Job Title: Executive Assistant (Part Time)
Hours: 20 hours/week
Salary: £15,080 (£27,898 pro-rata)
Location: Mostly remote, occasional in-person events
Reports to: CEO
About Us:
Faith in Later Life inspires and equips Christians to serve older people through local churches. Our vision is to ensure older people are valued and supported with the gospel. Find out more about us at https://faithinlaterlife.org/.
Job Purpose:
To provide comprehensive administrative and communication support to our charity and CEO. Responsibilities include assisting with events, managing communications, content creation, and general administration.
About you:
The successful applicant will be trustworthy and discrete and be able to evidence proven experience of excellent organisation and communication skills.
Self-motivated with a can-do attitude, they will also be proficient in G-Suite, Microsoft, and willing to learn new tools.
Further Information and Applications
To get started, click the icons below to download the full job specification and an application form. Please submit a completed application form, CV and a cover letter detailing your suitability for the role by Friday, 14th February 2025, to the email address stated in the job specification.
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Later life often comes with a number of challenges, not least the increasing loss of loved ones. In the Bible we find helpful examples of how people mourned their losses, and even Jesus wept when his friend Lazarus died. Helping older people who have been bereaved, either recently or some time ago, to receive effective bereavement support is important and can make a tremendous difference to their later life flourishing.
That’s why loved having Katy Tutt from AtaLoss, and The Bereavement Journey, to our online Church Champions events on Thursday November 14th. Katy has worked for AtaLoss since August 2020 and is based at home in rural mid-Wales.
As General Manager of The Bereavement Journey®, she supports churches in the UK and overseas to offer the programme to their congregations and communities. At the time of writing, there are over 370 course locations as well as a national, online course which runs three times per year. Katy enjoys walking her two dogs, and singing in several choirs.
You can now catch up with the session below:
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We have all been part of teams that haven’t worked terribly well – perhaps we’ve felt unappreciated, never thanked, or our opinions haven’t really counted, so maybe we’ve not felt that motivated to turn up and help. Pippa Cramer, MBE, and Faith in Later Life ambassador, believes passionately that having a happy, motivated, appreciated team is central to all areas of ministry being a success.
We, at Faith in Later Life agree! This is why we are looking forward to welcoming Pippa to our online Church Champions event on Thursday 23 January. Pippa has worked as Pastoral Care & Seniors Minister at Holy Trinity Church, Claygate for over 12 years now. She set up ‘Connections’, a large weekly group for seniors, and she oversees the Pastoral Care within the church. She leads and co-ordinates many different teams, large and small, and you will always find her singing their praises and affirming them. She is SO aware of the importance of unity and that none of what she is involved in would work without these incredible team members, all of whom have wonderfully unique and different gifts.
Do join us on Thursday 23 January at either 1.30pm or 7.30pm where we will hear from Pippa, and we hope and pray you will leave these sessions inspired, equipped and more confident to build and be part of effective teams.
About Pippa
Pippa Cramer, MBE. An Occupational Therapist by background, Pippa specialised in Neurorehabilitation and Care of the Elderly within the NHS. She is now Pastoral Care & Seniors Minister at Holy Trinity Church, Claygate, and has been running ‘Connections’, one of the largest church-based groups for seniors in the UK for over 12 years. She is passionate about loving and caring for older people, reducing loneliness and isolation, and her heart’s desire is for ALL seniors to be given the opportunity to hear the gospel and discover God’s amazing grace and love. She is also co-author of the very accessible evangelistic series for those in later life, ‘Hymns We Love’. Pippa is passionate about building happy, motivated, and effective teams, recruiting, and leading over 80+ volunteers across various teams. Key to her success here is her ability to inspire, invest in and encourage team members, individually and collectively, all of whom have caught her vision and share her love for seniors.
Register your free online place:
Afternoon Session: 1.30pm
Evening Session 7.30pm
Register Here for either of the above sessions
We will send you a Zoom link for the event before or early on January 23rd.
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On May 8th 2025 at 1.30pm and 7.30pm we’re looking forward to our Church Champions events with Ben Boland.
More info and a bookings link to follow. In the meantime, please save the date!
]]>Replanting for Fruitfulness
Just like replanting orchards to ensure future harvests, we’ve refreshed our original Faith in Later Life tree, which has served us well since 2017, to reflect the next phase of our mission. As we continue to stand out in a sector often led by secular organisations, this update allows us to be more explicitly faith-centred.
