Developing dementia friendly worship services

LOUISVILLE — This week’s webinar offered by the Presbyterian Older Adult Ministry Network demonstrated that congregations can serve all God’s children by creating and posting dementia friendly worship services. Watch the 46-minute webinar here.

For the past year or so, Point Loma Community Presbyterian Church in San Diego has been producing short — 10-15 minutes at the most — videos of worship services for families and friends to view with their loved ones. This week’s workshop was led by Elaine Burrell, the church’s congregational care coordinator and director of senior adult ministry, and the Rev. Ben Lindstrom, an 83-year-old pastor who delivers brief, thoughtful homilies for the church’s recorded worship services. Find the church’s memory care worship services here.

“We’re so excited you are all here. Bless you for caring for these special people in our midst,” Lindstrom said. “Thank you for caring and for being God’s instruments.”

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Burrell said the idea for the ministry took shape about two years ago when she and others began noticing several seniors were having difficulty making it to worship. “Maybe it was difficult to attend, or when they did, to follow along with the sermon,” Burrell said. “The service was too long for them to settle inn, and fellowship time can be difficult for people experiencing cognitive change.”

The church “is blessed to have” a ministry media team, Burrell said, but both she and Lindstrom encourage congregations to provide brief services that fit their own context. Services can be offered in person, livestreamed, or recorded and then viewed later.

“It’s not so much the words that are said or the lyrics to the hymns, but the warmth we wanted to convey and the connection we wanted them to feel through Ben’s affect during the service,” Burrell said. “Spiritual well-being is important throughout our lives, from birth to our last breath. We didn’t want people to feel forgotten or that their spiritual wellness was unimportant.”

Simple language and “a clear, uplifting message should come through” during the service, Burrell said. A local Alzheimer's support agency “gave us a lot of positive feedback” once Burrell sent her contact there a draft version of the first service. The agency expressed appreciation for an online tool to help nurture the spiritual health of their clients. “They were the first to say they wanted a link to the playlist to share with their families,” Burrell said.

Lindstrom said that at age 83 his body may be declining, “but my heart brain is getting stronger and my soul is enlarging. I am hungering for simple things,” including hugs and smiles, “genuine conversation, laughter and music,” he said. “I may not know your name, but I recall all the lyrics to every song written in the 1940s.”

“Genuineness and the spiritual depth of the preacher and the singer are more important to me now, not scholarship or profundity,” Lindstrom said. “These days I respond to things that have to deal with God’s nearness and God’s care for me. Anything that makes me feel like I did when I was a small child is what I really like.”

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In his sermons, Lindstrom uses Bible stories “that are more child friendly,” such as Zacchaeus. “I love the sense that God wants to come to me where I am,” he said. Another is the account of the four people who lowered their friend through the roof to be with Jesus. “These stories remind us of essential things,” he said, “of friends who bring us to the powerful and near presence of Jesus and the Holy Spirit.”

Don’t compare your service with others, the two said. “Try to create things that come from your heart,” Lindstrom advised. “Whenever you do one of these, expect God to act. Anything you create believing God can do anything will produce a miracle.”

“These are people who are often forgotten,” Lindstrom said. “Take it to the bank: Miracles will happen, and you can see them for yourself.”

During one 10-minute service, Lindstrom speaks on “The Good Shepherd.” The choir sings “Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us.”

“Psalm 23 says the Lord is my shepherd; therefore, I shall lack nothing. Isn’t that amazing?” Lindstrom says during his homily. “Jesus said, ‘I am the good shepherd.’ Isn’t it wonderful that Jesus is willing to put us even before himself, like an ever-attentive friend who comes running to respond to our need.”

“This is a story about shepherds, most of them boys or young men who kept their sheep with them at night,” Lindstrom says during the homily. “In the morning, the young shepherd would blow his flute and the sheep would go join the flock. Each sheep knew the shepherd’s tone. I hope you know God’s nearness just as those sheep felt that shepherd boy’s nearness.”

“God, your dearest friend, our constant nearness, takes care of us and encourages us. Isn’t that great?” Lindstrom says. “All we need to say is, ‘Dearest friend, I need your help. I need to feel you near, right here, right now.’ I hope you feel God’s nearness. Isn’t it wonderful we have a special friend?”

According to Burrell, once the church began offering the recorded services, local media outlets and POAMN helped get the word out.

“I got a call from a nurse in Nebraska who was in a memory care hospital,” Lindstrom said. “She got hold of the video and thought it was a great way to resource ministry beyond us. It’s a wonderful way to share the gospel with a wider audience.”

“We were very mindful we didn’t want to make it childish — just simple and sincere,” Burrell said. “There are many ways to express care to your community.”

“The hardest part is getting started,” Lindstrom said. Eventually, “you will discover new things you can share with the rest of us.”