“Wonderful.” “Inspiring.” “Unmissable.” “Pioneering.”
These were just a few of the words used by those who attended our Evergreen conference. The event took place on Wednesday 23rd September at Westminster Chapel, London, and was an opportunity for all those with a heart for older people to learn, find encouragement, and connect with others serving in similar ways.
Our keynote speaker Reverend Mark Wormell flew in from Sydney, Australia, to speak on dementia and faith. Drawn from his experience of pastoring older people, Mark’s insights and stories of those living with dementia finding faith, even late on in their dementia journey, struck a chord.
In their feedback, one attendee reflected, “Mark’s teaching on personhood was really useful. I will look at people with dementia differently.”
The day included a panel with guests from Alex Huggins from Faith in Later Life, Pippa Cramer from Connections, and our very own Operations Manager Timothy Agbenike. The discussion covered everything from seniors’ groups to care home ministry. In the afternoon, there were seminars with Mark, Alex and Pippa, with Lucy Honeysett from Christians in Care also leading a seminar on end-of-life care.
For the final session, we welcomed veteran broadcaster Pam Rhodes who explored the power of hymns and raised smiles with stories of older people she’s known and been inspired by over the years. Leading the worship for the day were Anais and Khaim Spencer.
One person to attend Evergreen was Ollie Osborn, vicar of St Patrick’s Church in Wallington. Ollie found out about our event through Irene, a member of his church who is very active in pastoring older people, and a small group from the church was able to come along.
Ollie says, “As a church, we’re thinking through how we can care for older people practically and spiritually, including strengthening intergenerational links and developing our work with care homes. We’ve loved today, it’s given us lots of ideas.”
With older people and their voices central to all we do at Pilgrims’ Friend Society, as part of the day we invited some of those living at our care home Shottermill House in Haslemere to contribute via pre-recorded videos.
To begin, Hazel prayed for the day and to close different members of the Shottermill family prayed the Aaronic blessing over us.
If you joined us for Evergreen, thank you very much for coming along! It was wonderful to connect with so many like-minded people seeking to honour and uphold older people.
We’re delighted to say that Evergreen will back in 2027, taking place on Wednesday 29th September in Leeds, venue tbc. Do save the date in your diary – we'd love to see you there!
For some snapshots from the day, please see our gallery below...
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