Same Roots
While our look may be new, our roots remain strong. We continue offering the same expertise and support to churches and church communities, equipping them to minister among older people to share God’s love and lifelong purpose. Click here to become a Church Champion or to sign up for our monthly newsletter. Our core Bible verse is still Psalm 92:12-14, reminding us that the righteous will flourish, bearing fruit even in old age, and we’ve kept our fresh green colour palette to reinforce this encouraging message from God.
Fresh Shoots
At the heart of our work is the belief that a relationship with Jesus Christ is key to flourishing in later life. Churches meanwhile, are are well placed and biblically motivated to welcome older people, to give them friendship, purpose and an opportunity to explore faith, and so our refreshed logo now includes an ‘F’ symbolizing Faith, which also forms the tree trunk and subtly shapes a cross—emphasizing that faith is central to who we are.
Have you counted how many leaves our new tree has? 12 is an important number in the Bible, reminding us to ground this lifegiving work in the word of God.
We Need Your Help
Please update our logo on your website and share the new version, which you can download here: Logo Package.
And if we’re not yet featured on your site, we’d love for you to add us! Here’s our website link: https://faithinlaterlife.org/
“The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green…”
Psalm 92: 12-14
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1. Engagement and Involvement
How frequently does your church offer activities, programmes, or services specifically aimed at older people (e.g., Bible studies, social gatherings, seniors events, care home services)?
o Weekly
o Monthly
o Occasionally
o Never
2. Pastoral Care
Does your church proactively provide love and pastoral care tailored to the unique needs of older people in your community, including supporting people who are: bereaved, caring for others, living with dementia, staying home, in hospital, living in care homes, and approaching the end of life?
o Yes, regularly
o Yes, occasionally
o No, but we plan to
o No, we don’t
3. Helping Older People Find and Explore Faith
Does your church actively help older people in your community find and explore faith through evangelism, Alpha courses, or other introductory faith programmes?
o Yes, multiple programmes
o Yes, a few programmes
o No, but we plan to
o No, we don’t
4. Helping Older People Find you
How are you reaching older people in the community with your invitations to explore faith?
o Our website and social media posts include older people, so they know they are welcome
o We advertise our seniors programme in the local paper and on noticeboards
o We produce attractive, easy to read invitations for members to share with friends
o We partner with appropriate community groups eg telephone befriending services
o Other
5. Accessibility
Are church facilities and events easily accessible to older people, considering factors like mobility, hearing, vision, and those who are offline?
o Yes, fully accessible
o Partially accessible
o Not accessible but planning improvements
6. Inclusivity
Does your church actively and specifically consult older people in church vision and strategy?
o Yes, regularly
o Yes, occasionally
o No, but we plan to
o No, we don’t
7. Spiritual Growth and Support
Does your church offer resources and opportunities for spiritual growth specifically for older people, such as age-appropriate Bible study materials, prayer groups, or mentorship programmes?
o Yes, multiple options
o Yes, some options
o No, but we plan to
8. Community and Fellowship
How does your church foster a sense of community and belonging among older people?
o Intergenerational worship services and events
o Small groups or fellowship meetings for older people
o Outreach programmes addressing loneliness and isolation
o Opportunities for older people to serve and volunteer
o Other
o We currently do not have specific initiatives for older people
9. Calling
Does your church actively encourage and help all older people to use their spiritual gifts? Examples might include helping people to explore what their gifts are, how to adapt and use them in later life, and as circumstances change, and creating opportunities for unique types of service.
o Yes
o No, but we plan to
o No
10. Resourcing for Seniors Ministry
How well do you feel you and your church are resourced for strategic thinking and ministry around seniors work?
o Very well resourced
o Somewhat resourced, and making improvements
o Not resourced at all
Follow-Up Actions:
o Prayerfully identify areas where your church can improve or expand its ministry to help older people have faith in later life
o Consider setting specific goals and timelines to enhance your ministry in these areas
o For further guidance and resources, and to appoint a Faith in Later Life Church Champion visit Faith in Later Life
UK church leaders aiming to be more intentional about the gospel opportunities of later life are welcome to arrange a one-to-one conversation with our CEO, Alexandra Drew, to explore further.
Please contact her directly via [email protected]
Download the Questions for easy printing here: Is Your Church Faith in Later Life Friendly?
]]>The summer season is also a time of God’s abundance. Under the glorious sunshine so much grows, blossoms, and flourishes in the summer; grass, spring lambs, fruit, vegetables, even children! That’s just how God designed it – a time of fruitfulness, a display of his splendour.
And yet for many older people in our church communities, summers, far from a jolly holiday when everything is better, can be a drought stricken wasteland, where everything stops and nothing grows, as leaders take a well earned break, and fewer people are around to facilitate the usual lifegiving timetable of activities. Of course, not every church reduces their missional offering in this way over summer, but many do.
