The Reverend Dr. Elbert C. Cole received the Outstanding Leadership Award for his many years of faithful service to older adults in The United Methodist Church. The award, given by the United Methodist Committee on Older Adult Ministries on Thursday, August 17, was presented to Dr. Cole in Nashville by the Rev. Hazel Bennett, chair, of the UM Committee on Older Adult Ministries, and Dr. Richard H. Gentzler, Jr., director, of the Center on Aging and Older Adult Ministries of the General Board of Discipleship.

Dr. Cole, founder and former president and CEO of Shepherd Centers of America, has played a significant role in the field of aging and older adult ministries for more than 40 years. He was pastor of Central United Methodist Church, Kansas City, Missouri, when the first Shepherd's Center was started. Dr. Cole has been a visionary in the area of religious gerontology and instrumental in helping to establish the UM Committee on Older Adult Ministries.

The United Methodist Committee on Older Adult Ministries made the presentation at the Symposium for Conference Leaders of Older Adult Ministries at the Scarritt Bennett Center in Nashville.

This article appeared in the Fall 2007 issue of Center Sage.

Return to Fall 2007 Center Sage "Contents" page.

    Text Only Version