FEB. 2, 2004

AGING
Keeping up with the aging: Is religion ready?

America's 76 million baby boomers - currently aged 40 to 58 - are ushering in a new age of elder spirituality. Not only will they be the largest group of "senior citizens" this country has ever seen, but longer life spans mean they will be older longer.

Is religion ready? Many groups are beginning to pay more attention. The Reform Jewish movement has begun developing a "Sacred Aging" program for congregations. The current issue of Islamic Horizons magazine calls on Muslims to develop a system of elder care. The upcoming joint conference of the American Society on Aging and the National Council on the Aging includes three dozen sessions on religious or spiritual topics.

But some experts in religion and aging say institutional religion is lagging in its plans and programs for the increasing number of older adults. Recent research has resulted in new understandings of the importance of religion for older people. Healthy adults may seek a wider array of activities and practices; larger numbers of sick, widowed or dying people pose challenges for congregational care. One of the biggest problems facing religious institutions has been having too many older members and too few younger members. Now they are faced with growing numbers of older members and potential members whose needs may be far more diverse than past generations.
Another challenge is that many baby boomers have less traditional religious beliefs. In the 1970s, 30 percent of baby boomers reported a great deal of confidence in organized religion. Thirty years later, only 13 percent of boomers had this same level of confidence, according to a 2002 study by the AARP.

Why it Matters
Studies have shown that older people who engage in religious and spiritual practice often cope better psychologically and have better physical health than those who don't. Most religious traditions value caring for the elderly. What will happen when there are many more older people with a wider variety of needs and spiritual preferences?

Questions for reporters
How this issue plays out across the country will vary since some areas attract more older people than others:

Religion and gerontology specialists say many congregations are looking for younger members instead of capitalizing on the aging members they already have. What kinds of outreach and priorities do religious groups in your community have? What kind of longer-range planning are they doing?

Talk to chaplains at local facilities that serve older people. What are the issues they are anticipating as the population they serve grows?

Talk to groups that provide programs and services for senior citizens. What kinds of spiritual interests are being expressed or explored?

Check with local seminaries and pastoral education specialists. What are they teaching about aging and spirituality, and who is taking that training?

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Click the map for interview sources in your state and region

National sources

ACADEMIC
• Harry R. Moody is a senior associate with the New York-based International Longevity Center, devoted to aging issues in society. He has written extensively on all aspects of aging, including spirituality, and is the co-author of The Five Stages of the Soul: Charting the Spiritual Passages That Shape Our Lives (Anchor, 1998). He says religion as an institution hasn't done a good job of responding to aging. Contact 845-365-0024, valuesinaging@yahoo.com.
• Susan McFadden is professor of psychology at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, with a doctorate in religion and psychology. A founding member of the Forum on Religion, Spirituality and Aging and a co-editor of Aging, Spirituality and Religion: A Handbook, Vol. 2 (Fortress Press, 2003), she says religious institutions need to get beyond the idea that clergy will visit old people in nursing homes and embrace a more comprehensive view. Contact 920-424-2308.
• Chandra Mehrotra is a professor of psychology at the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, Minn., with a specialty in aging research and cultural diversity, and founder of the Psychology of Aging Institute. His work is cross-cultural and interdisciplinary and has included examinations of spirituality and aging. Contact 218-723-6161, cmehrotr@css.edu.

INTERFAITH
• Rita Chow is director of the National Interfaith Coalition on Aging, part of the National Council on the Aging. She says the needs of the older population are looming but is optimistic that institutions will respond. Contact 202-479-6655.
• Jo Schrader is executive director of the Association of Professional Chaplains, a professional group with 4,000 members based in suburban Chicago. She says training is available and the number of qualified chaplains is growing, but the number of positions isn't because institutions aren't hiring chaplains. Contact 847-240-1014.
• Teresa Snorton is executive director of the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education, an Atlanta-based umbrella organization for pastoral education that includes seminaries and regional groups. Contact 404-320-1472, teresa@acpe.edu.

CHRISTIAN
• Keith Meador is a theologian and psychiatrist at Duke Divinity School, senior fellow in the Duke Aging Center and co-editor of Growing Old in Christ (Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2003). The book argues for a Christian view of aging that embraces limitations instead of denying aging. Contact 919-660-3488, keith.meador@duke.edu.
• The Christian Association of Senior Adult Ministries in Laguna Niguel, Calif., is an interdenominational group including large congregations and other church groups in 36 states. Executive director Edward Neteland, who has done research on seminary training, says this area is "greatly neglected." He says training needs to move beyond death and dying issues and toward exploration of purpose and meaning by older adults. Contact 888-200-8552.
• Monsignor Charles J. Fahey is the former director and now senior associate of the Third Age Center at Fordham University, New York, which specializes in religion and aging, and was a charter member of the Federal Council on Aging. Contact 718-817-4770, fahey@fordham.edu.
• Kathy Eldridge is acting director of the National Association of Catholic Chaplains in Atlanta. Contact 414-483-4898 ext. *815, keldridge@nacc.org.

MUSLIM
• Ahmed Kobeisy is a chaplain at Syracuse University, adjunct professor at two New York colleges, imam for the Islamic Society of Central New York and author of Counseling American Muslims: Understanding the Faith and Helping the People (Praeger Publishers, 2004). He heads the newly established Center for Aging, Support and Counseling at the Islamic Society of North America and wrote the cover story in the January-February issue of Islamic Horizons, an ISNA magazine, calling on American Muslims to develop a system for elder care. Contact 315-682-0650, akobeisy@syr.edu.

JEWISH
• Richard F. Address is director of the Department of Jewish Family Concerns for the Union for Reform Judaism and co-editor of That You May Live Long: Caring for Our Aging Parents, Caring for Ourselves (UAHC Press, 2003). His department is developing "Sacred Aging," a program for the country's 900-plus Reform Jewish congregations to deal with growth in older members. Almost 20 percent of American Jews are 65 or older. Contact 212-650-4296, rfauahc@aol.com.

BUDDHIST
• Mikel Monnett is a Buddhist and the contact for the Buddhist Chaplains Network within the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education in Atlanta. He is also cardiology chaplain at Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. Contact 314-362-3043, mjm9760@bjc.org.

Background

• The Center for Aging, Religion and Spirituality maintains an extensive list of links to resources and organizations dealing with aging and spirituality.
• The Forum on Religion, Spirituality and Aging is a group of experts within the American Society on Aging who deal with a wide variety of spiritual issues related to the elderly. Liaison Patrick Cullinane can suggest expert forum members. Contact 415-974-9642, patrickc@asaging.org.
• Founded in 1989 by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi to promote understanding and development of spirituality in aging people, the Spiritual Eldering Institute in Boulder, Colo., is one of the pioneering organizations developing new ideas about aging. Workshops in 16 states are scheduled through 2004. Contact 303-449-7243.
• Statistics from the National Council on the Aging show that Americans age 65 or older now make up 12.4 percent of the population. The Census Bureau projects that the 65-plus population will be 39.7 million in 2010, 53.7 million in 2020 and 70.3 million in 2030, or 20 percent of the population. The Census Bureau also offers state-by-state counts broken down by age groups.