It’s a missed opportunity really. Many older people experience better health during the summer as the warmer temperatures improve mobility, decrease pain, increase blood flow, and even boost our mood. People in later life are more likely to make the journey to church when it’s warm and dry, and more inclined to come out on a light evening than on a dark one. And for most, the only ‘difference’ the long school summer holidays make to their days is the devastation of increased loneliness.
Sunday services tend to continue, praise God, but these are often ‘all-age’ events, which, frankly tends to mean they’re focussed on young families, and often sail rather close to being more like a children’s birthday party than a time to worship and learn from the one who made the moon to mark the seasons.
Holding all this in tension is a challenge, no doubt about it. We want to rest our leaders, and do what we can to keep sharing God’s love and very good news with fewer helpers around, and yet a person’s need for meaningful connection and to be seen never takes a break. So what can we do?
From my vantage point at Faith in Later Life, whether in big ways or small, I see many churches being intentional about ensuring their older friends and members are not forgotten over the summer. The important thing is to give it some thought ahead of time, and make a sustainable summer plan that includes them.
A few principles and ideas…
Include seniors in the planning
If we want to know how best to bless our particular cohort of older people, we need to hear from them, or at least from their representative. Invite them to prayerfully consider whether or not necessary reductions in activities will affect them, and how. Ask for their thoughts and ideas on how you might sustainably meet needs this summer.
You may also find that older active people who are hesitant to commit to leading a year round programme, might be thrilled to be asked to organise the seniors summer programme or a one off summer event. If you don’t ask, you won’t know!
Make more of Sundays
Once the building is open and the kettle is on, why not start the day with a pre-service cuppa, or extend the morning with a bring and share, or summer salad lunch.
If resources are too strapped, simply opening the space and inviting people to come along earlier for connection, catching up, and making plans for the week ahead could be of tremendous value. If one or two volunteers are around to offer a listening ear or prayer, all the better!
All Age should mean All Age
If it really is for all ages, then the service should include helpful elements for engagement and worship for all age groups, and all age groups should be involved in its delivery.
Whether younger or older, not everyone is in a family, and many older people live alone. Be sensitive to this and get the language right.
All age services can still include some traditional hymns, the Lord’s Prayer, and involvement from older people at the front.
This is also a great opportunity for the church family (meaning the entire church) to hear wonderful testimonies from older people, perhaps about their childhood days of ‘going on a summer holiday’, their faith journeys, or heroes of their faith.
Home Deliveries
This is something churches were so good at in the pandemic! Hand delivered newsletters, children’s paintings, flowers, boxed cream teas, and goody bags were such a blessing to those staying at home – they would be a blessing again this summer to older people who have nowhere to go.
Like the idea but need to scale it down? No problem. We’re making some lovely postcards available to Faith in Later Life Church Champions this summer, order here. A card received half way through the summer simply letting an older person know the church is thinking of them and praying for them would be such a lovely surprise.
You could inlcude the phone number for DailyHOPE so they can receive comfort and Good News over the telephone this summer.
Why not ask the youth group to write a pile in the Spring term, ready to send in August?
Day Trips and Events
One church we know of gives the luncheon club team a break from cooking and the big set-up over the summer, and instead they hire a coach and take members out on a day trip to the seaside.
Another shows old movies on the big screen in the worship space and serves popcorn and tea!
These kinds of opportunities are not only good for connection, but in different ‘spaces’ new conversations often emerge – we get to know each other better, and speak God’s encouragement into peoples’ lives in unexpected ways.
Groups and Home Groups
It’s ok to have a break from doing exactly the same thing whilst still doing ‘something’.
Some groups and homegroups simplify things in the summer, still making opportunities for gathering and prayer, but less formal, perhaps with food, or games and puzzles.
One Church Champion shared with us that last summer, instead of their usual weekly meetings for their small group of older people, they offered something different each week including afternoon tea at local garden centre, fish and chips from local chippy for lunch at the home of a member, and even a visit to an RHS garden.
Holiday at Home
Many churches already embrace children’s holiday clubs as part of their reach to children in the community. A ‘Holiday at Home’ is organised in a similar way.
It’s an event which goes on for one day or more, giving older people the opportunity to have a holiday, but without leaving town. It can include activities such as quizzes, crafts, games, hand and foot spas, competitions, music, exercises, sing-a-longs, drama, and food. These events are fun and stimulating, giving people the chance to do things they enjoy, the opportunity to make new friends, and to hear the Good News of Jesus.
Far from being a parched season for people in later life, there is much churches can do this summer to help them flourish, know joy, make meaningful connections, be fruitful, and to receive God’s ultimate abundance; the gift of life in the Spirit.
