Are We Abondoning the Elderly for Christ's Sake?

Walking distance from my church building stands The Harold & Grace Baker Centre, a nursing home/seniors residence, that for the past 27 years has been ministering to the aged of our neighbourhood during the twilight years of their lives.  Among these frail residents you will find some Roman Catholics, some who are Jewish, some of various flavours of Protestantism, and others without a label to put on their admissions form. However, if truth be told, most of them (whether Christian or not) are just struggling to understand the purpose and meaning of life during what is probably the hardest part of their life's journey.  To help them navigate this difficult journey through the valley of the shadow of death, they have a rich array of caregivers who have devoted their lives to a ministry that pays little and bring few accolades.

When I first arrived at Greenborough, I asked the former pastor to take me to three places in the community that he felt were essential ministries of the church; He took me to the local hospital, the local community social assistance centre and The Harold & Grace Baker Centre.  Since that first visit 10 years ago, the Baker Centre has remained one of those essential ministries for our congregation and for me.  I don't spend a lot of time there (maybe 3-4 hours a month leading in worship, getting to know the residents and staff, and attending their social functions).  They call me the "singing father" (or something like that) because I usually arrive with guitar in hand and a clergy collar around my neck.  During my monthly visits, I try to get into the heads & hearts of these frail saints & sinners and offer my best to them.  I am always humbled by their strength in the face of adversity, yet saddened by their experience of loneliness and abandonment.

Over the past few years I have also noticed that while our Roman Catholic neighbours faithfully minister to these aging residents week after week, it is like pulling teeth to get a Protestant cleric to offer even an hour a month.  After all, we are too busy doing kingdom work.  We have sermons to write, people to lead, churches to grow, lost sheep to find, new believers to disciple, etc.  In other words, we have better places to be and better things to do.

Yet I fear that in the process of seeking out new, exciting and more "successful" ways of doing ministry, we pastors/leaders/clerics have forgotten how to be agents of altruistic service in Jesus' name, serving others with little expectation of church growth or accolades for our efforts.  Instead, we see ministry to the institutionalized elderly as a poor use of our time, maybe even a waste of time.  As pastors, we would rather invest our time on ministries that bring us success in the form of conversions, church growth and enthusiastic disciples. In other words, we have forgotten how to serve altruistically the most vulnerable of our society -- those whom even, we, the church are willing to abandon in our quest for greener pastures for Christ's sake.

Pastors, Politicians & Fair-weather Friends

In the months prior to the October 2010 municipal election in Toronto, Ontario, I worked closely with our church's local city councillor, Frank Di Giorgio.  He sat in on our monthly Greenhills Community Association meetings and worked hard to promote neighbourhood issues that were important to us.  Yet when it came time for reelection, I dropped him like a hot potato in an effort to remain political impartial.  After all, that is what I was taught to do as a pastor.  Remain impartial when it comes to all things political. The problem was, I felt like crap for months afterwards.  Frank Di Giorgio had invested hours attending meetings, listening to our concerns, researching local issues, championing the things that mattered to us, and then, like a fair-weather friend, I had distanced myself from him when he needed my support.  It's the same kind of thing others people do to me as a pastor.  They come to me when they are in need but I never see them supporting the church when we need them.

Never again, I told myself.  If someone goes out of their way to meet with me, hear my concerns, work with me and the church for the good of the community and its people, than, as a pastor I would acknowledge his/her hard work, rather than distancing myself in the name of political neutrality.

This past weekend, I met with two of our local candidates for the upcoming Ontario provincial election in October 2011: Paul Ferreira (NDP) and Laura Albanese MPP (Lib). Both are passionate advocates for our community.  I consider both of them friends.  Yet I told each one separately, that in an effort to remain politically impartial, I had decided to support the local incumbent during the upcoming election campaign.  I also made the commitment to support the winner of the next election throughout their mandate and into their next election campaign (provided of course that they serve the community well). In other words, I will support them because of the work they have done on behalf of the community rather than because of the political party they represent.

And so I will support Laura Albanese MPP (Lib) during the upcoming election campaign because she has served our community well over the past 4 years.  And I will do the same for our city councillor Frank Di Giorgio as well as our newly elected federal member of parliament Mike Sullivan MP (NDP).  If they work for our community and serve us well, I will acknowledge their hard work come election time. I will not be a fair-weather friend.  Rather, I will strive to be a good Christian nigh dweller.