By Michael O’Loughlin

The Catechism tells us our Christian ministry begins with our baptism, but for many people, it kicks into high gear after retirement. The Rev. Stephen Voysey, rector of St Mark’s Church, Mt. Kisco, N.Y., said it would be difficult to think of a way that his parish hasn’t been blessed by the ministerial gifts of retired persons.

“In making a rapid count from the parish directory, I came up with at least 15 retired people who among them ‘do it all’ — lector, chalice assistant, choir member, helper at the monthly service for the developmentally disabled, vestry member, flower guild member, Altar Guild member, volunteer for outreach and fellowship events, pastoral caller, hospital volunteer, and more,” Fr. Voysey said.

“With so many two-income families in this suburban community, our ministry would be greatly impoverished without them,” he said. “I hesitate to draw attention to any one example, but I would say that these are the people who quietly and steadily keep alert to where the need is greatest and step forward to meet that need.”

Miracle Worker

The Very Rev. John Hagan, rector of Trinity, Belleville, Mich., said that one such person is a senior member of his parish who “is, and has been for years, accomplishing miracles.”

For Teresa Moore, the catalyst for ministry was the sight of a little girl shivering in the cold on a school playground. Mrs. Moore, who worked at the time for the Wayne County regional education department, learned from the girl’s teacher that she wasn’t wearing a winter coat because she didn’t have one. In response, Mrs. Moore began collecting clothes for children as part of an organization she called “Adopt-a-Child-Size.”

“When Teresa became active in our church in the late ’80s, we started our own ‘club,’ working to complete her vision,” Fr. Hagan said. “Because of her contacts in education, she easily accessed Head Start programs and schools throughout the metro Detroit region” to identify children in need.

“It’s not just what she does that is phenomenal, but how she does it,” Fr. Hagan explained. “Teresa begins every Valentine’s Day by asking churches, businesses, and other organizations to adopt a certain ‘size’ (e.g., for a 10-year-old girl). Individuals within the organization or church then buy clothes throughout the year for that size child. Every year on the Sunday before Thanksgiving, all the clothes are collected.

“Tens of thousands of children have now received a year-round set of clothes, which always includes a winter coat, boots, pants or a dress, undergarments, shirts, socks, and shoes,” he said. Each bag of clothes is accompanied by a Bible, books, and age-appropriate toys.

“Teresa and a lot of volunteers then deliver clothes for the right gender and size to the parents of the child,” he noted. “The child never knows that the clothes didn’t come from their parents, so the parents are the heroes, not Teresa or the organization.”

The program has grown each year, and last year Adopt-a-Child-Size clothed more than 800 children.

“I retired in 1993 so that I could continue the project,” Mrs. Moore said. “I’ve been blessed with the help and support of a lot of wonderful people.”

Asked why she chose to become involved in such a time-consuming and wide-ranging project at a time in life when many people are scaling back their commitments, Mrs. Moore said it was because of her love of children.

“I started the program in 1986 because I saw a need, and I just can’t stop when so many children are still in need,” she said.

“Teresa has thousands of letters from grateful parents,” Fr. Hagan said. “She is to us an example of Christ and his love.”

Assisting Youth

Peggy Jackson retired from the Charlotte Mecklenburg (N.C.) school system in 1999 after 25 years as a teacher and administrator, but she didn’t retire from working with young people. Ms. Jackson has served as a worker/chaperone on three mission trips for the Episcopal Youth Community at Church of the Holy Comforter in Charlotte.

The mission trips have taken the teens and Ms. Jackson to a reservation in South Dakota, an economically depressed area in New York State, and on a home-improvement outreach project in their hometown.

“One of the things which impressed Peggy about all of these trips, but particularly in South Dakota, was the poverty in which the families lived and how grateful these families were to receive the help offered by the participating youth and sponsors,” said parish secretary and fellow parishioner Gail Greer.

Ms. Jackson also participates in the Charlotte Emergency Housing “Plaza Place” program, which provides homeless individuals with transitional housing. Mrs. Greer noted that “Peggy not only participates with her presence, but also does all the laundry after each evening of guests. That’s a lot of sheets and blankets.”

Music Ministry

At the Church of the Resurrection, East Elmhurst, N.Y., the senior choir lives up to its name: Half of the 12 rostered members are over the age of 60. Organist and choirmaster Jennifer Shepherd notes that between rehearsals and the Sunday Eucharist, Resurrection singers spend an average of 8-10 hours each week in church. “Each member of the choir is truly devoted, but there is one member, Lois Brown, whose ministry goes above and beyond the vocational call.”

Ms. Brown, 79, got her start in music as a soprano in her elementary school chorus. “While in high school, she had her tonsils removed and with them, the top octave of her singing voice,” Ms. Shepherd said. “She spent the next two years making the transition to alto, and has had no regrets.”

“Lois sits down with me every week both before rehearsal and an hour prior to the Mass on Sunday. In baseball terms, I may be pitching, but Lois is the catcher. She calls the game,” Ms. Shepherd explained. “While respecting my position as choirmaster, Lois reminds me of the ebb and flow of the Mass, and reviews every single verse of every single hymn as well as the appointed psalm. Text means everything to Lois.

“Lois has also taught me the gift of laughter, both as a musician and as a church woman,” Ms. Shepherd said. “Perhaps Lois’ most important contribution is her age itself. She is able to explain the ins and outs of the older singing voice, which enables me to choose repertoire which will enhance the overall timbre of the choir.

“Retirement is not even a word in Lois Brown’s vocabulary,” Ms. Shepherd observes. To her, “life is to be lived and sung to the fullest,” and her motto might well be “As long as I have one breath left, I’ll see you at rehearsal.”

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