Imagine what a harvest we might gather in this autumn if we would only tend the fields this summer.
Church Champions
If you have a christian ministry or paid work among older people, we invite you to come and be part of our growing network as together we help people everywhere to have Faith in later Life. Find out more and sign up for free to be a Church Champion.
(May 2024)
]]>Faith in Later Life is part of the coalition of charities that, coordinated by our partners Pilgrim Friends Society, has contributed to the development of Empowering Communities. This initiative has garnered support from key figures such as the Rt Revd Michael Beasley, Bishop of Bath & Wells, and Professor Keith Brown, Founding Director and Emeritus Professor of the National Centre for Post Qualifying Social Work and Professional Practice.
Empowering Communities sets out a vision for social care which harnesses both statutory provision and community-based assets to create a new model for caring well for our ageing population.
Containing important insights derived from scalable grass-roots initiatives, Empowering Communities helps shape thinking and policy-making in the social care sector, inlcuding the need to:
Champion and value the role of volunteers
Encourage the private and charity sector
Integrate the delivery of social care
Endow legitimacy to community entrepreneurs
To find out more, please download Empowering Communities to Care.
(April 2024)
]]>The Bible is packed with examples of older people living purposefully for God, being respected in their communities, and sharing wisdom with future generations.
Abraham was 99 when God promised to make him the father of many nations. Moses was 80 when he spoke to Pharaoh, and the prophet Anna at 84 (or more!) was worshipping God with fasting and prayer, and telling people about Jesus. Abraham, Moses, and Anna are just some of those who honoured God well into old age and are now held up as wonderful examples to us.
Today, older people are still at the heart of many church communities. They’re often the lifeblood of the church; an army of volunteers sharing Jesus through preaching, mentoring, children’s work, serving on trustee boards, leading ministries, welcoming, catering, praying, giving, and more.
As well as supporting ministry across the church, many active older people are using their time, experience, gifting and wisdom to share the gospel with and disciple seniors.
This is brilliant to see, because although we can share the gospel with people of all ages no matter how old we are, exploring faith with someone who’s had similar life experiences and who understands our way of thinking can really make a difference. The result is that older people are hearing the gospel at seniors luncheon clubs, experiencing fellowship and faith conversations at coffee mornings, and deepening their relationship with Jesus in discipleship groups led by those in later life.
Beyond the church threshold, many older people have hugely important roles in their families too; supporting adult children by helping with grandchildren and finances, and with some also still supporting their own parents. These are wonderful opportunities to express God’s love to those who may not come to church, and to share the Good News of Jesus in different places.
God has called each one of us to join Him in His mission to make disciples, and that call is irrevocable.
How exactly we respond to that call changes throughout our lives. For the evangelist who used to preach to hundreds of people from the big stage, being cared for at home now, this will look different today than it did 60 years ago, and yet the call remains.
God, who made our bodies able to adapt to the different stages of life and glorify him in each, doesn’t limit our purpose in His kingdom as we age; there’s always something we can do, even as we approach the very end of our lives.
We know that there are older people in care homes throughout the country, though now less physically active, still telling staff and residents about Jesus, sharing tracts, praying for their neighbours, inviting their church teams to lead services, and living lives undeniably governed by the grace of Jesus.
This is fantastic because there are many people (old and young) in our churches, communities, neighbourhoods and care homes who don’t yet know Jesus. We don’t know how many more opportunities we’ll have to share the gospel with some of them, and the Bible says ‘Today is the day of salvation’, so we need everyone involved.
People can sometimes believe that sharing the gospel is just for the evangelist, but all Christians are called to share the hope that we have. For many who don’t yet know Jesus, hearing about Him from someone they know, albeit someone who doesn’t have a slick presentation, can be much more impactful than an experienced evangelist.
We heartily encourage people of all ages to keep on sharing the gospel, or to get started if they’ve never done it before.
It’s never too late to begin, and we especially encourage those who are in later life to embrace their calling, to use their experience, wisdom and the unique situations God draws them into, and take their place in His plan of redemption.
For some this will mean joining a team, for others it will be pioneering something new, for others still it will be one to one ministry, and for many it will be inviting God into the life of the church and individuals, through prayer. For everyone prayer should underpin our endeavours and we should invite the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us as we join Him in His disciple making mission.
Churches have a wonderful role in equipping older Christians to share the good news, to help nourish discipleship that sustains, and to mirror the value that God places on people who are in later life in the church community.
