California Lutheran Homes Center for Spirituality and Aging

Connie Goldman is an award-winning radio producer and reporter, beginning her broadcast career with Minnesota Public Radio. Later she worked for several years o...n the staff of National Public Radio in Washington D.C. For the past 30 years her public radio programs, books, and lectures have been exclusively concerned with the changes and challenges of aging.To honor Connie for her many contributions to Sage-ing and Conscious Aging and to celebrate her 86 years of life experience, Sage-ing International has established the Connie Goldman Scholarship Endowment Fund. See more

An amazing group of people will be presenting papers, posters, and workshops at #agespiritconf17 in Chicago in June. Check out the website for a list of presenters!

Debbie Reslock on #ConsciousAging: "Like many, I’ve been exposed to the belief that the one true thing about getting old is that no one in their right mind would want to do it. But I started asking myself: What if everyone had been wrong? What if this really was a time that could open up possibilities for a life I hadn’t even taken the time to imagine?" #agingwell #3rdchapteroflife

Rabbi Richard Address' Sacred Aging project was given a First Place Best Practices in Older Adult Program award by the National Council on Aging and Interfaith Coalition on Aging. He will speak about Creating New Rituals For New Life Stages at the 7th International Conference at Concordia - Chicago in June.

Rev. Dr. John M. Buchanan, Pastor Emeritus of the Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago, will speak about Living a Complete Life at the 7th International Conference at Concordia - Chicago in June.

Reverend Eileen W. Lindner, Senior Pastor, Presbyterian Church at Tenafly and Dean of the Chapel at the Children’s Defense Fund’s Annual Proctor Institute for Child Advocacy Ministry speak about Living a Complete Life at the 7th International Conference at Concordia - Chicago in June.

A message from Nancy Gordon Director of California Lutheran Homes Center for Spirituality and Aging on her retirement: A little over a year ago, I let my employers know that I was planning on retiring at the end of March, 2017. At about the same time the decision was made to think about the CLH Center in a new way. We began to think of the CLH Center as a Center that focused on providing resources, training, and support for congregations who wanted to start or strengthen o...lder adult ministries. The part of the Center that historically worked with providers of services to older adults would transition to our retirement community partner, Front Porch. We discovered that change is sometimes a slow process. As I retire the shape of the future in both places is not totally clear. What is clear is that the CLH Center ,in its 17 years of providing educational events and resources for professionals in both congregations and residential settings, has amassed a fair amount of work. Two books edited by Donald Koepke and multiple articles and presentations by both Don and me are still available for use. We hosted the 6th International Conference on Ageing and Spirituality in its first session in the United States, which was a high point for the Center. For the immediate future the CLH Center is on a hiatus. In upcoming months the board will make decisions about how its ministry will function. The piece of the Center that moved to Front Porch Retirement Communities is also under development with its exact shape still to be determined. Sometimes endings come with ambiguities! But I'm experiencing this particular ending in my work life to be a good one, in spite of the ambiguities. I have personally found serving as the director of the Center to have been an incredible blessing. I have had the opportunity to think and learn and grow. And in the process I have met some incredible people. It has been a real privilege to write this newsletter to you. Your responses and feedback have been encouraging. It's also been gratifying to leave both portions of the Center with at least a road map for the future. Thank you for being a part of the Center's life. Look for word from the Center in a few months about its new directions.

"Suffering helped me comprehend once again what is useful and attainable in this life. Suffering motivated me to re-engage. I transformed the foreign, figuratively and literally, into the familiar. Suffering can precipitate creativity, liberating the creator through inspiration and then many available channels of human communication including painting, sculpting, songwriting, personal essays, poetry, photography, and videos. Therefore, I discovered there is value in suffering."

A FREE four week experience at St. Paul's Monterey Park with Donald Koepke exploring how our aging affects our spiritual self and how our spiritual self affects our aging. Older adults, caregivers, and responsible parties are encouraged to attend. This Sunday, February 5: "Why Grow Old?"

Great article in The New York Times highlighting the work of the Front Porch Center for Innovation and Wellbeing! #virtualreality #robots #robotics #seniorliving #agetech #aging https://www.nytimes.com//robots-ai-elder-care-assisted-liv