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Just as interested in life
Hugo and Doreen Neufeld, 84 and 88 respectively, co-directed the Welcome Inn Community Centre in Hamilton before they were both ordained. Doreen was one of the first ordained Mennonite women in Canada. They are now deacons at Trinity Mennonite Church in Calgary. What is your earliest memory of church? Doreen: I remember being about three or…
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Menno Court celebrates 50th and looks to expand
In July, a 170-unit residential building serving low-income seniors in Vancouver celebrated its 50th anniversary. Menno Court was built in 1974 as a joint project of Mennonite Brethren and General Conference congregations in Greater Vancouver. At the time, many senior Mennonites, particularly women, were living in unsuitable accommodations. In response to a 1969 call to…
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Moving with the times
Three times a week, Arnie Nickel leads a 45-minute exercise session for seniors on Zoom, a virtual-meeting app. Participants are enthusiastic and their numbers are growing. It all began eight or nine years ago, when a small group of seniors at Nutana Park Mennonite Church in Saskatoon started an exercise group under the Saskatoon-based Forever…
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The gifts of grey hair
“O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. So even to old age and grey hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to all the generations to come” (Psalm 71:17-18). I have grey hair; this is where life has placed me. I am…
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Thankfulness in a taxicab
Eva Klaassen lives in a seniors housing complex in Prince Albert. She doesn’t own a car, so every Sunday morning she takes a taxi to Grace Mennonite Church. Many of the drivers are new to Canada, she says, but all are very friendly. Often, when they find out that she wants them to take her…
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Green bench wisdom
The concept is simple. In a public place, an older adult sits on a green bench that is marked with the hashtag #ElderWisdom. Community members are invited to sit and engage in conversation about the senior’s life, experience and insights. Afterwards, community members can share about their experience on social media, using the hashtag. The…
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‘God just isn’t finished with me yet’
I was raised in a family with Scottish Presbyterian roots, where no one talked about faith for fear of being “too religious.” We trusted that seniors had it all figured out and their faith carried them, although we would be stretched to say we understood how. I wonder sometimes about their experience with God and…
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Still the same inside
For Anita Lehmann, home is the dementia unit at the Mennonite Nursing Home. But unlike most of the unit’s 29 other residents, Lehmann doesn’t suffer from dementia. When it became evident she needed care, Lehmann took the only room available in the 68-bed facility, which happened to be in what staff refer to as the…
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A soon-to-be favourite recipe
We all have our favourite recipes. There is the tried and true. Or there’s the newly created ones that are fun to test and then turn into classics. One tried and true combination in life is older adults and children, yet it is a combination that may not be as common as either group would…
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Prodigal pastor
Seventy-four-year-old George Ediger rushed out of church during the final song and caught up with the newcomer in the parking lot before the big young visitor with the shaved head and biker beard could escape in the maroon hot rod that stood out among the grey and beige sedans. That gesture of welcome, although not…