We encourage churches to value older people in word and in deed. This includes investing in and celebrating older people the way that we invest in and celebrate younger people. Older people should be given a voice, and opportunities for development, leadership, and responsibility. Churches who don’t do this are missing out on older people’s insights from a lifetime of sharing the gospel and drawing alongside others, and may unwittingly miss out on helping people of all ages know Jesus for the first time.
As a whole church we need to be prepared for later life – we need a theology of aging – aging will happen to most of us! So what is the church’s message about God’s love for us and our love for each other as we age?
Are we modelling this, or just preaching it? How are we being prepared for the most challenging years of our lives, and how are those already there being equipped and encouraged to continue to respond to God’s lifelong call to make disciples?
The good news is that help is at hand.
At Faith in Later Life we want to inspire and equip Christians to reach, serve and empower older people in every community, through the local Church. Our website is packed full of resources to help you and your church with this, and we invite those with a heart for ministry among older people to become Faith in Later Life Church Champions.
If you’re in the London area, you’ll be interetsed to know that London City Mission come alongside churches to reach people around them with the gospel – including often isolated older people in the local community. They’ll be holding a practical evangelism day in June, focused on reaching older people with the gospel, which you can find out more about here.
Later life brings with it so many opportunities for the gospel. I hope you feel encouraged to see these opportunities inside and outside your church!
This blog was first published by London City Mission and is shared here with their permission.
You can now watch the podcast here:
]]>In the Bible, every 50th year was a year of jubilee – a year of releasing people from their debts, releasing slaves, returning property to those who owned it, and resting the land – it was like a year of rest and restoration; a time to reset, a fresh start.
Nowadays, although a far cry from restfulness, there remains this sense of renewal when the first jubilee birthday is reached. An invitation to clear the decks, dive deep into pension matters, finally fix the leaky roof, get fit, get focussed, and get ready for the second half. For many of us the empty nest, stabilising finances, still good health, and growing wisdom (please Lord), make this time of life an exciting one, full of potential, and many in their fifties are energetically embracing this time and living vibrant and successful lives.
It’s also the time of life when many begin to consider the future. Recent research commissioned by one of our partners, Pilgrims’ Friend Society, revealed that when people in midlife think about their later life (70+) they look forward to a more relaxed lifestyle, with holidays and special times spent with friends and family. Don’t we all?
But the challenges of later life loom large too, with more than half those surveyed feeling that later life is a time to fear. Top concerns include health decline, having dementia, being a burden to loved ones, and not having enough money to support care needs. That’s quite a balloon burster isn’t it?
But all of these are understandable fears, especially in a society poorly prepared for those of us entering our later years, and experiencing some of these fears first hand.
Although not always getting the recognition they deserve, churches and community groups are a huge support to older people, often improving later life for many.
From our vantage point at Faith in Later Life we know that churches reduce loneliness and increase purpose fulfillment, which in turn improves health outcomes. Church communities also do a tremendous amount of work in journeying with those living with dementia, as well as their carers. And in a culture where families are often dispersed, we know that the church eases the burden on many families by supporting older people in their congregations for as long as they can.
I suppose one of the reasons many are fearful about later life is the uncertainty – experiences vary hugely, and we have no idea how it’s going to go for us. We know people in their 80s, 90s, and more, living really well, and yet we also know much younger people who are struggling.
By the time we reach midlife many of us have some up-close-and-personal experience of later life, through relatives, friends and neighbours. Amidst the stories that give us hope, of older people abseiling and wing walking for charity, winning fencing competitions, and pioneering breakthroughs in industry, many of us have by now journeyed with those whose world is shrinking and for whom joy is hard to find. This gives us a challenging insight into what may be to come, making the statistics about fearfulness of later life further understandable.
Among the uncertainty those of us in midlife do have some choices right now. Fear could bind us with anxiety, which ironically speeds up a decline in health, or it could drive us to grab hold of the life we have and do what we can to ensure good physical, mental, financial, and emotional health.
As much as I’m embracing my 50th year with some of that sense of determination, renewal, and not forgetting a splash of adventure, I’m also conscious that by the time my mother and my grandmother reached their jubilee birthdays, they were already in the last decade of their lives. Old age is a gift that not everyone will receive – that doesn’t make me fearful, but it helps me with perspective.
For now, far from wanting to stop the clock or turn back time, I’m happy to leave my teens, twenties, thirties, and forties behind, expectant of good things yet to come, one way or another, and claiming God’s promises, including this one from Isaiah:
“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” Isaiah 43:18-21.
None of us know how long we have, or what will unfold, but as well as instruction about rest and renewal, the Bible is packed with so much hope and assurance; of God’s relentless love for us, and His unending presence with us, for the whole of our lives.
Right, back to those balloons…
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