An organizational concept formed in the spring of 1981 when the General Conference recognized the need for a new area of service. The administration recognized that there should be some organization created that would fill the needs of retired workers and laypersons for fellowship and service. The creation of senior citizens’ associations would fill this need. D. A. Delafield, retired undersecretary of the Ellen G. White Estate, was asked to lead out in the new enterprise. He immediately began organizing clubs throughout North America. The goal was to provide fellowship and service opportunities for people age 60 and older. Thousands of retired workers throughout North America, and later throughout the world, were brought together in these groups, which provided not only psychological support but the challenge to continue to be a viable part of the Adventist witness in the world.
The retirement club idea was not new. Several clubs had been organized, notably in Florida and California. The first club known was probably in Orlando, Florida. Formed in the 1930s, it was led by O. O. Montgomery, retired vice president of the General Conference, and Dr. Daniel Kress, retired sanitarium medical director.
A new push for senior clubs resulted in the creation of the Greater Washington/Takoma Park Retirement Association in 1981, with Bruce Wickwire, retired publishing secretary of the General Conference, as the first president. Next a senior workers’ club was formed in Berrien Springs, Michigan. With the help of publicity in the Adventist Review and a general enthusiastic response from senior workers throughout North America, clubs sprang up in many places, including Texas, Massachusetts, Oregon, Arizona, Virginia, Ohio, Nebraska, Washington, and Ontario, Canada.
At first the organization of clubs involved retired employees of the church only, but within a few years they expanded to include retired laypersons. Many clubs are still largely composed of beneficiaries of the General Conference Retirement Plan, but more and more clubs are composed of general retirees.
Officers are chosen by the local club. Terms of tenure are generally one year. A membership fee of $5 is usually collected to defray costs annually and to provide for club expenses. Each association is more or less autonomous.
Each retirement club is service-oriented, with annual projects providing financial assistance to mission programs, church-building projects, tuition to students, and joint programs with local churches and conference-wide programs of service.
In 1982 a division-wide convocation of seniors met at Southern College for a long weekend. More than 400 attended. In 1983 more than 1,500 seniors converged on the La Sierra campus of Loma Linda University. To date (1994), there have been 12 North American Division annual meetings, with an average attendance of about 1,200. A banquet is held during each convocation, at which an offering is taken, with beneficiaries chosen from both North America and the world field. More than $250,000 had been donated through 1993.
Hundreds of seniors have been recruited as volunteers for short-term overseas service. In North America senior workers and laypersons are selected by local churches to serve as elders, deacons, deaconesses, Sabbath school officers, and welfare directors. Their financial support is a stabilizing factor in all conferences. Their liberal gifts aid Global Mission and the operation of the worldwide church.
Participation in denominational programs has greatly expanded since the early days of the organization. Retirees are recognized more and more as a positive force for the growth of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
James E. Chase, former communication director of the General Conference and for five years associated with Delafield in North American activities for seniors, became the successor to Delafield as coordinator for retirees’ affairs in January 1993.