Looking for a service commitment of only a few hours a month and great rewards for your church and yourself? Consider a program like the Torchbearers and the Bridge Builders at Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church on the Emory University campus in Atlanta, Georgia. Like many large churches, Glenn is rich in older adults. These adults are particularly active, especially the group older than eighty years old. They recognize transportation as a growing problem for older members.

Torchbearers are the active 80+ year-old-members who lead other seniors in church activities. Bridge Builders are the younger seniors whom they are training to serve as the first group passes gracefully into their nineties.

The Older Adult Council is the leader of hundreds of sixty-plus-year-old Glenn worshipers, many of whom are looking for ways to continue in active service. And like many church congregations, they seek connections with the younger members, particularly those soon to be seniors with similar needs.

Transportation to Sunday School and worship services for the Torchbearers is the focus of the ministry at Glenn. Two fourteen-passenger buses are dispatched every Sunday, driven by the Bridge Builders. The coordinator of the transportation is a young man who ensures that the buses are functioning properly and the volunteer driver is present (otherwise, he fills in as driver). The ten volunteer drivers are different ages; both sexes; and come from varying backgrounds, such as business, pastoral counselor, housewife, young couple — to name a few.

On one bus, the Torchbearers include a legally blind person, a 92-year old on a walker who lives in assisted living, and a couple, one of whom is in a wheelchair. On the other bus, there are two sisters — one 99 and the other 94; the former dean of Emory at Oxford and his wife — both in their 90s; as well as United Methodist ministers' widows, and a retired, female clergy person.

All who avail themselves of the transportation comment that being driven to the church door by such fine young people and collected afterward gives them the opportunity to continue to feel connected and involved in the Glenn congregation — their home church.

The Rev. Betsy Pittard Styles is Minister to Older Adults at Glenn Memorial UMC in Atlanta, Georgia. For more information, you may contact her by e-mail at betsys@glennumc.org.

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