Posted Wednesday 1 July 2009
Faith in Older People (FIOP), a project originally started in the Diocese of Edinburgh, aims to celebrate the lives of older people, supporting their spiritual care and that of their carers and families. The three part-time staff work to increase understanding of the spiritual dimension of the care of older people and their families by drawing on the expertise of a network of specialists in the field of gerontology and a range of caring organisations throughout Scotland. As Scotland’s elderly population reaches proportions hitherto unknown, the issue of how churches care for those in the ‘Fourth Age’ – the stage when one becomes unavoidably in need of care and dependant upon others – is likely to loom ever larger on the agenda.
It was cheering to see how committed the participants at last evening’s preliminary meeting in St Mary’s Cathedral were to tackling these issues ecumenically. Two ecumenical groupings of churches – in Glasgow’s West End and Dumfries - registered interest in developing work in this field aided by FIOP’s expertise. Feelers were also put out to see how FIOP might help to offer CMD for Pastoral Assistants across the Diocese alongside elders/lay pastors from partner denominations, possibly on a twice-yearly basis.
Category: Ministry Development
