Across North America, retirement is often framed as a withdrawal from meaning and purpose—a cultural narrative that equates value with productivity and sees aging as decline. But Scripture tells a different story. It speaks of elders who still bear fruit in old age (Psalm 92), of gray hairs as a crown of splendor, and of the sustaining presence of God even into advanced years. This project, Emeriti: Still Called, proposes a reimagining of the “Third Chapter” of life as a season not of retreat but of renewal, a time marked not by scarcity but by spiritual abundance.

We see this vision echoed in the natural world. In a healthy forest, the oldest trees are not simply relics of the past but they are life-givers. Their deep roots stabilize the ecosystem. Through underground mycorrhizal networks, they pass nutrients to saplings and even to sick trees, nurturing the future while caring for the frail. These elders of the forest don’t hoard their strength; rather, they release it for the sake of the whole. In this way, the forest thrives as an interdependent web of presence, memory, and growth. What if our churches looked more like this?

Too often, congregations and workplaces lose access to an entire generation’s spiritual maturity, vocational insight, and emotional intelligence at the very moment they are most needed. In select industry, the role of “emeritus” honors those who no longer serve in full-time roles but continue to teach, mentor, and steward wisdom. Why has the Church not embraced this idea more fully, not just as honorary, but as a living role in the ecosystem of communal and societal flourishing?

Guided by Goldenwood’s emphasis on hope, imagination, nature, and justice, "Project Emeriti: Still Called" will explore how faith communities can reclaim this dormant potential. The project includes theological reflection on calling in later life, listening sessions with retirees and ministry leaders, using Generative AI to reimagine their futures, and the piloting of a spiritual formation journey adapted from Goldenwood’s Nautilus course. Participants will be invited into circles of trust where they can reflect on identity, legacy, vocation, and intergenerational mentoring.

The outcomes of the project will be both formational and practical: a program for churches to support Third Chapter callings; liturgies and prayers for commissioning elders; story-based resources for small groups; and articles or podcasts to expand the cultural imagination around aging. We hope to witness the Church become more like the forest: rooted, generative, interconnected and interdepedent.