From the Diocese of North Carolina’s newsletter, Please Note:
As of 2016, more than 44 million people worldwide are living with some form of dementia, and those numbers are only expected to increase in the coming years. While dementia and Alzheimer’s, the most common form of dementia, can be isolating for both sufferers and caretakers, the Rev. Colette Bachand-Wood, Episcopal priest, dementia care specialist and author of Do This, Remembering Me, proposes that the Church can be a bridge to connection, because we already have everything we need, and they are tools we already use.
Banchand-Wood presented some of what she’s learned in her years of working with those affected by dementia at the annual Retired Clergy Luncheon on Oct. 24. She sat down afterward with the Rt. Rev. Anne Hodges-Copple to discuss how ministering to those dealing with Alzheimer’s and dementia presents a special opportunity for us all.
Matthew Townsend is a Halifax-based freelance journalist and volunteer advocate for survivors of sexual misconduct in Anglican settings. He served as editor of the Anglican Journal from 2019 to 2021 and communications missioner for the Anglican Diocese of Quebec from 2019 to 2022. He and his wife recently entered catechism class in the Orthodox Church in America.
