Aging and Loving: Christian Faith and Sexuality in Later Life aims to address the social, ethical, physical, and spiritual issues related to sexuality and aging. The book is written for various professionals who minister to the aged (pastors, chaplains, other care providers), for the aging and aged themselves, and for their families. The focus is on people sixty-five years old and older. This is the age group whose sexuality is most vulnerable to being dismissed by those around them. It is also the age group that experiences new challenges to their sexual lives as age brings physical and sometimes psychological changes as well as changes in living circumstances. To be human is to be sexual. Undermining or failing to appreciate that fact in older age can be hurtful. Regarding the diminishments of aging as the end of sexuality and therefore the dissipation of fully meaningful life is a critical dimension of ageism. To understand the realities of sexuality in later life and the choices older adults face, along with providing a theological and ethical account that affirms their sexuality as integral to their humanity and vocation in later life, is a curb against ageism and provides much-needed information to the aged, the aging, and their families. Equipping those who care for the aging and minister to them is essential. The book seeks to enable those related to the aged to have a deeper respect for their sexuality and, thus, their dignity and to provide an ethical account of Christian love that liberates as it engages the special issues of sexuality in later life.
The Rev. James M. Childs Jr., PhD, is Joseph A. Sittler Professor Emeritus of Theology and Ethics at Trinity Lutheran Seminary at Capital University, Columbus, Ohio. From 2002 to 2005 he served as Director of Sexuality Studies for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. His books include Ethics in the Community of Promise (Fortress, 2006) and The Way of Peace (Fortress, 2008).
Preface Part I: CONFRONTING PERCEPTION WITH REALITY Chapter 1 Attitudes toward Aging and Sexuality Chapter 2 The Reality of Sexuality in Older Age Part II: ENGAGING THE REALITY Chapter 3 Long-term Care Facilities Chapter 4 Co-habitation among Older Adults Part III: MAPPING THE WAY OF CHRISTIAN LOVE Chapter 5 Being Human Is Being Sexual Chapter 6 Aging, Sexuality, and the Ethics of Christian Love Appendix
