Bi-Locational Pastor

I had the privilege of meeting Chris and Kathy Holck at the Boomers and Beyond Conference in Minneapolis last week. Chris contacted me a few weeks ago by email having looked at the website for our Senior Adult Ministry Wild Challenge. He mentioned a church role that I have never heard of, Bi-locational ministry. As he began to explain it to me, I got pretty excited about the idea.

Chris is the Senior Pastor for Faith Evangelical Free Church of Spirit Lake, Iowa. He and Kathy minister in a pretty unique situation. They live and minister in a very nice summer vacation place right near Lake Okobodji. The summer attendance increases pretty significantly with lots of people who own second homes in the area. These people, most of whom are over 50, bring lots of energy and life to the church while they are there, but when the weather begins to turn, they shut down their homes and return to their principal residence where in most cases the weather is more liveable than Iowa in the winter.

Because Chris and Kathy are living and ministering in this context, they have given a lot of thought to the role of a Bi-locational Pastor. The role might be a good fit for a mobile couple who might welcome the opportunity to live in two places for the same reasons that many older adults like to snowbird. Here is how it might work. A church congregation in the warmer, southern parts of the country might grow significantly in the winter in a way similar to places like Spirit Lake swell in the summer. While a church in a place like Florida, Southern California, or Arizona might not have the budget to hire a pastor for their 50 plus group year round, they might be able to afford one for the half of the year when the snowbirds are there. When the weather starts heating up to oven temperatures in the late spring through the early fall, the pastor would move up north and lead the older adult ministry in a summer resort community.

This could create some great win-win situations for certain leaders who might find this kind of ministry desirable, and for the churches who can't afford to pay a full-time 50 plus pastor who would really only work for half of the year. If you had some influential and innovative leaders to do ministries like this, their influence and impact could be incredible. The life and vision for ministry that they could inject into people who, for the most part have a second residence and with that a sphere of influence, is unlimited. Just think of how many churches all over the country could be influenced by the two churches the bi-locational pastor would lead.

I think this idea has great merit. I have just sown the thought to a few friends who lead in Older Adult Ministry, and the typical response is, "Where do I sign up for something like this?" One of the biggest surprises I found in the research I have been doing in this area is that most churches who have a significant number of seasonal attenders can't wait until they start showing up. I was with a couple in October of last year that leads the older adults in a church in Clearwater, Florida. I asked if it bugged them that the snowbirds took up parking places and seats in their church, and time and energy from the leadership that they would prefer for other year round residents. Their response to me was emphatically, "Not at all. Each year we can hardly wait until they show up." For the most part the seasonal residents bring a positive energy and presence to the churches they attend. For the most part they get at least as involved if not more involved than the average year-round member.

This would make the Bi-locational pastor role just that more attractive. You would work with perhaps the healthiest and most mobile people in this cohort. They would most likely be men and women who with lots of good life and professional experience that could be harnessed for the kingdom. The leader who can get them excited about investing their second half years to significantly impact the kingdom could unleash these older adults in unimaginable ways. Each couple like this in each of the two congregations lives in another place where they would take whatever their passion is and spread it to their other church community, friends, and colaborers.

If you could chose two places to be a bi-locational pastor, which would you chose? As for me, I don't know that much about the summer resorts in the North. I'd have to do some scouting. As for the winter places, I'd love to be in Palm Desert or somewhere in the greater Phoenix area.

Boomers and Beyond Conference

This week I attended the Second 1/2 for Him conference in Minneapolis. It was a one-day gathering at Bethel University. Most of the people attending give leadership to Older Adult Ministries of Baptist General Conference Churches all over the country, but it was open to anybody who was interested in attending. The name of the conference was Boomers and Beyond. Richard and Leona Bergstrom planned and hosted the gathering. They have been asked by the Baptist General Conference to give leadership national leadership over this ministry for the whole area of 50 plus ministry, which they put under the label, Second 1/2 for Him.

The conference was very well planned with plenary sessions led by the Bergstroms and by Jay Kessler. The plenary sessions were very motivational. The Bergstroms shared their passion for effective ministries to and through people in the second half of life, and they introduced an excellent video that their son produced for them that contrasts the traditional view of retirement with the new paradigm for retirement aged people to invest the second half of their lives in significant ways like mentoring, missions, service, etc. It was very well done. The title of the video is Musical Chairs. They are arranging for the video to be purchased through their website in the near future www.bgcworld.org/cservice/2ndhalf/2ndhalf.htm.

Jay Kessler did a great job of affirming the importance of the need for churches to have strong ministries to those in the second half of life. Having spent the bulk of his ministry years investing in youth that date back to his years as the President of Youth for Christ and his more recent years of involvement with Taylor University, he is well aware of how the church rose up to the challenge of creating vibrant youth ministries in the 1950's and 60's. Prior to that time there were few churches in America that had a youth pastor, whereas now, the vast majority of churches with more than 100 members have a fulltime youth minister. Dr. Kessler mentioned in reference to this incredible youth movement in our churches that now we need to see a similar movement of ministries to and through older adults in our churches today. The staggering numbers of older adults in America demand it.

Interestingly enough, the youth ministries of the '50's and '60's targeted the baby boomers, the same cohort that is storming the gates of older adulthood today. Those same young people that created the need for the church to rise up and do something for them are again challenging the church with an appropriate response by their sheer numbers. Boomers have forced change in American culture through every phase of their lives. It should be no surprise that they are changing the way Americans grow old. The question for the church is, will it be there for this massive wave that is running through our culture. Will it invent new ways of reaching the unchurched older Americans? Will it also reinvent itself in ways that are more engaging for this cohort of people between the ages of 50 and 65 who aren't planning on doing this stage of life in the same way their parents did it?

The seminars were both varied and practical, and the speakers at the ones I attended were all excellent. It was really cool how Bethel University partnered with this conference. I attended a "Special Interest Forum" that was led by Harley Schreck, who is a professor of Anthropology and Gerontology at the University. I also attended a seminar led byJoann Wessman and Nancy Olen called, "Touching the Whole Person: Developing Health Ministries". What struck me about all three of these faculty members was that they have incredible passion in their areas of focus, and all three are very involved in living out what they study and teach in their churches and in their communities. They exuded a great combination of scholarship, professionalism, passion for what they do, and incredible compassion for people which they live out in their daily lives with the students they teach and in the churches where they serve.

As a couple, Dick and Leona Bergstrom are the very kind leaders that will change the face of ministry to Americans in the Second 1/2 of life. They are not only a great team, but they bring great, much needed optimism to the work that they do. They know this area of ministry perhaps more thoroughly than any couple I have yet to meet, and they have compiled a list of great resources and made them available to all who want and need them. If you are serious about doing ministry to older adults and doing it well, you must check out their website. It is full of great stuff and the best resources you can find.

I just opened up this new Blog for Innovative Older Adult Ministry. I will post any new innovative ideas I hear about from churches around the country that are doing cool stuff that others might be interested in. Hopefully this will be a help to many who lead in this great area.