So what if our churches mainly consist of older people?

On the International Day for Older Persons, Jill Harris argues that the quiet faithfulness of older Christians is just what an anxious generation needs

A bunch of elderly has-beens stood there on the stage. Goodness knows what they had been in their time - secretaries, welders, teachers, plumbers, business leaders – nothing in their appearance gave it away. At 70-something, a kind of sameness creeps in. Women get rounded tummies and plump hips; they wear their hair like a silver helmet and dress in stretchy trousers and plain tops. Men have thin - or no – hair and wear sweaters knitted by their wives. Some have walking sticks and bandy legs.  

But when these men and women started to sing, their age and appearance became irrelevant. The tunes were so vibrant and beautiful, I forgot the slight quiver in their voices, the tendency to warble. At the front, images were projected onto a screen to complement the songs: a field lit by sunlight, a small hand, held in a larger one, a cross against the sky. I was introduced to songs that I had never heard before and reminded of others I had long forgotten about.