Having a passion for creative programs to promote healthy, faith-filled aging led us to develop "Coming Fully Alive As You Age" (CFA). This is a program cosponsored since 2001 by Senior New Ways (a nonprofit corporation spin-off from Los Altos UMC's Older Adult Ministry) and the Center for Aging and Spirituality. We received a grant in 2003 from the United Methodist Committee on Older Adult Ministries, which helped us expand beyond one church. Seniors have an opportunity to learn factual information about healthy aging, and then plan lifestyle changes to enhance general well-being. Normally, the program is taught once a week for one and a half hours for a month, but other formats are possible.

Because our culture places so much emphasis on the physical, people often become despondent as they age, not realizing that growth in mind and spirit can continue until death. One way of helping elders continue to develop is to bring them together in churches and other centers to learn new information about healthy aging and then apply the information to their own lives by sharing their stories at the gathering. This is the purpose of the "Coming Fully Alive As you Age" program. The topics addressed include "Finding Meaning in Life"; "Being Fully Alive in Body, Mind and Spirit"; "Aging As a Spiritual Journey"; and the "Uplifting Power of Humor."

This program is unique because it is a partnership of two agencies with the aim of developing the body-mind-spirit-social relationships of older adults. It combines lectures by professionals with meaningful interactions among seniors. Participants come to be quite bonded and supportive of one another's growth through the life-story sharing. The interaction itself, the addressing of new questions, the spiritual content, and content on brain fitness and laughter, and the actual laughter itself all enhance well-being.

The program has been replicated twenty-eight times since its initial offering — at many Bay Area United Methodist churches, including those with predominantly Filipino and African American congregants; in Palo Alto and Foster City Jewish Community Centers, Congregation Beth Am; St. Williams Roman Catholic Church; Sierra Nevada Hospital Wellness Center; and the Avenidas Palo Alto Senior Center.

The target population group of this project has been frail elders and more robust seniors. The program costs $150 per session for teacher fees, plus a modest amount for Senior New Ways' administration. Program site groups work with the Senior New Ways' Executive Director to arrange scheduling, publicity ideas, speaker introductions, and space preparation. It is essential to have at least one person (lay or clergy) responsible at the site for promoting the program, arranging rooms, being in contact with Senior New Ways, and publicity. We encourage sites to network with other churches and agencies in the area, so that many seniors in the community can benefit.

Based on hundreds of evaluations, seniors participating in the "Coming Fully Alive As You Age" programs have developed healthier attitudes toward aging. We also have many verbal quotations from leaders about program benefits. One measure of success is that more sites are coming TO us to see if we can have a program at their location. Another measure is how many would like to see this program run again at their site or nearby, or have the follow-up program (for instance, "Coming Fully Alive 2" as follow up to the CFA 1 program). Our goal is to have one hundred percent ask us to come back with a follow up.

We ask participants to evaluate each of the four sessions; and at the end of the four-session program, we also ask each teacher/facilitator to evaluate his or her respective sessions. Finally, the Executive Director of Senior New Ways writes an overall evaluation of the program at the end of all sessions, summarizing all the information for the granting agency. We have discovered that seniors develop healthier attitudes when they are provided with opportunities to grow in mind and spirit. "Coming Fully Alive As You Age" is growing as a positive influence in northern California.

In addition to the grant received from the UM Committee on Older Adult Ministries, funding has come from a variety of sources: Los Altos UMC, LAUMC Outreach committee, LAUMC Program and Mission Fund, Peninsula Community Foundation, Calvary UMC, San Jose, and St. Williams Roman Catholic Church, Los Altos. We are always looking for grants to extend the program. More churches are beginning to provide all or some of the funding, and the fee-based classes have succeeded to a fair degree. We have developed a follow-up, "Coming Fully Alive Part 2," which includes "Journal Writing," "Intimacy and Communication," "Meditation and Dance," "Rituals in Later Life," and "Guided Autobiography".

To obtain the Teacher Training Booklet for "Coming Fully Alive Part 1," How To Conduct a Coming Fully Alive Series, please send $10 for book, postage and handling to:
Senior New Ways
655 Magdalena Ave.>BR? Los Altos CA 94024.

The Rev. Dr. Judith Pruess-Mellow is the Executive Director of Senior New Ways, 655 Magdalena Ave., Los Altos, CA 94024. For more information see the website: www.seniornewways.org; or you may contact her by phone at 650-209-1119 or by e-mail at judithpm@seniorways.org.

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