Older Adults Hunger for Purpose (And How You Can Help)

Last fall, I was asked to lead a workshop at a church by their men's ministry. The topic was so popular that the women in the church threatened to dress up like men to crash the course. The course was "Living With Lifelong Purpose" and this highlights something important and unexpected I've learned in the last few years: People in the third third of life are looking for purpose.

This means that you and your church have an opportunity to serve your older adults by helping them discern and live their purpose in life. By doing this, you will contribute both to their flourishing and to the flourishing of your church.

Allow me to share some of my experiences with adults seeking purpose, why purpose is so important, why churches are uniquely able to serve older adults, and practical ways you can start serving your older adults better by addressing purpose for people in the third third of life.

Stories of Older Adults Looking for Purpose

I ultimately held two workshops in that church. With both the men and women in their third third of life, I was struck by their interest, even eagerness and excitement, to discover God's purpose for them.

This wasn't the exception. In my work with older adults in a wide variety of churches and other settings, I consistently experience their strong desire for a deeper and more meaningful purpose in life.

In another church which had asked me to lead a seminar on “Living with Purpose in the Third Third of Life,” I met a woman named Nancy. She was an active participant and explained that she had recently finished a volunteer caregiver role and was now looking for a new purpose. Then she said something I wasn’t expecting, “Yes, I’m 93 years old. But I'm still going strong. I want to know where God would like me to serve next.”

Of course, some adults in the third third of life are not looking for purpose. They may feel satisfied with their purpose or they may not realize how important purpose is to living a fruitful, fulfilling, and healthy life as they get older.

Other adults don't feel the hunger for purpose because they believe they've aged out of the “you have purpose” time of life. I’ll never forget a conversation I had with a woman from a Sunday School class in which I was teaching about God’s purpose for our lives. After class, she came up to me with tears in her eyes:

I've never before heard that God has a purpose for my life now. When my husband died six years ago, I assumed that my main purpose in life was over. Now I realize God has more for me than I had imagined. I can’t wait to find out about his purpose for my life now.

I could keep going with dozens more examples of third third folk who are eager to find purpose in life, but I think you get the point. Why is this eagerness so common? For the most part, what motivates older adults to desire purpose is our inner need to know our lives have real meaning.

And, yes, at 68, I am one of these folks. I want my third third life to matter, to make a difference in the lives of others, and to contribute to God’s purposes in the world.

Purpose Contributes to Well-Being 

What most older adults do not realize, however, is just how much purpose in life contributes to their overall well-being.

This has been demonstrated in dozens of academic studies. For example, a review of research in the International Journal of Aging and Human Development offered this striking summary of what the research reveals:

Physical benefits [of having purpose in life] included better health and functional status maintenance, greater cognitive function, increased physical activity and positive health behaviors, enhanced stress recovery, and longevity. Purpose is also associated with a lower incidence of AD [Alzheimer’s Disease] and mild cognitive impairment and reduced risk for cardiovascular chronic health conditions. Psychosocial correlates in the review include greater life satisfaction, lower death anxiety, and reduced depression severity or incidence (p. 428).

A study published in October 2025 focused on the relationship between purpose and cognitive impairment (including Alzheimer’s Disease). Researchers found that a “higher sense of purpose-in-life was associated with reduced hazard for cognitive impairment.” Moreover, “purpose-in-life was associated with a delayed onset age of cognitive impairment.” This study showed that having purpose isn’t important only for meaning and fulfillment. It is also essential for mental and emotional health.

Churches Are Uniquely Positioned to Serve Older Adults (and It Goes Both Ways)

Why are churches in a unique position to help older adults find purpose?

Well, for one thing, many of our churches have plenty of older members, with the U.S. average being about one-third of churchgoers 65 and older. As our overall population continues to get older, this percentage will certainly grow.

Whereas some pundits lament the large number of “seniors” in churches, I see this as an extraordinary opportunity. I am convinced that older people are the greatest untapped resource in many of our churches.

And yet, many churches de-prioritize the needs and contributions of older members. And, as I pointed out on this blog in "The Silent Crisis in Church Attendance," a worrying decline in church attendance among third thirders may be due to this inattention.

This is a shame because churches have something for older adults that is rarely found outside of church, namely a powerful affirmation of the value and potential of older people. Scripture affirms from the beginning that all human beings are created in the image of God and therefore have intrinsic value (Gen 1:27). Moreover, all human beings are called to “be fruitful” (Gen 1:28).

Lest we think this is relevant only to younger folks, Psalm 92 affirms, “The righteous will flourish like a palm tree . . . . They will still bear fruit in old age” (vss. 12, 14). The Bible has plenty of examples of God using older people for crucial purposes, including Abraham, Sarah, Moses, Aaron, Caleb, Zechariah, and Elizabeth.

So, in a world that often tells “senior citizens” that they are “over the hill” and not needed anymore, the church has the authority and audacity to say, “God has so much more to do in you and through you. God isn’t through with you!” Yes, when people retire from full-time work, they usually have more freedom to do things they enjoy. It’s not wrong for them to play pickleball, travel, take naps, and visit their grandchildren. But older people will flourish, as will their churches and communities, when they devote some of their “free time” to using their gifts in service to others.

