Building Blocks of Faith and the Third Third of Life

This article is part of The Building Blocks of Faith Toolkit—a collection of resources for strengthening faith formation in your congregation and at home, brought to you by Faith Formation Ministries.

Faith is a lifelong journey. Whether you are six months old or 96 years old, your faith is always being formed in one way or another. Sometimes we forget that older people are still growing in faith. They’re often marginalized, but your congregation needs them!

The Building Blocks of Faith describe four spiritual needs that are met in Christ:

• the need to belong

• the need to know and understand

• the need to have hope

• the need to be called and equipped

Older people have these needs, just as younger folks do. Here are some ways to use the Building Blocks with older adults.

• The Building Blocks Chart can help you evaluate how you are including (or not including) older members in your church’s programs and ministries. 

• You can use the Building Blocks of Faith Assessment Questionnaire with older adults to get their input on how they are experiencing belonging, knowing and understanding, having hope, and being called and equipped.

• For older adults interested in exploring their calling in new ways, Aging Matters: Finding Your Calling for the Rest of your Life by R. Paul Stevens is a great book to read alone or in a small group. Each chapter includes questions for discussion of the materials. 

• Check out the DePree Third Third Initiative's 10-session study Calling in the Third Third of Life.

• Faith Formation Ministries’ Third Third of Life toolkit includes many great resources and links for grandparents, including tips on how to be faith-shapers. Many of the great resources are included in the blog post Essentials for Christian Grandparents.

Want to know more? We’ve gathered a wealth of resources in our free Building Blocks of Faith toolkit.