 |
| The following program ideas were adapted from a document submitted by the leadership team of the Altoona Alliance Church Retirement Age Ministry of Altoona, PA. |
|
Monthly Themes
|
|
January
|
|
Scrapbooking
|
|
Scrapbooking has become a major industry in
America
. It is a great way to pass on your family history and heritage to your family. Check out the yellow pages or inquire at your local craft supply store and invite a scrap book expert to come to your group and explain the process of scrapbooking and the possibility of creating a “heritage piece” to pass onto their families. Participants will need to bring along four or five photos to include on the page as well as important family dates such as birthdays and anniversaries. Great idea for the winter months.
|
|
February
|
|
Book Club
|
|
At the January meeting, ask people to read one book of their choosing during the next month. At the February meeting, depending on the size of your group, different members could give a brief synopsis of the book. Be sure to set a time limit. Bring along that oven timer so that when their four minutes is up, the alarm goes off! If your group is large, you could select 5 or 7 people to share with the whole group or break them into literature groups such as fiction, non-fiction, religious or self-help. Groups could share separately.
|
| |
|
March
|
|
Easter Celebration
|
|
Time to color some eggs! Most adults do not take the time to color eggs especially if they live alone. This is a great opportunity to have the group dye eggs and then prepare to deliver them to shut-ins or to be used in a church sponsored Easter egg hunt. The retirement age group could prepare the eggs and then host an Easter egg hunt on a Saturday morning as an outreach to children in the church community. Great way to get your retirement age adults involved with children and with the community.
|
| |
|
May
|
|
To feature women as a tribute for Mother’s Day, you could plan the following:
|
|
a.
|
Locate some old aprons or ask the group to bring in some aprons. Give prizes for oldest, prettiest or most unusual. For decorations, displayed antique kitchen gadgets or go the local kitchen store and purchase some inexpensive items for centerpieces and door prizes. |
|
b.
|
The men of the group are encouraged to prepare a covered dish to bring along to this meeting instead of the ladies. It can be the “Men’s Buffet.” |
|
c.
|
The women are encouraged to design a hat and wear it to the luncheon. Prizes could be given. |
|
|
June
|
|
To feature the Men as a tribute for Father’s Day, you could plan the following:
|
|
a. |
The men could bring along a special necktie and share what it means to them. |
|
b. |
Decorate the tables with hand tools. Ask the questions “What was your vocation prior to retirement? Did you picture yourself in this vocation when you were a child?” |
|
c. |
Four women with white straw hats, crepe paper suspenders and bow ties, could mime a barber-shop quartet musical selection. Prepare a barber pole by wrapping red and white crepe paper around poles in the room or bring in a couple of carpet tubes. |
|
|
|
|
For another unique theme for June, plan a graduation celebration and encourage your group to do the following:
|
|
a. |
Participants can bring in individual graduation pictures or group photos and create a mystery board. People can guess those featured. |
|
b. |
Decorate the tables with yearbooks, class pins, class jackets, sweaters, and class rings, school mottos prepared as posters or school pen. |
|
c. |
Invite a current school administrator to speak to the group about the changes they have experienced in education. |
|
|
July
|
| |
a. |
Picnic month – Sponsor this event at a local park. |
|
b. |
Set up a marquee of country fair games. |
|
c. |
Play outdoor games such as drop the clothespin in the bottle, watermelon spitting contest, horseshoes, penny toss, or marbles. |
|
|
August
|
|
a. |
Lighthouses could be the theme of the month. |
|
b. |
Feature lighthouses by contacting a local gift shop to come and bring a display or use store merchandise as centerpieces. Some smaller gift shops will do this if they are permitted to sell the items following the luncheon. |
|
c. |
A devotional on being the “light of the world” could be shared. |
|
|
September
|
|
|
a. |
Back to school! The luncheon could feature items that were usually on the school menu. Tomato soup, toasted cheese sandwiches, canned fruit or what ever items were popular in your local schools. The meal could be served “Cafeteria Style.” |
|
b. |
Feature a skit with “The Lunch Lady” who is very tough on her students or “The Principle” who never saw a thing happen in school. |
|
c. |
Invite a school teacher to come and share what the current new trend in teaching methods is in the local school system. |
| |
|
October
|
| Front Porch Chat |
| A “Front Porch Chat” with a missionary is a unique approach to interview a missionary. Give the missionary a couple of advance questions about seniors in the country they are serving. Bring in some rocking chairs and enjoy a chat with the missionary. |
| If you could identify a food, hobby or a game that would be unique to seniors in the featured country, include it in the program. |
|
|
|
|
Apple Fest
|
|
Encourage your group to prepare their favorite recipe using apples and bring it to the group meeting. Identify a couple of “food judges” to taste all the items. Give away some top prizes such as a gift certificate to a local restaurant or a special copy of a book on apples. A copy of the recipe needs to be submitted with the dish and then included in a photocopied recipe booklet for the group. Devotions can center on Apples of Gold.
|
| |
|
November
|
|
Build the meeting around Thanksgiving.
|
|
a. |
Participants are encouraged to bring along an item to place in the Harvest Home for the church food bank. These items are used to minister to families who are struggling finically. |
|
b. |
Participants are given an opportunity to sponsor a child within the congregation or the district for the holidays by providing a gift for them. This program is done anonymously. |
|
November Christmas Card Meeting
|
|
|
Stamping and creating cards is a major business in the
US
today. In many communities there are “stamping stores” where products can be purchased to make your own cards. These are not the cards you made when you were in grade school and brought home to your parents. These are very attractive hand made cards with personality. For your November meeting, contact a local stamping store and invite them to come to your meeting and conduct a workshop for people to make a few cards. The store will have to charge a small fee for each card made. Your group could create cards for their own use or you could create cards to be sent to church shut-ins or missionaries. Enjoy!
|
|
Pumpkin Carving
|
|
Provide a pumpkin for each person attending and give them opportunity to carve or decorate their pumpkin for their own home. If someone wishes to donate their prepared pumpkin, give it to a homebound person who was not able to attend the meeting. Give prizes for the most creative, most attractive, or more unusual. Serve pumpkin deserts such pumpkin pie, pumpkin roll, pumpkin cookies or pumpkin bread.
|
| |
| December |
|
Build a meeting around Christmas.
|
|
a. |
Each person is asked to bring along their favorite Christmas tree ornament and share the memories of why it is so special. |
|
b. |
A special offering is collected to help the local mission and those ministering to the homeless at the holiday season. |
|
Christmas Cookie Bake-Off
|
|
|
Invite the group to bring along two dozen of their favorite homemade cookies. Encourage them to bring along the recipe to include in a handout for the January meeting. Select a judge’s panel or have the entire group vote for their favorite cookie. Give away some gift certificates to the winners.
|
|
Trim the Church Christmas Tree
|
|
|
Select a theme for a Christmas tree in the church and encourage the group to bring in appropriate decorations to create a special tree. The theme could be a color or a type of ornament such as wood ornaments only, or glass ornaments only and create a special tree for the congregation. Individuals would bring in a Christmas tree ornament instead of an exchange gift. Allow them to give a gift to the church through the decorating of the tree. A coordinator would need to bring accents such as ribbon or tinsel, lights and a tree topper to complete the tree. This tree could be placed in a new location in the church rather than the traditional tree location. Create excitement by doing something new. |
 |
