Many congregations say that children are the church’s future, so they launch a variety of programs such as nursery programs, mothers and toddlers, kids’ clubs, youth groups and young adult ministries. And, many times, the elderly and their needs are forgotten.

In the Gelnhausen Church of the Nazarene in central Germany, all age groups are well represented among the congregation and, while there were a number of clubs and Sunday Schools for children and young people, the elderly in the church didn’t have a special time to meet.

"We started to think about how we can serve the senior citizens in our church," Johanna Goldbach said. Goldbach is the leader of the new elderly group at the Gelnhausen church which is called "60 PLUS." Goldbach and her team of seven continue to emphasize that "everyone is welcome, also 60 MINUS’!" In March 2011 they invited the elderly for their first "gemütliche" (cozy) afternoon and it was an immediate success.

By now the 60 PLUS group is a well-established part of church life. Some 30–40 participants meet every two months on a Saturday afternoon for a few hours’ worth of fun and conversation, company, coffee and cake. Some events have already become tradition: a barbecue in early summer, a trip to a miniature golf club in late summer and an Advent-themed afternoon in December.

Other 60 PLUS events include talks by guest speakers like well-known Christian authors and trips to interesting places such as an "Easter garden," which showed scenes from the events leading up to Easter and was "like travelling back in time," as some participants described it. Last autumn the group visited a "fruit carpet" where thousands of seeds were laid out on the floor of an unused church building to recreate the painting of a famous artist.

The most recent trip, in late April, took the group to Wetzlar for a very interesting and informative tour of the Evangeliumsrundfunk, the major Christian radio and TV channel in Germany.

"We want to make sure everyone feels welcome," is one of the goals of the 60 PLUS team. For the regular elderly churchgoers, this is definitely the case. "They’re always full of praise about everything we do," said Goldbach. 

This program has also become a great outreach tool for the Gelnhausen church. For each event, locals are invited in a variety of ways: through friends, a notice board in front of the building, the church newsletter, which is also distributed in the neighborhood and, most importantly, through regular articles in local newspapers inviting and reporting about every event that takes place in the Gelnhausen church.

"On average we have 10 new people at our events that came through friends or in response to a newspaper article," Goldbach says. For an average attendance of 35, that’s a pretty good percentage. And the newcomers love joining in among the church folk. "We think it’s great, all the things you do at this church," one said. "We’ve often read about your events and have wanted to come. We’ll definitely come again!"

And these events are not all the 60 PLUS team does for the church’s elderly. "One of our current goals is to coordinate the visiting of those who can’t come to events anymore, so that nobody gets missed out," Goldbach explains. Another plan is to offer services for the elderly, like mowing their lawns or going shopping. That’s a lot to do – but the people on the team love their ministry. Those involved say it’s so much fun to spend time with these people. 

"What I especially enjoy in this ministry is that the elderly people are always so grateful for everything we do for them," adds Goldbach. "They’re great examples for me, the way they pray and live their faith. There are so many things I can learn from them, from their life experience … I really enjoy that."