Adapted from Anglicans for Life
Anglicans for Life has released Embrace the Journey, an eight-week curriculum that to help churches and parishioners care for elderly family and church members.
“The church and our culture are aging,” said Georgette Forney, president of Anglicans for Life and author of the curriculum. “There are more than 40 million people in the United States age 65 and over, and 5.5 million of them are 85 or older. We as the church need to be prepared to minister to these people and help family members care for them.”
The curriculum’s topics:
- What the Bible teaches us about mortal life and eternal life (week one)
- Ways to hasten death (weeks two and three)
- Hospice and comfort care (week four)
- Advanced Directives and healthcare advocates (week five)
- Practical steps to prepare for aging and dying (week six)
- Funeral planning and facing the death of a loved one (week seven)
- The role of the Church in understanding suffering, death, and heaven (week eight)
Matthew Townsend is the former news editor of The Living Church and former editor of the Anglican Journal. He lives in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.