Franklin (Tennessee) First United Methodist Church offers a monthly worship service intentionally created for people who are living with mild-to-moderate dementia symptoms.
ENCORE Ministry, the official older adult ministry of the Tennessee-Western Kentucky Conference of The United Methodist Church (TWK), awarded $205,502 to 26 churches and organizations in 2022.
The program, We Remember You, provides holistic and all-encompassing support to family caregivers of persons living with dementia. It also supports community education programs.
Advance care planning is important for adults at any age. During an emergency or at the end of life, you or your loved ones may not be capable of making decisions about medical care.
While summer 2022’s sizzle is just a steamy memory, members of Epworth UMC in Franklin, Tennessee, still feel grateful for the $8,000 ENCORE Ministry grant that helped them update the HVAC system for the sanctuary.
For more than 45 years, Mountain T.O.P. (Tennessee Outreach Project) has offered home repair and day camp programs to individuals and families experiencing persistent poverty in Cumberland Mountain counties. As in many rural places, fewer resources exist for older adults and community-wide issues such as food insecurity and health-related emergencies tend to overshadow older adults’ physical, emotional, and spiritual needs.
A $20,000 grant from ENCORE Ministry this year helped increase services to that older population.
Sooner or later, everyone endures bereavement — the experience of the death of a loved one. Our emotional response to bereavement is grief, a personal experience whose duration and depth can vary from individual to individual. Some people recover quickly from a loss and move on. Other people grieve intensely for a short period before finding peace while other individuals feel profound grief for years.
Jackie Blaesi-Freed, assistant director, department of Justice Consumer Protection Branch, shares a story about an 87-year-old woman in California who received a call from someone claiming to be the woman’s granddaughter. The “granddaughter” stated she had been arrested following a car accident and needed $9,000 for bail.
With 65 percent of active members older than 65, Millington (Tennessee) First United Methodist Church (FUMC) is a graying congregation. However, the church is located in a diverse neighborhood with a high school, intermediate school, and single-family starter homes. In March, church members began an inter-generational outreach ministry — pickleball for all ages.
Memphis’ St. Matthew’s United Methodist Church received a $7,250 ENCORE Ministry grant to help renovate a storm-damaged room and make it a safe and inviting workout area for senior adults. Church member and community residents use the facility.