Older Adult Ministries

Dr. Gentzler presents a session at Energizing Elderhood at Des Moines UMC in 2010. For more photos, click here. Gentzler retiring as Center on Aging...

"As I watched immigrant children sitting silent in cages on our southern borders, I could only imagine what grief and fear their silence betrayed," writes the Rev. Paul Graves in a letter to his grandkids. In his message Graves considers the power of sacred silence, both in times where it is a reprieve to a noisy world and in moments where it is an alternative to a silence born in fear.

By Rosalee Mohney | Photos by Jesse N. Love “I’m doing volunteer work because I wasn’t able to say ‘no.’ I’m called to do certain things...

"A perfect hammer is a tool that is used to pound nails and extract nails from wood…but a perfect human being? That’s more difficult...

The process of downsizing has not been easy one for the Rev. Paul Graves as his family moves to a new, smaller home. In his post, Graves considers the value of accumulated "stuff" and the relationship between grief and gratitude.

By Rev. John J. Shaffer What is Lazy Daze at Lazy F? An Older Adult camping experience available for both laity and clergy in the Pacific...

By the Rev. Paul Graves | Photo courtesy of Fabrice Florin/Wikipedia, whitehouse.gov As it happened, I was sitting in front of the TV as the...

By Rev. Paul Graves For his regular column in the Spokesman-Review, Rev. Paul Graves will occasionally use the format of a letter to his grandchildren....

Nurturing Elders and Others By the Rev. Paul Graves They have treated the wound of my people carelessly, saying, ‘Peace, peace’, when there is no peace. -...

Learning to Walk in the Dark By the Rev. Paul Graves “Then I said to myself, ‘Oh, he even sees me in the dark! At night I’m...