be a means of growing in faith, wholeness, and ministry for the entire community of faith. He also reveals that authentic faith transcends intellectual beliefs, verbal affirmations, and prescribed practices. Carder asserts that the Judeo-Christian tradition offers a broader lens, defining personhood in relationship to God’s story and humanity’s participation in God’s mighty acts of creation and new creation; thereby contributing to hope, community, and self-worth. Pastors and congregations will be better equipped to minister with people affected by dementia, receiving their gifts and responding to their unique needs. They will learn how people with dementia contribute to the community and the church’s life and mission, discovering practical ways those contributions can be identified, nurtured, and incorporated into the church’s life and ministry.