Upstart Active Seniors of St. Kieran’s the results of parish survey

Shelby Township — In October 2016, Pat Rabaut-Miller was given a task: Reinvent senior ministry at St. Kieran Parish.

After a recent parish survey about the types of ministries offered at the Shelby Township parish, the parish council found there was a lack of social activities for seniors.

So the council turned to Rabaut-Miller, the senior representative on the council, to come up with a plan.

“We did a focus group, asking seniors about their needs, what they wanted,” Rabaut-Miller said. “Msgr. (H. Thomas) Johnson was interested in doing something quickly and getting something in place to reinvent how we approach senior ministry.”

The result was A.S.K.S. — Active St. Kieran Seniors — a new ministry dedicated to fellowship and socializing for seniors at the parish who want to “get out of the house.”

After reviewing results from the parish survey, Rabaut-Miller said the seniors of the parish weren’t looking for something drastic or over the top in terms of activities or programs, but a place to be themselves and be with other seniors at the parish.

“One of the first things we did was organize ‘First Friday Breakfasts,’ at Marcus Grill on Van Dyke,” Rabaut-Miller said. “The restaurant is two miles from the parish, so we have people meet there after the Friday Mass. We have 30 to 35 people who show up the first Friday of the month, and it’s a thriving ministry.”

Rabaut-Miller wasn’t sure how many people would come to the first “First Friday Breakfast,” but was pleasantly surprised when more than 30 people filled the backroom of the restaurant.

A.S.K.S., which has only been around in earnest for three months since Rabaut-Miller returned from Florida for the winter, has since organized YoPi – a combination of yoga and Pilates – every Thursday at the parish. In one of the more creative senior programming events, in June the parish hosted “Are You Smarter than Your Smartphone,” where seniors at the parish learned the ins and outs of their smartphones from the best — the young adult group at St. Kieran’s.

“We had a wonderful Saturday school where we learned how to use our iPhones and Androids,” said Charlotte Westbrook, a St. Kieran parishioner and A.S.K.S. member. “I learned more at that class than when I went to a couple of classes at the Apple store.”

Westbrook said that after being involved with the parish for years, along with work and other family activities, her need for parish fellowship changed after her children grew and moved out of the house.

“When you get older, you want to get back into the swing of things with the parish,” Westbrook said. “Seniors want to know they are valued in a parish, where their opinions count; they have a lot of living behind them, but many times, the wisdom we have gets displaced.”

For parishioner Margaret Glinke and her husband George, A.S.K.S. is a laid-back environment for seniors who have seen each other in church for years, but never formally socialized with one another.

“The big thing with A.S.K.S. right now is that it’s all about fellowship,” Margaret Glinke said. “These are people I’ve seen, but never realized I didn’t know their names. Getting together with one another to have breakfast is a simple idea. That’s what makes it so great.”

St. Kieran’s already had ministry for seniors, including a quilting and prayer group and ministry that delivered meals and communion to home-bound seniors.Rabaut-Miller said the parish was in need of a place for seniors, many of whom might not be interested in travelling great distances or making great financial or time commitments.

“The key to successful senior ministry is you need to look beyond the parish setting,” Rabaut-Miller said. “When you’re young, you’re racing around with work and family. When you’re older, in some cases you have friends and family who are passing away, and other family members are too busy, so you don’t want to bother them.”

Seniors want to be active, Rabaut-Miller said, but events that require too much planning and coordination can be too complicated.

“The biggest thing for a ministry like this is to keep it simple,” Rabaut-Miller said. “You need someone willing to lead, but also willing to listen; that’s one of the key issues with any volunteer organization. A lot of the people in A.S.K.S. already were parish leaders and involved. Now they need someone else to pull together the activities. Seniors want to be active. They’re just waiting for that invitation to something that they feel is made for them.”