Dementia and the Church - Print

Dementia and the Church: Memory, Care, and Inclusion

By Mary McDaniel Cail

Soft cover, 226pp
ISBN 9781506482392
Fortress Press (2023)

[Allow 4 weeks for delivery]

Churches have a vital role in helping people with dementia and their caregivers, and much to learn from them too. 

Cail pairs poignant stories with strategies, lesson plans, and advice for ministries that compliment community needs and church resources. Readers will find here tools for preparing their congregations to engage this important work. 

Mary McDaniel Cail calls upon extensive personal and professional experience to offer insight, context, and concrete guidance for congregations and leaders seeking to better serve the growing percentage of the population that is experiencing life with dementia. 

Churches have vital roles to play, Cail explains, in showing those living with the difficulties of dementia the “soul-quieting God” who promises we are engraved, never to be forgotten, on the palms of God's hands. By recognizing and supporting the full humanity of all people, congregations and leaders can help both patients and caregivers live more fulfilling lives. 

Cail pairs poignant stories with practical advice for developing holistic “memory ministry.” Dementia and the Church includes lesson plans, advice on programming, and a rich trove of resources in addition to pragmatic information about dementia. 

A gifted storyteller, Cail crafts her prose with care and intention. Readers will develop “informed compassion,” learning how to accept, pray with, relieve, and comfort all who cope with these increasingly common challenges - including themselves.