Carl, William J., Jr. ed. Graying Gracefully: Preaching to Older Adults. Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1997. 156 pp.

Most preachers have noticed that the heads of those to whom they preach seem to be getting grayer. Although George Barna asserts preachers are preaching to a "new majority" of baby-boomers, busters, and Generation X'ers (Preaching, January-February 1997), preachers must also acknowledge that as the population is aging, they will be preaching to more with graying temples.

William J. Carl, Jr. compiles the addresses from a symposium held at Phillips Theological Seminary and the University of Tulsa into a book whose purpose is to be "a homiletical attempt to fill that gap by helping preachers help others discover for themselves how to grow old gracefully to God's glory." The gap to which Carl alludes is the shortage of homiletical works addressed to the issue of aging.

The list of contributors alone is enough to spark the reader's interest -- Walter Burghardt, David Buttrick, Jon Berquist, Cynthia Campbell, Joseph Jeter, and James Earl Massey. Each address is followed by a sample sermon which attempts to incorporate themes discussed in the lecture. A key theme articulated by William Carl is that sermons to older adults should preferably be "proclamations of promise not pronouncements of punishment."

Several myths about old age are shattered within these pages. One myth is that senior adults want to live in the past and are content only to "remember when." Instead, seniors are keenly interested in the kind of world in which their grandchildren will grow up. Another myth states that seniors have quit growing and want merely to preserve the status quo. Those who minister with seniors have observed that they are among the most open to new ideas many times.

Burghardt attempts to discuss Erikson's key polarity of integration versus despair. The key challenge identified by Burghardt is to make peace with one's flawed existence and to come to terms with the death and decay which is inevitable in life. Burghardt suggests that effective preaching to seniors flows out of effective ministry to and with seniors. Spend adequate time with them in pastoral visitation so that their concerns are understood and can be discussed with integrity.

Buttrick and Berquist each attempt to trace a biblical view of aging. Part of caring for the elderly comes from the command to "Honor one's parents." Aging means different things in different cultures. Even in biblical times, life expectancy was much longer for urban dwellers than it was for people in the rural villages.

Carl summarizes this compendium with a chapter dealing with an agenda for preaching. Some of the issues Carl identifies for preaching are family, loneliness, grief, growth and development, and health. He asserts, "Since physical, mental, social, and spiritual activities all contribute to personal health even in old age, stewardship of time, talent and involvement need to be preached again and again."