Twenty years ago, local real estate professional Brenda Cox was looking for support services for her aging mother.
Based on the challenges she faced during the experience, Cox decided that her church—Lomax AME Zion in the Green Valley neighborhood of Arlington—should establish an outreach effort to help people in similar positions. .
Thus was born the main ministry of the church, which celebrated its 20th anniversary on January 22 with both a look back and a look forward.
“Who knew, when it started, it would last this long?” Cox said during the anniversary program, which (like many religious events over the past two years) was held online due to public health concerns.
Cox has led the initiative since its founding, but was quick to praise its success.
“It really was an effort by the whole congregation,” she said. “People just showed up.”
It was a view shared by Clifton Brown, who delivered an invocation at the event.
“It takes more than one person to keep this going,” he said, saluting Cox and those helping him.
Nearly 50 people zoomed in for the anniversary event, proof that the interest has not waned.
“This ministry has not only grown, but flourished,” said Reverend Gary Burns, who was pastoring at Lomax AME Zion when the primary ministry began.
In pre-COVID times, ministry members met monthly on Saturday mornings for a hearty breakfast followed by an educational program. Despite restrictions since the spring of 2020, members have continued to meet via Zoom. (“Just because we’re seniors doesn’t mean we’re not keeping up,” Cox laughed.)
On occasion, meetings were more adventurous; once, a few years ago, attendees drove south to spend the day in North Carolina, visiting and praying with a former Lomax parishioner.
Reverend Burns urged attendees to persevere through the pandemic to better times and to ensure that primary ministry continues to meet the needs of parishioners in ever-changing times.
“Keep doing it. Don’t get tired,” he said. “Looking forward to the next two decades.
The community has much to learn from its more experienced citizens, noted Bishop W. Darin Moore, presiding prelate of the Mid-Atlantic Episcopal District of African Methodist Episcopal Church of Zion.
“God grants the elderly a level of maturity, stability and wisdom – a level of wisdom that can only be acquired at the ‘university of life’,” he said.
“The Lord has kept you alive for one purpose: to help make things better for others,” Bishop Moore said. “Live life with purpose. Cherish every moment of every day that we have [as] a gift and a blessing.
Among those who consider themselves blessed is Elmer Gant. He is now 97 years old and has been a member of the Lomax congregation since birth.
“I love senior ministry,” he said, kicking off a recorded presentation of some of the senior congregants speaking words of wisdom. “He is doing a great job. Happy birthday!”
Arlington County Board member Matt de Ferranti also delivered pre-recorded comments (as the county board was meeting at the same time), said Lomax’s efforts to support seniors are having an impact far beyond the church itself.
“We serve seniors together,” he said. “Thank you so much for being a partner.”
There is an intergenerational component to the senior ministry, which manages both directorates. Elders support young people in various ways and, at one event, teenagers presented a program on discovering all the functions of cell phones and other electronic devices.
Showing off his own slightly graying hair, Bishop Moore reminded participants that despite the challenges of modern times, being advanced in years brings the peace of having some perspective.
“Those of us who have a few years ahead of us . . . we can testify that we, as a people, have been through some tough times before,” he said.
The program received rave reviews from those in attendance:
• The event was “truly invaluable,” said Gloria Camp, one of the attendees.
• He provided “wonderful insights,” said Reverend Adrian Nelson II, the church’s current pastor.
• “It’s about celebrating, reflecting, giving thanks,” said Brenda Humphrey.
Perhaps the best advice for living a fulfilling life came from another participant.
“Enjoy the present,” she said, “before it becomes the past.”
[Sun Gazette Newspapers provides content to, but otherwise is unaffiliated with, InsideNoVa or Rappahannock Media LLC.]
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