Episode S2E37 (89): Church Models for Seniors to Finish Well

0:03Seth Muse Welcome to the finishing wealth podcast where we encourage seasoned believers to find meaningful ways to impact their world for the kingdom of God. Whether you're 65 and up, are not quite there yet, everyone can begin preparing to finish well. Now, here's your host Randy has with the founder of finishing well, ministries how habecker

0:24Dr Hal Habecker Well, welcome to the finishing well podcast today. I'm excited. My name is Hal habecker, founder and president of finish well ministries, and we have a vision to encourage older people to catch a unintentional glimpse vision of what God has for us. And the importance of these latter years these last decades.

0:44Dr Hal Habecker By J. I Packer says in his book, finishing our course with joy, we want to finish that last lap and throw ourselves across the finish line with everything we have. That's our mission. But today I want to talk with my competitor, compatriot here, Randy Hess, we do these podcasts together about churches and how they engage finishing well ministries. Our goal is not only to find individuals and encourage them and finishing well. But how can we implement that model in a church, where there is a finishing well sell group, you might say, or a group of people that catch a vision for what God has for them in their church and their years, and how they can encourage other people to do that. So we want to

1:36Dr Hal Habecker give you a couple examples that we know of. And as we give a couple examples, I would say this, you know, finishing well may look differently in various individuals life, the Spirit of God leads us to whatever it is, is important. He nudges us, he leads us, he opens doors, he closes doors, I would say he works the same way in a church, every church in a sense, finish while ministries might look a little bit different because of where people are the numbers of people, the absence, the prevalence, the needs of the people in that particular church or community. It can be all varied. But we want to investigate, talk about a couple of churches. How does that sound ready?

2:19Dr Randy Hess That sounds good. Well, I think that's an important point that we are. So you've been in front of quite a few churches how, over the last several years. So we can't go through all Yeah, we can't go through all of those. But we can at least discuss a few, two or three, and how they have started. Just to give you an idea of what you know, different churches do can do different things if they want to get involved with this. Or as you said, maybe that's this is not the timing for them or whatever.

2:55Dr Randy Hess So don't get frustrated over that if you're in one of those churches. But at least we want to give people an idea of how some have decided to get involved with this and start

3:11Dr Hal Habecker up so let's jump in the first church I want to talk about and you're you're aware of it as well as I am is Stonebreaker Community Church up here in Frisco, Texas. As we start this discussion on all these churches, I would say it all springs out of an individual who has some sense of vision for their their own latter years.

3:31Dr Hal Habecker And they are drawn to the Ministry of finishing well ministry, which is trying to equip and encourage older people to continue to finish well in these last decades. And so God brought a person to us and how he leads us I just think is amazing. We had had a small group of people drawn together in various ways where we started at the Hope Center. And one of those people was Mike Grayson, and he caught a vision for this ministry in his church. And it's very simple what Mike together with his wife Pam has done and we'll talk about them more in the next podcast. But you know, what Mike has done together with his wife. They announce at their church through the media that they're going to do a finishing

4:20Dr Hal Habecker well ministries, seven Essentials Study, and you can sign up for this and take it they meet in the afternoons because they have discovered that a lot of older people grandparents are involved in picking up their kids after their grandkids after school, etc. So they meet at two o'clock on an afternoon. I think it's on Thursdays, I'm not sure. But one afternoon each week and they'll do this for consecutive weeks.

4:48Dr Hal Habecker They may even add a week of introduction to it and they go through our videos. And each segment. I mean each session of ease. They have maybe between 15 and 25 individuals who gather in a room with their workbooks, the study guides, they watch the videos, they reflect on this. And believe it or not, I think Mike's been doing this for years, at least, maybe a little bit more. And I bet over somewhere between two and 300 people in this church have gone through this seven essentials process, studying, reflecting, thinking, anticipating coming up with intentional plans and ideas, to continue to grow well and finish well in their lives.

5:34Dr Hal Habecker And you think about two to 300 people going through this all thinking, all praying, all planning, all anticipating, you think about the impact that will have on the church. And I think it's just amazing to me

5:51Dr Randy Hess how I'm aware of that church, and, and what they what Mike and Pam have done there. And, you know, I I'm just really amazed at the impact it's had. So it just kind of caught fire there it caught, you know, it just caught an ignition, if you will. And the church is a large, large church. So there's a component of it that you could call more senior adult people.

