| The Greater Truths - article by Joel Hempel As I write this, Marcia and I just returned home from a funeral in Cincinnati, where I shared memories of a long-time friend and colleague. Upon arriving home on Monday, we read the email that Ronnie had departed this life and entered the Communion of Saints. It seems I have read this chapter before. And I know I’ll be reading it again. Not long ago, I read an article about the prognosis of a greying congregation. The author wrote, Churches where you see more white hair than children are doomed to extinction.1 In the abstract, that diagnosis is jarring. But writing about a greying congregation without recognizing and naming the people under that grey hair, I find distasteful and insensitive, because he is writing about my friends, friends who seem to be aging rapidly and dying before we are ready to lose them in this life. However, I am willing to give the writer a pass because I understand it was his job to be objective without any intention of offering pastoral care. But you and I know there are greater truths than what the author pens. One: The author does not speak for God. God’s will trumps all trends and forecasts. Two: grey, white, and colored hair has nothing to do with what God can accomplish through a congregation dedicated to being a living witness to the Gospel and to serving God’s will. Three: Mr. Writer, keep your ageist comments to yourself! By God’s grace and guidance, we will decide our future WITH the children and their precious parents. There is no denying the harsh and painful reality. We, the Greatest and Boomer generations, are facing hard times. But we have faced them before. Yes, we are having to say goodbye to all too many friends. But these sisters and brothers in Christ entrusted us with their legacy of faith in our God of possibilities.2 Let us, then, keep the faith and live it. Jesus and his vision for us, not statistics, is our future! 1. I apologize; I cannot locate the article to give credit. 2. Luke 1:37; Matthew 19:26; Matthew 17:20-21; John 14:12. | 
