The Heritage of Religion and Spirituality in the Field of Gerontology: Don Clingan, Tom Cook, and the National Interfaith Coalition on Aging

The Center on Aging, Religion, and Spirituality: Lessons Learned

“…Thus, we decided it was important to capture some of this history through interviews with those persons whose leadership had prepared the way for CARS. In the mid-1990s, Kimble, Ellor, and Seeber conducted interviews with Paul Maves, Barbara Payne, David Moberg, Arthur Flemming, Donald Clingan, Thomas Cook, and Harold Orbach (see Ellor & Kimble, 2004, for a discussion of some of those interviews). The transcripts of these interviews are archived at Baylor University.…”

The Grateful Aging Program: A Naturalistic Model of Transformation andHealing into the Second Half of Life

“…Many pursue a self-reflective quest for wholeness, exploring diverse practices and approaches to forge their own truth system; some return to their faith of origin, whereas others seek a new spiritual path. 4 Members of the Baby Boomer generation typically share an expectation that old age could be better. To make it so, they are open to developing new skills and ways of aging with gratefulness and well-being.…”

“…For many, an emerging spirituality combines traditional religion with individualized personal practice. 4 Some call this demographic shift a silver tsunami. 5 Although poetic, this metaphor speaks to a cultural fear of aging.…”

A word from the editor

“…After the 1971 White House Conference on Aging, the term Spiritual Well-Being was coined by Clark Tibbits and the designers of the 1971 White House Conference on Aging. This term continues to pop up in the articles reviewed by this journal, but usually as a synonym for spirituality (See Ellor & Kimble, 2004). The National Interfaith Coalition on Aging promoted this term for many years.…”