Description
Table of Contents
How can the black church fully and successfully forge ahead without recognizing the contributions, wisdom, knowledge, and insight of those who laid the foundation for its existence today? The authors of Our Help in Ages Past proclaim it cannot. Saucer and Elster issue a wake-up call to black churches everywhere: a wake up call to recognize the past and to reap the benefits of all the elderly have to offer, and are waiting to give.
Our Help in Ages Past issues a challenge to the members and leadership of African American churches to make concerted efforts to meet the needs of the elderly in churches and in the larger community. This book offers guidance for acknowledging and responding to the needs of the very ones who have gone before, those whose sacrifices and commitments have made the church what it is today, while issuing an invitation to make use of the many ministry gifts older people have to offer.
Reviews
"This book...deftly blends statistical data and pastoral sensitivity in the treatment of this issue of elderly persons among us." —James H. Evans, Jr., Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School
"A positive-minded approach for how black churches can dramatically transform themselves, to the betterment of their faithful and to society at large." —John Taylor, The Midwest Book Review
"Our Help in Ages Past is a primer to African American churches who want to respond to the growing ministry of needs of elders in their congregations and communities." —Rev. Dr. Ramonia L. Lee, Minister of Congregational Life, The Inter-Faith Chapel, Leisure World, Silver Spring, MD
Author Bio
A resident of Detroit, Michigan, Jean Alicia Elster, JD, is a professional editor and writer whose articles have appeared in national publications such as World Vision and Black Child. In addition to the Joe Joe in the City series, she is the author of the young adult novel Who's Jim Hines? (Wayne State University Press) which was selected as a Notable Book by the Library of Michigan. She also collaborated in the manuscript preparation for the award-winning Dear Mrs. Parks: A Dialogue with Today's Youth by Rosa Parks (Lee & Low Books). She is the editor of several books published by Judson Press including Playbook for Christian Manhood: 12 Key Plays for Black Teen Boys by James C. Perkins and Profiles in Black: Phat Facts for Teens by Marvin A. McMickle.
Jean Alicia Elster and her husband are the parents of a son and a daughter.
A resident of Decatur, Georgia, Bobby Joe Saucer is a retired minister from The Ministers and Missionaries Benefit Board of the American Baptist Churches USA. This former Dean of the Morehouse School of Religion is considered a pioneer in the areas of theological educational program planning, design, implementation, and evaluation. Saucer has implemented numerous educational conferences, internships, and endowments including, a scholarship endowed fund at Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta. His numerous studies include gerontology at Brandeis University and he holds degrees from Southern University, Colgate Rochester Divinity School, and Andover Newton Theological School.