Sometimes older members who are quite capable turn branch church work over to the younger ones and put themselves "out to pasture." When this happens, both the church and the retiring members are losers. All of us may like to have younger members serve as Readers, in Sunday School, on the executive board, as ushers, and so on, but older ones are needed in these places, too.
Those whose added years of service have brought rich experiences have something special to give. Passage of time should never be the reason for these wonderfully endowed members to withdraw—just when some of them may be better prepared than ever to serve. Mrs. Eddy tells us, "Each succeeding year unfolds wisdom, beauty, and holiness." In the next paragraph, she writes: "Life and goodness are immortal. Let us then shape our views of existence into loveliness, freshness, and continuity, rather than into age and blight."Science and Health, p. 246;
None of this is to imply that older members should monopolize church activity or that they are necessarily wiser and abler. It's just as wrong for them to try to dominate church affairs as it would be to passively relinquish these duties to younger generations. Actually, some younger members have more years in Christian Science than some older ones. And there are those who haven't been members very long but whose dedication has brought spiritual growth far surpassing what they might have gained through years and years of less consecrated study and application.
