Committee on the Spirituality of Aging
The Rev. Mary Ann Hoy, facilitator
Cn. Vicki Wiederkehr, Diocesan staff liaison
The Committee on the Spirituality of Aging explores the needs and concerns of our older citizens, both the frail elderly as well as issues that present themselves to people between the ages of 55 and 75. The three avenues of exploration include the following:
1. Recognition of ways churches in Maine support aging members and ways that the committee can both learn from and assist in those efforts;
2. Inclusion: what are the issues (who's not at the table and whose needs are not being addressed);
3. Ministry to and with the Aging. The three program themes we will address initially are: The Spirituality of Aging; Spiritual Care for Caregivers; and Compassion for Self.
Recommended Reading
Arriens, Angeles: THE SECOND HALF OF LIFE: Opening the Eight Gates of Wisdom CO:Sounds True, Inc., 2005
Fischer, Kathleen: AUTUMN GOSPEL: Women in the Second Half of Life NJ: Paulist Press, 1995
Fischer, Kathleen: WINTER GRACE: Spirituality and Aging Nashville:Upper RoomBooks, 1998
Harris, Maria: JUBILEE TIME: Celebrating Women, Spirit, and the Advent of Age Bantum Books, 1995
Hemingway, Ernest: THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA NY: Simon & Schuster, 1952
Kunitz, Stanley, with Genine Lentine: THE WILD BRAID: A Poet Reflects on a Century in the Garden NY: W.W.W. Norton & Co., 2005
L'Engle, Madeleine: A CIRCLE OF QUIET (1972)THE SUMMER OF THE GREAT-GRANDMOTHER (1974) THE IRRATIONAL SEASON (1977) NY:Seabury Press, 1979
Luke, Helen M.: OLD AGE:JOURNEY INTO SIMPLICITY NY:Parabola Books, 1987
Morrison, Mary C.: LET EVENING COME:Reflections on Aging NY:Doubleday, 1998
Nouwen, Henri J.M. & Walter J. Gaffney: AGING: THE FULFILLMENT OF LIFE NY:Image Books, 1976
Pipher, Mary: ANOTHER COUNTRY: Navigating the Emotional Terrain of our Elders NY:Riverhead Books, 1999
Robinson, Marilynne: GILEAD:A Novel NY:Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2004
Sarton, May: COMING INTO EIGHTY (Poems) NY:W.W.W. Norton & Co., 1994 AT SEVENTY: A JOURNAL, AT EIGHTY TWO: A JOURNAL
Walker, Barbara G.: THE CRONE:Woman of Age, Wisdom & Power NY:HarperCollins Publisher, 1985 WOMAN AND AGING: An Anthology by Women Edited by: J. Alexander, D. Berrow, L.Domitrvich, M. Donnelly, C. McLean OR:CALYX Books, 1986
