New to Older Adult Ministry? Start Strong at the Festival of Wisdom and Grace

A cohort for clergy and church leaders new to older adult ministries.

Have you been appointed or assigned to churches where most of the people are older adults?

Do you find yourself wondering if such a congregation can thrive?

Want help? Some clues? Some support?

If you answered “yes” to any or all of these questions, mark your calendar for August 18-21, 2025, and plan to attend the Festival of Wisdom and Grace at Lake Junaluska, North Carolina. You may apply for scholarship funds to help make your attendance possible. (Everyone will be responsible for transportation; scholarship funds will cover room, board, and program fees.)

Read on to learn more about this opportunity!

Newly appointed/assigned pastors for many congregations in the United States face aging congregations. Many of these leaders have little or no preparation for understanding the dynamics of older adults’ lives. They may fail to see the potential of growing strong congregations through strengthening older-adult ministries so that intentional faith formation and outreach to the community can be realized.

Too often, new clergy leaders and lay pastors are appointed/assigned to small-membership churches with aging populations, and a downward spiral of discouragement ensues. This is not the way to start a lifetime of ministry or a way to grow faithful disciples and strong congregations that meet the needs of the communities they seek to serve. Training for leaders is essential to turn these dynamics around and help newly assigned lay and clergy leaders bring energy and hope to their contexts.

The Festival of Wisdom and Grace is held at Lake Junaluska, North Carolina each August. It has regularly gathered together several hundred people involved in older-adult ministries. Traditionally, this has been a Southeastern Jurisdictional event, but it is now offered by Lake Junaluska staff with the assistance of a design team. This year, there is a track designed for training newer clergy and lay leaders of older-adult ministries. United Methodist Discipleship Ministries is subsidizing this training through the Kern Building Fund so that ministries by, with, and for older adults can be supported. We hope to build enthusiasm for new pathways to growth in discipleship among older-adult congregations and the communities they seek to serve.

The training track for lay and clergy pastors of older-adult congregations will meet concurrently with the existing Festival of Wisdom and Grace. The richness of the total festival experience will enhance the learning and demonstrate the great potential, variations, and expressions of vital ministry and discipleship that are possible. Plenary sessions, the opening reception and group-building, worship, and keynote speakers are available to all festival participants. The first four workshop sessions and some optional activity times are different in the training track.

Participants will hear best practices, join cohorts of people already engaged in thriving older-adult ministries, receive wise counsel from seasoned leaders, and support one another in planning action steps once they return home.

Continued contact through a cohort meeting via Zoom five times throughout the year, emails, newsletters, and the United Methodist Older-Adult Ministries Facebook page will build opportunities to share best practices, ask questions, and seek solutions to local situations.

Those interested in the scholarships made possible by the Discipleship Ministries’ Kern Building Funds should complete the application below:

Scholarship Application

To apply, you need to provide a brief recommendation or an email (no more than one page) from your district superintendent, conference staff member, or pastor supporting your participation in this training.

Application Deadline: May 12, 2025

Notification Date: May 31, 2025

For questions, please contact Rev. Dr. Lisa Jean Hoefner, coordinator of Older Adult Ministries, at [email protected].