Churches, more than any other institution in our society, can speak pointedly and powerfully to the yearning of older adults for purpose. We can say with confidence:

Yes, you have purpose because God has a purpose for you. Yes, you can make a difference that matters because God is at work in you. Yes, we are a place where you can use your many gifts to help others and honor the Lord. Yes, no matter how old you are, you have a home here. We want you and, yes, we also need you.

Can you imagine what your church might be like if your older adults were deeply invested in the life, fellowship, ministry, and mission of your church?

Can you imagine the deep sense of joy your older people would experience when using their gifts and talents to make a meaningful difference in the lives of other people, in the church, and in the world?

But What About the Limitations of Age?

Now, I know you might be thinking, “Well, that sounds great. But many of my older members have major health challenges. There are limits to what they can do. What might be their purpose now?”

To be sure, sometimes physical and mental health will limit our fruitfulness. There may even come a time when our contribution will mainly be graciously allowing others to serve us. But I have known older people with significant limitations who nevertheless have contributed to God’s mission in ways that matter.

Let me offer one representative story.

Johnnie was an older woman in my church in Irvine. She was energetic, outspoken, and filled with love. She had also suffered more than most people I knew; she struggled with various physical ailments, but, more than that, she had lost her son and three grandchildren to premature death. Johnnie could tear up in a second when she talked about those she had lost. But, by God’s grace, that same passion made Johnnie one of the warmest and friendliest people in our church. She especially loved welcoming visitors, getting to know them, inviting them to lunch, and caring for them in a beautiful way.

But near the end of her life, Johnnie’s physical condition deteriorated. She became bedridden and couldn’t even attend worship anymore. She felt useless and discouraged. One day, as I was visiting her, she lamented her purposeless life. We began to talk and pray about what she might be able to do, even with her physical limitations. In time, Johnnie got an inspiration.

Though stuck in bed, she could still use the phone. She decided to get the church directory and call every household in the church to see how she might pray for them. And so she did, day after day, for the last years of her life. Church members experienced Johnnie’s genuine care with gratitude. And she was able to live purposefully even when stuck in her room.

I don’t know if this added years to her life, but it certainly added meaning and joy.

Ways You Can Help Your Older Adults Live with Purpose

You’ll recall that the title of this article stated, “Older Adults Hunger for Purpose (and How You Can Help).” So far, I’ve shown that older adults are looking for purpose, adding some insight into the benefits of purpose for their health. You may be wondering, though, how you can serve your older adults when it comes to purpose in life. I’ll wrap up this article by offering a few suggestions.

First, you can show your people that Scripture affirms human dignity and ministry across the age spectrum. In the Bible, God often uses third thirders for crucial tasks. Scripture regularly affirms the value of older people. In particular, Psalm 92 offers the promise of fruitfulness even in old age. Scripture robustly rebuts common cultural narratives that minimize the purpose and contributions of older adults.

Second, when in preaching or teaching you emphasize the good news that God has a purpose for our lives, be sure to mention that this is true throughout our lives, including the third third. It's not as if our purpose, to glorify God and enjoy him forever, stops when we turn 65. Likewise, we don't retire from discipleship. Your older adults, like all your people, need to know God's purpose and put it into practice each day.

Third, you can affirm and highlight the purposeful works of your older adults, perhaps interviewing them in a worship service or mentioning them in sermons or teachings (with their permission, of course). You can use other communications platforms (church newsletter, website, etc.) to tell the stories of older people living purposefully.

Fourth, you can encourage your older adults to receive, clarify, craft, and live their purpose in life. (We often talk about “finding” our purpose, but this language isn’t really very helpful.) If you’d like some help with this process, the De Pree Center would be glad to assist. Among our many resources for third third ministry, we offer a video-based course, Purpose in the Third Third of Life. You can learn more about it here. This five-part course is perfect for adult classes, small groups, retreats, mentoring, and personal study.

Fifth, you can pray with and for your older people, that they might understand how God wants to use and bless them in their season of life (as I once did with Johnnie). You can also encourage and equip your co-leaders (staff, elders, deacons, etc.) to pray similarly for your people.

Let me add a word of caution here. When we begin to realize the amazing potential of our older adults to serve in the ministry of our church, we can let our excitement move us into recruitment mode rather than discernment mode. If your older adults sense that your main desire is to grow the program of the church, no matter how worthy this might be, then your ability to help them know and live their distinctive purpose will be limited. So, when you teach, preach, counsel, pray, and lead, be focused on helping your people know God's purpose for their lives.

Conclusion

I could add so much more here, but it’s time to wrap up this article. Let me say, in closing, that I’m not suggesting you take on a bunch of additional pastoral duties. Most pastors I know already have more on their plates than they can “eat.” Serving your older adults so they live with purpose isn’t about adding new programs so much as enriching what you’re already doing with the good news of God’s purpose for all people, including those of us in the third third of life.