Q&A with Faith in Later Life

1. An introduction to Faith in Later Life

Faith in Later Life started life in 2017 as a cross charity initiative, the product of much prayer and planning. There was a sense that when it came to Christian resources and ministry with older people there was a bit of a gap, and Faith in Later Life was created to speak into that gap. Faith in Later Life became a charity in its own right last year, and continues to seek to grow a movement to see lives changed.
Faith in Later Life provides resources, support, and a network, and exists to inspire and equip Christians to reach, serve and empower older people, through the local church; and to encourage older Christians in their faith.

2. What is the charity’s involvement with the book.

One of the early priorities of Faith in Later Life was to do some work to help people think through the theology of later life, what it means to be old, and what the Bible says about it- and how our lives can look in later life. That project ended up in commissioning Revd Canon Ian Knox to write a book for us, which we are delighted is now being published and available for all.

3. What do you hope the book will achieve?

We hope the book will help the reader reflect on matters relating to later life and following Christ; and to enable thinking about what it means to grow older, and most importantly, how God sees us. The book provides scriptural reflection but is also written in a style that makes it accessible to all.

The complete book covers a variety of subjects and areas, including usefulness in life; church and community; dementia and cognitive impairment, and; caring and being cared for. I think the reader will find it useful, encouraging and enjoyable!

4. How do you think covid-19 has affected older generations? What can we do to help?

As we are all too aware, the impact of covid19 has been devastating for many. In addition to the obvious physical impact of covid19, the impact of mental health and emotional wellbeing is far reaching, with fear and loneliness more pronounced amongst those in older age, especially where ‘shielding’. But as Christians there is much we can do. We can engage with older people we know, on our street, over the phone and in other ways like helping with shopping, to ensure no one feels forgotten. And churches can plan how to continue to support their older members, and engage older people in local are homes. And in everything we can pray. We live in extraordinary and difficult times. But we have a timeless God with a heart for the justice, and who calls us to ‘plead the widow’s cause’.

Carl Knightly is the CEO of Faith in Later Life (www.faithinlaterlife.org), a charity that seeks to equip Christians in reaching, serving and empowering older people, through the local Church.

'This is a book about not leaving God out as we grow older. In our zeal for living, it is easy to sideline the One who wants to be there, with us and for us. As we grow older, we want to be faithful to our God, who is always faithful.'

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