6:25Dr Randy Hess And I think that that group, just found that the message of finishing well resonated. And so Mike, and Pam decided we can help these help them by taking them through kind of what you started, and I've been doing in many, many churches, and that is taking them through the seven essentials. And, and so I think it's just been an amazing impact. And an amazing model for us to keep in mind, no matter where we go, and what we do next. Mike and Pam have taken the message and and, and kind of customized it a little bit to their situation, and their needs. And and discussing it with a little bit like you have I've been able, Mike and I have talked as well as you have. And one of the things that that hit

7:26Dr Randy Hess me from what he said is, Randy, it's just interesting, how what you plan to do sometimes has to be you have to be flexible. And how you do this, because there is such a need such a need in this in the in the senior group to talk about what's going on, and the challenges that they they they have faced and think, you know, they're obviously they're there to get to talk about finishing well, and to end to learn and to understand and to absorb. But there is such a need just to share a little bit with each other. And that has been so what what that has done, I think how, if I'm not mistaken, is it's it's kind of slowed things down a little bit for them. And they want they don't mind that my companion,

8:27Dr Randy Hess but it's just really surprised them how much there is that? You know, they they start, but they don't get as far along as they want. And so it time it takes a little bit longer to go through the seven essentials than they had imagined. And so just an FYI, to anybody out there listening. That could be what happens in any church that starts the process is they find that this is a group that really felt even in a church that has a large percentage of the body is senior, they have not felt the attention or the ability to share with one another. What's really going on with them. So that's been amazing in and of itself. And the people have really really appreciated the message you have laid out for

9:19Dr Randy Hess for Mike and Pam to give through the seven essentials.

9:26Dr Hal Habecker That's great, Randy. I mean, I applaud what they're doing at Sternberg Community Church, but let's, let's shift you're involved in a church that has had a unique way of approaching finishing well ministries and implementing it and bringing it to bear on your own church. So tell us about that. Randy, and

9:47Dr Randy Hess I have I have I have been a part of a church for a couple of years now maybe a little longer. In Dallas Highland country fellowship and I have informally really quite informally just discussed it with, with a couple of our pastors there and met a few times with, with the executive pastor. We don't we didn't have a it's a smaller, much smaller church than stone buyer. But it is a active church. So with about four to 500 members, it's growing and the body is a, I'd say how it's a nearly 80%, I'd call a senior 70 and 80%. And so in a way, the executive pastor serves two roles. He kind of serves as that role of getting everything done for the church.

10:57Dr Randy Hess But he also has been a little bit of a sparkplug, if you will, and thinking through what could our body, what could our body really use and gravitate toward and he wants, I told him a little bit about finishing well, he said, that sounds like something that we need to pursue. We just have a need for that here. And I would love to get that being part of our agenda. So he really was the sparkplug talking with me in the beginning. And then talking with you How about getting it started, and started some of the ins and outs of that. And so one of the things I will just share is, before I get into the fact that we did do it. And we went through a course of seven essentials, with quite a few people out of the body. So I'll

11:53Dr Randy Hess say more about that in a second. But one of the things that that we want that the church wanted to do is try to get people to understand what what's happening. So he invited you to come and talk to us about it ahead of time, kind of in an interview process, but just getting acquainted with it. And I think that was a big, big part of our ability to allow people to absorb what finishing welcome can be for them. And so when they showed up at the initial class and everything, they were more or less mentally prepared to talk about that topic. And I thought that helped a ton how I thought then the I was in the sessions that we did, that you did. And I think every one of them produced just some amazing

12:43Dr Randy Hess discussion, at least from my book. You're right, they did a very helpful, very pointed discussion, and very good discussion. And each one wanted to know more about how that applied to them. And so it worked really, really well. So we went through. So we scheduled then a seven essentials that we felt could be done on a weekly basis, in a period of time. And went through those and and then sort of had a setup for that introduction, and sort of had an ending with a a celebration, if you will, and a launching if you will, of the what certain people want to do. And then we also provide an opportunity for people to follow up if they wanted to ask the church learning more about their gifts or any more about their, you

13:48Dr Randy Hess know, what they wanted to do as a mission. And then learning more about what the church could help them do, or provide for them to do if they were so inclined to use the church as a as a guide for that. And I think it went very well. I know you feel a little bit that way, and that there were some offshoots.

14:09Dr Randy Hess If I could call him that, I guess of people that attended that. They wanted to take it to some large senior living situations outside of his job and so it caught fire there how and I think I'm, we're still seeing results of that. And we're going to follow up with it with kind of a, if you will, a new class and a new group in the coming year or this year. So that's that one. I know we've got at least one more we wanted to get in today. So I'll I'll stop at that and ask you to tell us a little more about central Peninsula.

14:58Dr Hal Habecker I would love to Randy it A central Peninsula church and Foster City, California itself in the South Bay coast south of San Francisco and the Bay Area, central Peninsula church, let me tell you how I ran into this church and, and to share a bit minutes worth about it. Last May, I was on a national broadcast with an organization called Legacy coalition. As a result of that evening on their broadcast, a gentleman by the name of Steven yeh CVA, who is at Central Peninsula church, listen to me.

