At one time it seemed that baby boomers were respectfully drifting out of the limelight, no longer in the crosshairs of desirable demographics. Little was heard about them unless it was a dire warning that boomers will bankrupt the Social Security system, overwhelm medical care, or introduce another line of loose-fitting jeans. Even in the church, boomer ministry had long been eclipsed by a vigorous Gen X and youth ministry. But all that is changing, drastically, and in ways undreamed.

Baby boomers, roughly 76 million strong in the United States, are aging. Born at about the time the armed forces were returning home after World War II, this largest demo graphic group in North America is about to enter its most significant stage of life.
Sociologists call this an Age Wave, and just like a wave it’s forming below the surface, gathering momentum. When it begins to crest it will overwhelm everything in its path.1
Boomers will live longer, have more leisure time, more disposable income, more educational opportunity, and more mobility than any generation before. As we age (I’m a boomer!), we are rediscovering a commitment to personal and spiritual growth and will be making some significant contributions in that arena.
In the past, we have overwhelmed and transformed every stage of life we’ve encountered. From the cradle to young adulthood, entire industries have sprung up or been revolutionized to feed, clothe, entertain, and educate our societies. 2 Mega and Seeker Churches have arisen, in part anticipating the mass (yet to happen) return of baby boomers to the church.3
We revolutionized and transformed youth and young adulthood, and we’ll also revolutionize retirement. Although we haven’t put it together yet, boomer aging will bear little resemblance to the senior centers and retirement communities today. We’ll face our mortality in our own way, and when we do we’ll do it in such numbers that North America will actually shift from a youth to a senior culture.
Like many other institutions, churches will be overwhelmed and challenged by the demands and opportunities offered by aging baby boomers. However, our attitudes toward senior ministry and the absence of targeted evangelism to those over 55, could leave us ill-prepared to meet the transformation of aging about to overtake us.
According to accepted sociological age categorizations, the first boomer will turn 65 in 2011.

This is the time to ready ourselves for the coming changes this generation will bring to our churches. This preparation requires two steps: an enlightened approach to aging, and an understanding of the forces defining boomer maturity.
Views of aging
Most of us would describe aging as a fairly predictable linear progression from childhood to adulthood and on into maturity. It is a series of stages, each preparing for the next along the way.
During adolescence and young adulthood we acquire the education and skills to pursue a career, accept responsibility, and start a family. We enter adulthood advancing our careers and raising our families.
Around age 55 or so our productivity begins to peak, we might experience a midlife crisis, and then accept the fact that our best years are now behind us. What follows is a comprehensive, inevitable decline.
We then enter retirement and aging, and largely devote ourselves to recreation, leisure, and obsolescence. By now our major decisions and life course have been determined. We’ve progressed as far as we can and it’s time to move to the sidelines.
Although simplistic, this summary describes a linear view of aging born out of the industrial revolution. It has prevailed, more or less, for about 150 years.4 Although it may have worked, it has also produced most of the prejudice we have about our elderly in many cultures today.

Linear view of aging
The linear view of aging tends to cause us to define vital, growing churches, as those with younger families. Demographically speaking, we choose communities with younger families as being more favorable environments for church growth. The linear view assumes someone over 65 is less likely to be converted. It narrowly defines senior ministry as consisting almost entirely of recreational projects and social gatherings. It tends to view the seniors in the congregation as a liability group that requires care-taking rather than care-giving. If seniors are involved in church leadership it’s assumed they are conservative, risk-averse, and change-blocking. It may even assume that the church will be better off when they step aside. The linear view of aging, according to Fredric Hudson, “creates social prejudice against the old, and it keeps those in midlife and retirement reminiscing and looking backward, wanting younger bodies and dreams. . . . [thus robbing] thousands of people of enormous possibilities that they are capable of attaining as they get older.”5
Such a linear view may hamper the outreach and spiritual growth of countless unchurched seniors.

The cyclical view of aging
In contrast, a cyclical definition of aging is not only more helpful for ministry, but provides a more accurate picture of the process. Cyclical aging sees progress from childhood to maturity as a series of life chapters (adolescence, young adulthood, maturity, retirement) marked by transitions from one chapter of life to the next. Each transition is a fascinating period of time when we reassess and reinvent ourselves in light of six core values: (1) a sense of self; (2) achievement; (3) intimacy; (4) creativity and play; (5) search for meaning; and (6) compassion and contribution.6

Adult life is described as a reoccurring cycle of these six core values. Adolescence, young adulthood, maturity, and retirement are all life chapters with their own transitions from one stage to the next. As we approach each chapter and its accompanying transition, we cycle through these six core values, re-evaluating, renewing, and reinventing ourselves.7
As we age we also define and emphasize these values differently. Young adults, for instance, are more outwardly directed when they define their values. They seek a sense of self, achievement, and intimacy. Values such as the search for meaning or compassion and caring are generally less developed at this stage, or put on hold in the face of the immediate need for a career and relationships.