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Baylor University
Institute for Faith and Learning
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    • Baylor Symposium on Faith and Culture
      • 2022 Art Seeking Understanding
      • 2021 Living Accountably
      • 2019 The Character of the University
      • 2018 Stewardship of Creation
      • 2017 The Bible and the Reformation
      • 2016 Higher Learning
      • 2015 The Spirit of Sports
      • 2014 Faith and Film
      • 2013 Kierkegaard: A Christian Thinker for Our Time?
      • 2012 Technology and Human Flourishing
      • 2011 Educating for Wisdom in the 21st Century University
      • 2010 Human Dignity and the Future of Health Care
      • 2009 Secularization and Revival
      • 2008 Bottom-Up Approaches to Global Poverty
      • 2007 Friendship
    • Bill and Roberta Bailey Family Lecture in Christian Ethics
      • Bailey Lecture Video Archive
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      • 2019 LFP National Conference
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    • Communio: A Retreat for Baylor Educators
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      • About the Program: Called to Character
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    • Faith Animating Online Education
      • Starting Points
      • A Christian Imagination about Online Education?
      • Cultivating Character and Online Learning
      • Additional Resources
    • Institute for Faith and Learning Video Archive
    • Baylor Symposium on Faith and Culture Video Archive
    • Bill and Roberta Bailey Family Lecture in Christian Ethics
    • Recommended Reading
    • External Resources
    • The Christian Reflection Project
      • Acedia
      • Advent Ethics
      • Aging
      • Anger
      • Apocalyptic Vision
      • Attentive Patience
      • The Book of Acts
      • Caring for Creation
      • Catechism
      • Chastity
      • Children
      • Christianity and Islam
      • Christmas and Epiphany
      • Cities and Towns
      • Cloning
      • Consumerism
      • Death
      • Disability
      • Easter
      • Food and Hunger
      • Forgiveness
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      • Heaven and Hell
      • Hospitality
      • Immigration
      • Inklings of Glory
      • Lent
      • The Letter of James
      • Marriage
      • Membership
      • Monasticism Old and New
      • Moral Landscape of Creation
      • Mysticism
      • Parables
      • Patterns of Violence
      • Peace and War
      • Pentecost
      • Pornographic Culture
      • Prayer
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      • Women and the Church
      • Women in the Bible
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Baylor BU Institute for Faith and Learning Media and Resources The Christian Reflection Project Aging
  • Faith Animating Online Education
  • Institute for Faith and Learning Video Archive
  • Baylor Symposium on Faith and Culture Video Archive
  • Bill and Roberta Bailey Family Lecture in Christian Ethics
  • Recommended Reading
  • External Resources
  • The Christian Reflection Project
    • Acedia
    • Advent Ethics
    • Aging
    • Anger
    • Apocalyptic Vision
    • Attentive Patience
    • The Book of Acts
    • Caring for Creation
    • Catechism
    • Chastity
    • Children
    • Christianity and Islam
    • Christmas and Epiphany
    • Cities and Towns
    • Cloning
    • Consumerism
    • Death
    • Disability
    • Easter
    • Food and Hunger
    • Forgiveness
    • Freedom
    • Friendship
    • Gambling Culture
    • Generosity
    • Global Wealth
    • Health
    • Heaven and Hell
    • Hospitality
    • Immigration
    • Inklings of Glory
    • Lent
    • The Letter of James
    • Marriage
    • Membership
    • Monasticism Old and New
    • Moral Landscape of Creation
    • Mysticism
    • Parables
    • Patterns of Violence
    • Peace and War
    • Pentecost
    • Pornographic Culture
    • Prayer
    • Prison
    • Prophetic Ethics
    • Racism
    • Sabbath
    • Schools in a Pluralist Culture
    • Scripture
    • Sermon on the Mount
    • Singing Our Lives
    • Sports
    • Suffering
    • Traveling Well
    • Virtual Lives
    • Vocation
    • Where Wisdom Is Found
    • Women and the Church
    • Women in the Bible
    • Work

Aging

Many people in our culture encourage us to defend ourselves from aging. "Aging is inevitable," they admit, "but we needn't welcome it, try to understand it, or endure it; instead, we should postpone, deny, and control it." But, how should Christians think about the coming of old age? Does aging play a profound and mysterious role in our calling and identity as Christians?

Our contributors remind us that our congregations are called to be countercultural institutions, "soul communities" in which the young and old are soul-mates bound together as an extended family of God.

Informed by our biblical heritage and a realistic look at aging, we can take seriously the losses we suffer as we grow older. Yet we continue to listen for God's call to contribute to the Kingdom, and rejoice with gratitude whenever one enjoys "a good old age, old and full of years."

The study guides and lesson plans integrate Bible study, prayer, and worship to help us explore the contours of faithfulness as we grow older. The guides can be used in a series or individually. You may download and reproduce them for personal or group use.

Download the entire Aging issue and the set of six Study Guides. Or, download individual pieces by clicking the titles below.

