Church Activities for Senior Citizens Family & Friends Day

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Senior church members may enjoy inviting their family and friends to church for a day of food and fun. Seniors can use these activities to promote senior ministries and encourage other seniors to join. The activities may also encourage family members to join the senior members during worship services. On Senior Family and Friends Day, the seniors are the hosts and family and friends are honored guests.

1 Dinner on the Ground

Seniors can prepare food for family and friends. This may include a dinner the seniors actually cook at the church, like a barbecue or hamburger grilling. It could also mean a covered dish dinner with food brought from home. If the seniors have been active in creating a cookbook of favorite dishes, they could sell copies of the cookbooks to help raise funds for trips and other activities.

Seniors can also plan activities for the dinner. These might include singing, table games or a talent fair. Bounce houses can be rented for the children, and other games can be organized, including a water balloon toss or relay races.

2 Senior Craft Showcase

Seniors can stage a craft fair to showcase their talents on Family and Friends Day. They can use the craft fair to publicize activities and classes taught by senior members at the church. They can also provide a schedule of senior activities to entice other seniors to join them for fun and fellowship.

3 Senior Recognition

Seniors can invite family and friends to join them for church. The minister can recognize the senior members of the church by age and thank them for their support and service over the year. Next, the minister can ask the seniors who brought family and friends to church. A small prize might be awarded to the senior member who brings the most family and friends, who has the most generations of family members present or who has family members who've traveled the farthest to get to the service. The minister can also thank family and friends for joining the worship service on this special day.

4 Making the Trek

The seniors at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Johnson City, Tennessee, take hiking trips every Monday and Wednesday. Seniors in other parts of the country could invite family and friends to join a similar hike in their area. Seasonal hikes to look at flowers, autumn leaves or other colorful events could entice active seniors and family members to enjoy the beauty of nature together.

5 Hymn Sing

Seniors can invite family members and friends to join them for an old-fashioned hymn sing. A senior choir might lead the singing with songs familiar to the group. The selections might include a combination of old church favorites, praise and worship tunes and other church music.

Rev. Kathryn Rateliff Barr has taught birth, parenting, vaccinations and alternative medicine classes since 1994. She is a pastoral family counselor and has parented birth, step, adopted and foster children. She holds bachelor's degrees in English and history from Centenary College of Louisiana. Studies include midwifery, naturopathy and other alternative therapies.

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