Customer Reviews

Baby Boomers and Beyond: Tapping the Ministry Talents and Passions of Adults over 50 (Jossey-Bass Leadership Network Series)

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The purpose of this book is to serve as a wake-up call to the church. We are at an unprecedented time in history where greater numbers of people are living longer. Today's midlife and older adults represent a privileged generation having greater opportunities for education, wealth acquisition and influence than any before. Yet, church leaders often marginalize, even ignore, this vast army of disciples and servants.

This book addresses many of the challenges faced by today's Boomers. Readers will certainly have a better idea of what this generation faces as it encounters health issues, caregiving challenges, retirement, and family relationships. Amy's background in sociology and gerontology uniquely positions her to share quantitative research and observations.

However, the true value of the book to church leaders is the myriad of real-life examples of successful ministry and programs that Amy shares. She has interviewed successful program leaders from across the country and highlights best practices and innovations and ways to implement them in local settings.

Amy's passion is for Boomers to understand their unique calling within the body of Christ. She admonishes them to continue to grow spiritually and to live a life of faith and service that will inspire generations to come.

This is a "must-read" for pastors, church leaders, ministry directors and Boomers.

Leona Bergstrom
Director
LIFETIME, A ministry of ChurchHealth

loved this book...challenged my idea of retirement...not a time of rest, but a time to continue growing in my relationships with Christ and people...God will use me for His purposes if i let Him...great quote "the motivation for keeping the body healthy and in top condition should be about pleasing Him and keeping ourselves fit in order to best serve Him for as long as he desires." also, i will continue to grow...being over 50 does not mean i have finished learning or maturing. another quote "...not all adults who are past the age of fifty are particularly wise." OUCH! great reminder not to ever get to a point of believing i have reached a certain age where i don't have to give...that i can just sit back and take...reignited my desire to be serving Him when i take my last breath. i marked up this book and folded lots of corners!!

Amy Hansen in her highly anticipated book clearly defines, segments and differentiates second half adult ministry.

Amy provides illustrative examples of ministry design by, with, and for the encore generation from around our nation based on her freelance research articles and Leadership Network Series papers; undergraduate bible and family ministry training and gerontology, human behavior advanced study; and youthful ministry.

She further makes the case for the need to hire a person for this diverse population segment. Having read and studied the book with the free discussion guide, I highly recommended Baby Boomers and Beyond.

Amy has a tremendous website [...] full of resources which you will want to consider visiting, sharing, and becoming involved.

You may further wish to consider (1) gifting her book to the staff and elected leadership of your church, (2) have Dr Hansen speak to your congregation and community, plus (3) offer a tri-mister small group study of her book. We have tried the first two and had positive results. We are yet to complete the third.

Based on Amy's energy, personality, passion, professionalism, and knowledge, she is an excellent paradigm crusader for second half ministry. Our experience was quite positive.
I highly recommend her as an accomplished speaker.

Robert W Chism
Village Church of Gurnee
Gurnee, IL

This is an excellent read. Amy Hanson has hit a home run with this book. I am a baby boomer, so everything in this book is very enlightening and encouraging to me. Ageism is rampant in our society, and sadly it is also alive and well in the church. It is very easy for us to think that our best years are behind us. Amy's book has some compelling information to make a case for why our best years may well be ahead of us, and she backs it with a lot of great research. Today's baby boomers will not do "old" in the same way that their parent's generation did. They will discover new ways to impact their communities and their world in many ways as Amy details. One of the questions that i have related to this is: "Why are their so few churches around the country that tap into the capacity of the baby boomers?"

As I read this book, I couldn't stop thinking about the thousands of churches in the U.S. that have a significant number of boomer men and women in their congregations. These people represent incredible talent, wisdom, financial resources, time, and availability. Amy's research brings out the fact that boomers both inside and outside the church really want to make an impact on their communities. Sadly though, there are alarmingly few churches that are effectively targeting this cohort for innovative ministry.

Amy makes the point in this book that the standard church opportunities for this group to serve are few and very limiting. Many boomers have honed great skills in life through their work, their leadership experience, and their influence. Some may respond to opportunities to stuff church bulletins, greet and usher, teach Sunday School, etc. Many others, perhaps a majority of boomer men and women, will find greater opportunities to serve outside the church.

Having read this book, I am so impressed with the talent and passion of Amy Hanson. Amy is currently in her thirties, has a PhD in Gerontology, and has lived out her passion for older adults since she was a teenager. She served as the director of an older adult ministry at a mega church when she was 23!

My hope for this book is that it will be read by tens of thousands of baby boomers like me who will receive a fresh injection of hope for our future. We all want to invest well and finish well in life. Baby Boomers and Beyond will help us all set a trajectory to do just that.

I also hope that her book will be read by thousands of pastors (especially lead pastors) of churches across North America. If you have a significant number of boomer aged men and women in your congregation and in your community, you owe it to your people to be more informed about how you can reach and engage them. Reading this book would be a great step in the right direction for you.

Amy Hanson has done a fantastic job in this book as she narrows she narrows the focus of senior adult ministry to reach baby boomers, the "new old," in 2010. From both an educational and practical background she masterfully weaves stories from first hand interviews gathered from a variety of churches across the U.S. and explains why churches must discover new ways to minister to baby boomers. The author is a big proponent of involving boomers in intergenerational ministry. The author describes the "frail elderly," those roughly eighty five plus,explaining how the church can care for and reach these people. She then identified the second group as "seniors," those in their mid seventy's to mid eighty's. In the past, this has been the target group in churches for ministry to seniors. Now, the third group are imerging, the "new old," baby boomers, those born roughly between 1946 and 1964. This group as a strong desire not to get old and are doing all they can to stay young. Boomers are expected to live to their mid eighty's and beyond. The U.S. Census Bureau projects that across the world, by 2018, people over the age of sixty-five will outnumber children under the age of five. For the first time in history, there will be more older adults than children on the planet. The reader is encouraged to help boomers live a life of signifigance and to leave a legacy. Engaging older adults to make a major impact for Christ in the world should be the primary foundation for ministry with boomers. If you are working with people age fifty plus, I would highly recommend this book to you!
El Roy Pankow
Wilshire Avenue Community Church
Fullerton, CA

Wow, this is one of the most incredible resources for leaders who want to be more proactive in embracing, engaging and reaching the Boomer generation. My husband & I devoured the book. Our ministry, YES! Young Enough to Serve, will highly recommend this book to the pastors and lay leaders we serve.