Articles

  • "Caring as Honoring," by Anne E. Streaty Wimberly
  • "Aging from the Perspective of the Cross," by Stephen Sapp
  • "When Suffering Continues," by Robert V. Rakestraw
  • "What's Retirement For?," by William L. Turner
  • "Declining with Grace," by Robert C. Roberts and Elizabeth V. Roberts

Art

  • "The Gift of Years in Christian Art," by Heidi J. Hornik
    • "A Grandmother's Beauty," on Medearis's Godly Susan
    • "Strength and Fortitude," on Michelangelo's Moses
    • "Sharing Wisdom," on Lorenzetti's The Presentation in the Temple

Hymn and Worship Service

  • "Then Dawns the Light," by Terry W. York and C. David Bolin
  • Worship Service by David M. Bridges

Inspirational Pieces

  • "God's Call in Later Life," Beth Jackson-Jordan
  • "Aging with Hope and Wonder," by Terry Thomas Primer
  • "Other Voices," Quotations on Aging

Book Reviews

  • "Come, Let Us Worship," by Terry W. York
    • Gil Rendle, The Multigenerational Congregation: Meeting the Leadership Challenge
    • Henri Nouwen, The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming
    • John Westerhoff, Will Our Children Have Faith?
    • Hugh W. Sanborn (ed.), Celebrating Passages in the Church: Reflections and Resources
    • Thomas Long, Beyond the Worship Wars: Building Vital and Faithful Worship
    • Nancy T. Ammerman, et al (eds.), Studying Congregations: A New Handbook
  • "Caring for Aging Parents," by Dennis R. Myers
    • Peter Jeffery, Going Against the Stream: Ethical Aspects of Ageing and Care
    • Harold Koenig and Andrew Weaver, Pastoral Care of Older Adults
    • Grace Ketterman and Kathy King, Real Solutions for Caring for Your Elderly Parent
    • Houston Hudson, Circle of Years: A Caregiver's Journal
  • "Spirituality of Aging," by Mark A. Peters
    • Joan E. Lukens (ed.), Affirmative Aging: A Creative Approach to a Longer Life
    • Andrew Weaver et al, Reflections on Aging and Spiritual Growth
    • Kathleen Fischer, Winter Grace: Spirituality and Aging

Study Guides and Lesson Plans (Download the set of six Study Guides)

  • "Caring as Honoring"
  • "When Suffering Continues"
  • "Declining with Grace"
  • "Aging from the Perspective of the Cross"
  • "Old and Full of Years"
  • "What's Retirement For?"
Baylor BU Institute for Faith and Learning Media and Resources The Christian Reflection Project Aging
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      • 2022 Art Seeking Understanding
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      • 2021 Living Accountably
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      • 2019 The Character of the University
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      • 2016 Higher Learning
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        • Featured Speakers and Panels
        • Video Archive
      • 2015 The Spirit of Sports
        Back
        • Featured Speakers
        • Video Archive
      • 2014 Faith and Film
        Back
        • Video Archive
      • 2013 Kierkegaard: A Christian Thinker for Our Time?
        Back
        • Featured Speakers
        • Video Archive
      • 2012 Technology and Human Flourishing
        Back
        • Featured Speakers
        • Video Archive
      • 2011 Educating for Wisdom in the 21st Century University
        Back
        • Featured Speakers
        • Video Archive
      • 2010 Human Dignity and the Future of Health Care
        Back
        • Featured Speakers
        • Video Archive
      • 2009 Secularization and Revival
        Back
        • Video Archive
      • 2008 Bottom-Up Approaches to Global Poverty
      • 2007 Friendship
    • Bill and Roberta Bailey Family Lecture in Christian Ethics
      Back
      • Bailey Lecture Video Archive
    • Other Conferences and Events
      Back
      • IFL@25
        Back
        • Select Pictures from IFL@25
      • 2019 LFP National Conference
        Back
        • Presenters
      • Art & Soul
      • Pruit Memorial Symposium
        Back
        • 2001 Celebrating Augustine's Confessions
        • 2002 Christianity and Economics
        • 2003 The Schooled Heart
        • 2004 Slavery, Oppression, and Prejudice
        • 2005 Global Christianity
      • Baylor University Medical Ethics Seminar
        Back
        • 2016 Medical Ethics Seminar
        • 2017 Medical Ethics Seminar
        • 2018 Medical Ethics Seminar
      • One-Time Conferences
  • Programs
    Back
    • Communio: A Retreat for Baylor Educators
    • William Carey Crane Scholars Program
      Back
      • Additional Information
    • Missio
    • Forming Character in the Classroom
      Back
      • About the Program: Called to Character
      • Past Workshops
    • Reading Groups and Guest Speakers
    • Soundings Project
  • Media and Resources
    Back
    • Faith Animating Online Education
      Back
      • Starting Points
      • A Christian Imagination about Online Education?
      • Cultivating Character and Online Learning
      • Additional Resources
    • Institute for Faith and Learning Video Archive
    • Baylor Symposium on Faith and Culture Video Archive
    • Bill and Roberta Bailey Family Lecture in Christian Ethics
    • Recommended Reading
    • External Resources
    • The Christian Reflection Project
      Back
      • Acedia
      • Advent Ethics
      • Aging
      • Anger
      • Apocalyptic Vision
      • Attentive Patience
      • The Book of Acts
      • Caring for Creation
      • Catechism
      • Chastity
      • Children
      • Christianity and Islam
      • Christmas and Epiphany
      • Cities and Towns
      • Cloning
      • Consumerism
      • Death
      • Disability
      • Easter
      • Food and Hunger
      • Forgiveness
      • Freedom
      • Friendship
      • Gambling Culture
      • Generosity
      • Global Wealth
      • Health
      • Heaven and Hell
      • Hospitality
      • Immigration
      • Inklings of Glory
      • Lent
      • The Letter of James
      • Marriage
      • Membership
      • Monasticism Old and New
      • Moral Landscape of Creation
      • Mysticism
      • Parables
      • Patterns of Violence
      • Peace and War
      • Pentecost
      • Pornographic Culture
      • Prayer
      • Prison
      • Prophetic Ethics
      • Racism
      • Sabbath
      • Schools in a Pluralist Culture
      • Scripture
      • Sermon on the Mount
      • Singing Our Lives
      • Sports
      • Suffering
      • Traveling Well
      • Virtual Lives
      • Vocation
      • Where Wisdom Is Found
      • Women and the Church
      • Women in the Bible
      • Work
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