Churches Neglect Older Folks; Potlucks Won't Do
By Lillian Kwon
Christian Post Reporter
Fri, Jan. 12 2007

Meet the new U.S. Pentecostal missionary, the Rev. John Heide. His mission field: adults 50 years and over. That constitutes an even larger mission field than the teenagers most churches are targeting, according to Heide.

Society is seeing a shift in population to older folks, or what Heide and the Assemblies of God call "mature adults." According to Heide, there are over 90 million people in America who are 50-plus years of age. They are the Baby Boomer generation. And they are one of the largest mission fields and also one of the most neglected, Heide says.

"For the most part, the church is neglecting this area," Heide told The Christian Post. "Our goal is to change that."

Heide became the first appointed AG U.S. Missions representative specifically to "mature adults" in September. But he wasn't sent into nursing homes, where only about five percent of those 65 years and older reside, he noted. Instead, he's going to the churches and Bible colleges to catch the huge population wave of senior adults and expose them as a significant mission opportunity. the rest