As I climbed the stairs to the little apartment, I heard the strains of the old song, "Lift up the trumpet and loud let it ring, Jesus is coming again!" I was on my way to visit Isaac V. Counsell, a 93-year-old retired General Conference accountant.
Brother Counsell is hard of hearing and he lives alone, so when I found the door to his apartment open I didn't knock, but walked right in. I found him sitting next to his radio listening to the King's Heralds sounding forth the message of hope. His face was wreathed in the smiles of a man at peace with God.
He greeted me cheerfully, we talked for a while, and then we prayed for his literature interests. Brother Counsell is a familiar sight in Takoma Park, walking along Carroll Avenue with his cane, umbrella, and shopping bag. This paper sack is usually loaded with the message-filled books and papers that he distributes by the thousands to our non-Adventist friends. He loves the precious people for whom our Lord died, and Brother Counsell intends to do all the good he can as long as he can.
Like Brother Counsell, the other oldsters of our churches hold a tremendous potential for service. For these precious people life isn't all yesterday!
Since 1900, the number of Americans 65 years old or older has increased more than eightfold and their percentage of the population has almost tripled--to 11.3 percent in 1980, or one in nine. Of the 25.2 million people over 65 in 1980, 15.6 million were between 65 and 74 years of age, 7.4 million between 75 and 84 years, and 2.2 million were 85 or older. But as the Detroit Free Press noted: "65 is not old, much less old, old. 56,000 past 65 get married every year and 10,000 get divorced." And contrary to popular opinion, only 5 percent of people 65 or older are in nursing homes.
The American Association of Retired People (AARP) tells us that in 1980, people reaching the age of 65 had an average life expectancy of an additional 16.4 years. Females of 65 could expect to live an additional 18.4 years and males an additional 14.1 years.
The senior population" is expected to continue to grow steadily, then to experience a strong surge between the years 2010 and 2030--when the baby boom generation reaches 65. By that time we all hope to be in that land where we will never grow old!
Reaching 65 doesn't necessarily mean ending one's usefulness. Representative Claude Pepper, at 89 the oldest man in Congress, still works 15-hour days. As an advocate for-the elderly, he helped enact laws extending the mandatory retirement age and prohibiting age discrimination in employment. And he has more goals--increasing health coverage and protecting the elderly against abuse. "I want to get that done in the time I have left, "he declares.
Dr. Jonas Salk says that "one continues to work because the urge to work is inherent in the nature of man, in the same way and for the same reason that trees grow and flowers blossom. . . . We are, or should be, constantly revitalized by what we do, which is why looking forward to retirement and seeking to do nothing can be fatal."
The Seventh-day Adventist Church has begun to harness the tremendous potential afforded by the numbers of the elderly, their experience, skills, dedication, energy, and time. Through Sustentation Overseas Service (SOS) hundreds of re tired workers have served their church in six-month, one-year, or two-year stints in hospitals, conference offices, local churches, and educational centers.
In the spring of 1981, PREXAD, a committee of administrative leadership in the General Conference, established the office of Coordinator of Retirees' Affairs. They asked me to fill that office and to organize clubs of Adventist retirees, concentrating first of all upon retired church employees.
In this long-overdue development we see divine providence at work. We can boast of associations for physicians, nurses, dentists, and dietitians, as well as women's societies. Why not provide fellowship opportunities to challenge the expertise of tried and proven servants of God, setting them to work in outreach?
Today we have about 65 of these wide awake associations of retired church employees functioning across North America --all the way from Victoria, British Columbia, to Miami, Florida, and from San Diego, California, to South Lancaster, Massachusetts.
In Miami, the retired workers from the Inter-American Division conduct a Spanish-speaking club. In Los Angeles, an active Korean retired ministers' group meets regularly. At Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama, the HARAW Club, consisting of about 100 retired workers, actively supports the witness of a large college congregation.
But these clubs are not limited to North America. Word received in my office indicates that such clubs are springing up in nearly all of the world divisions of the church--in places like Sao Paulo, Manila, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, and Grantham (England). Clubs will be starting soon in Norway and Denmark.
While many of these clubs for retired church employees do include some retired laypeople, the great challenge at this time is to organize Seventh-day Adventist senior citizens' clubs that more actively involve the laity. A start at this has already been made. In Huntsville, Alabama, a senior citizens' club composed mostly of laypeople functions to the glory of God. In the Los Angeles metropolitan area 49 Spanish-speaking churches have jointly formed the Greater Los Angeles Hispanic Retirement Association. And in the Allegheny East Conference there are 42 senior citizens' clubs.
We will always have seniors with us--and with the average age of older Americans reaching up into the mid-70s, it looks as though we will have more and more of them. Shall we not honor and show respect for these prime-timers? Shall we not minister to their needs by helping them create peer groups in which people of similar age can get together for fellowship and for the challenge of service in the local church and conference? God bless every pastor who may under take this work of providence!
To secure a sample constitution and bylaws or information on how to organize a local retirees' club or the opportunities such clubs present, write to D. A. Delafield, General Conference of SDA, 6840 Eastern Avenue NW., Washington, D.C.20012.