15:37Dr Hal Habecker And he called me contacted me a month later and said, I resonated with your message, would you help us? I said, Well, what do you mean, help us? He said, Well, we have a group of people in our church called Get this, the Sequoia ministry, thinking of those rare coins raise, I do, too. They have had a group of 30 to 40 older people in their church retired, those who are retired living under trying to understand what God wants to do in their lives in a unique way with respect to their age. And they had been meeting by zoom during COVID, working on this subject. So here we come into a church that is really advanced, that they have a group of older people who are thinking, praying, working, listening to people, and what

16:34Dr Hal Habecker they did, they brought a zoom speaker in every month to help stimulate this process. I just thought that was amazing. So long and short, is Steve sends me a document that's five pages long about their philosophy of aging within their church, and what they sense God wanting them to do. And I said,

16:58Dr Randy Hess the best. You don't Amazing how ministries

17:02Dr Hal Habecker you're doing it. But what happened is that God brought me along to stimulate this process. And they are now not their meeting back again. I mean, COVID, in a sense of is passed, but they're opening up wanting to get people together wanting to have an impact in their church wanting to have an impact in their community. And they are developing strategies in their church, how to connect with other churches in this process, you know, part of its legacy coalition, what do you do with your grandkids? What do you do with each other. And so here's the central central Peninsula church, making an impact in their church and in their community and beyond. And God has called finishing well ministries to step in beside and

17:47Dr Hal Habecker encourage them and what they're doing so they what they may do won't look like it does it stone Briar necessarily, it won't look like it what did it Highland country fellowship as that continues to unfold, but there's a unique ministry happening in that church, which is making all the difference in the world. And I just love it, it's great.

18:10Dr Randy Hess So the so we just we wanted to just share a little bit about some churches out there that a model that or I probably shouldn't use the word model, we we're not trying to sell a model, we're just trying to sell the idea that whatever, whatever direction or whatever start your church wants to do. You know, we encourage you to give it a shot, to get somebody to help organize or get it started. Somebody that as you said, how resonates with a message that, that the aging population can be more than it thinks it is right now, in your church and outside your church, and wants to talk about that, and wants to do something about it. Yeah, and then just get that group started and get him started talking. And if they can

19:03Dr Randy Hess use some, some supporting materials and and ideas from you, you're, we're glad to provide those. And if you want to talk about it, we're glad to talk about it. So please, feel free to get in touch with us. But also, feel free to, to move it along. And to take a stab at it. Maybe you consider that being a little bold in your church and it might be a little bold, but we encourage you to use and be courageous in this in getting just go Go with your gut and get something started and meet with people and say let's do this.

19:49Dr Hal Habecker I love that Randy You know, if I would kind of summarize what we're after we're we're praying and encouraging people To take intentional steps about following Jesus in their aging years, both for themselves using their gifts, you're not set on the shelf. You're not retired. I was in a conversation last week.

20:12Dr Hal Habecker He said our culture thinks you're on a dead end railway spur can't help. That's what you do you retire, you park your railroad car over there, the tractor, you walk the beach and collect shells or whatever. But no, God has a purpose for your life. Yes, it is to enjoy these years. But, you know, growing spiritually, I mean, just on our last pet podcast, growing spiritually, in the depths of God's grace is not something you want to marginalize or stop doing as you age. And God has, he has gifted us, and we want to keep doing it. And one of the pleasures that we have is seeing churches embrace this model, seen individuals who want to encourage others in their community of faith, their church, and they really make a

20:57Dr Hal Habecker difference. And it's one of the most marvelous things I could go on and on about how God keeps opening doors, and sending new people to us. And it's just a blessing, isn't it? Randy?

21:10Dr Randy Hess It is how it is. So again, we're not saying there's one way to do it, we're just saying, maybe it does help if you have someone championing it, to get it going in the church, and, and help that champion, organize it, and kind of communicate and let people know what you're up to. And they will come, they will resonate with this message, that there is more, I can be more, I can be more in my fourth quarter.

21:46Dr Randy Hess Because God has a plan for me. And I love the idea that I have a purpose.

21:53Dr Hal Habecker So good, Randy, you know, and by the way, this is for men and women. I mean, oh, we all whatever, whether men or women, we can make a difference in our churches in our Bible studies in our Sunday schools and our groups and our families. So we want to bless you and encourage you. So thanks for listening to us today. I hope some of what we shared may spark an idea somewhere. And I would encourage you to let the Spirit nurture that idea.

22:21Dr Hal Habecker Contact us talk to some other people pray about what possibilities there might be and we'd love to encourage you any way we could. So thanks for being with us today. Thanks Randy for jumping in on this idea. And let's keep pressing on together both you and me and all of our listeners out there together. May God bless you and Amen read you and have a great day

22:55Seth Muse thank you for listening to the finishing well podcast we hope you're encouraged by today's conversation to continue living out your God given purpose. Subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts or you can find us at finishing well ministries dot O R G slash podcast. And don't forget to follow us on social media at finishing well ministries. We'll see you next time