Seniors' Sunday

Definition and Meaning

Seniors' Sunday is a Sunday on which the church honors the faith and devotion of its elderly members, prays for them, and reflects on how the congregation can serve older people. The Korean term gyeongno (敬老) means "respect for the aged," and in the same spirit the day is also called Respect for the Aged Sunday. Unlike Christmas or Easter, it is not a feast of the liturgical year observed by the worldwide church. Like Children's Sunday, it is one of the commemorative Sundays that Korean churches have established and observed on the basis of age and generation.

Biblical and Historical Background

The teaching to honor the elderly appears repeatedly in both the Old and New Testaments. Leviticus 19:32 says, "Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man," and Exodus 20:12 makes the honoring of parents a commandment. Proverbs 16:31 calls the hoary head "a crown of glory," and Psalm 92:14 declares that the righteous "shall still bring forth fruit in old age." Isaiah 46:4 contains God's promise to carry His people even to their old age. In the New Testament, 1 Timothy 5:1–2 exhorts believers to treat older men as fathers and older women as mothers. Simeon and Anna in Luke 2 are often cited as examples of believers who, even in old age, prayed and waited for the Messiah.

No definitive record has been established of when, or by what resolution, Seniors' Sunday first began. It is generally understood, however, as a custom that took root in the Korean church in conjunction with the Confucian tradition of honoring elders (see The Korean Church and Confucianism). As the aging of society has increased the proportion of elderly members, some have also come to view the significance of this Sunday in connection with ministry to the elderly as a whole.

Practice in Korean Churches

The timing and manner of observance vary by denomination and congregation. Some denominations include it in the list of Sundays designated by their general assembly, but in most cases the session or the church's planning body decides independently. Two times of year are common:

• Around Parents' Day in May, observed together with Parents' Sunday
• Around October 2, Senior Citizens' Day, a statutory commemorative day in the Republic of Korea

Common elements of the day include the following:

• Members above a certain age are introduced during the service and receive a prayer of blessing.
• An emeritus elder or gwonsa (senior deaconess) is asked to offer the representative prayer.
• Flowers or gifts are presented.
• A banquet honoring the elderly is held after the service.

Churches that have a seniors' department or a church-run senior college sometimes hold the day as a dedication service or present the activities of the past year. Members who cannot attend because of limited mobility may receive a pastoral visit from the ministerial staff and members of their cell group, who bring them gifts. Separately from Seniors' Sunday, family services giving thanks for an individual's long life, such as a seventieth-birthday thanksgiving service or a sixtieth wedding anniversary celebration, are also held within the church.