Care Home Worship

How do we live older life well? How can we express our faith and trust in God?

I am always encouraged by the faithful witness of two older people: Anna and Simeon who met the baby Jesus in the temple. Anna “was of a great age, having been widowed after a seven-year marriage, and was now eighty-four. She never left the Temple, but worshiped with fasting and prayer night and day. She came up at that moment and gave thanks to God, and spoke about Jesus to everyone who was waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem”. Luke 2: 36-38

The adult Jesus called people to follow him their whole lives! And that means whatever age we are, whatever challenges we are living with and even when we can’t physically attend worship on a Sunday. Not being able to be with our church family for Sunday worship can be a great sense of loss. People miss their friends, singing and praying together and hearing a reflection on a bible passage.  

It has been a joy to develop links with local care homes and bring worship to where people are, often in lounges with residents sat in armchairs or wheelchairs. A small team have accompanied Karen Noble and myself as we lead a relaxed style of worship. We have a  display of objects related to our theme, residents participate in conversation and offer suggestions for prayers, we share a very short reflection on the bible passage and what is most popular is the singing! Traditional hymns and actions songs such as “He’s got the whole world in his hands”.

The care home staff have shared how important it is for people’s spiritual needs to be met, especially for people living with dementia. This is something we have been aware of and thus have offered Dementia Friendly services at High Street for several years.

God has not forgotten people and during worship we often see signs of connection through their smiles and especially through singing. We pray in each moment they will know how precious they are and loved by God.

How do we live older life well? I pray that our Dementia services and care home worship give people the opportunities they long for to encounter God and be blessed by God.

Please join in me in praying for the care homes and High Street’s Dementia worship. If you wish to support this ministry of love and outreach, please contact me.

Deacon Sarah Wickett