Mid-Life Crisis?

Lest anyone think that I am only playing in Albuquerque, let me assure all that I am also using this as a time to do some focused study about several ministry matters that concern me. Of course, worship and fellowship are also important part of this event.

Recently, I have noticed that we have a number of middle-aged members at First UMC who are nearly invisible. These are persons that I formally saw regularly. Excuses heard about this include: they are empty-nesters, some have aging parent issues with which to cope, others are in stressful careers and a few are facing major health issues. In a workshop, “In the Middle of the Journey”, I learned that many congregations are waking up to the reality that these members are doing what is named as defecting in place. Why?

Perhaps, this fading away relates to the place mid-life members find themselves to be in the church. They are called to be the doers. They are the teachers and leaders of others with little support for their own need of finding balance in a complex world. They find their “third place” – another term that I learned – after home and work to be a civic club, a gym, an activity etc.

Interesting facts of this age group include:
-comprise about 40% of U.S. population,
-about two-thirds are overweight,
-are the nation’s biggest spenders and debtors, and
-greatest common denominator among issues is the death of a parent.

The discussion was not on what programs might be needed, but how we could live our life together so that the mid-life members might not feel used, but supported. I think there should be similar conversation at First UMC as we seek to be in ministry with all of our members.