August 2020 — pg. 11
from its original campus in Gerry,
New York, to six locations in New York
state, with additional affiliations across
the United States. As a not-for-profit
provider of senior care and housing,
Heritage is a leader in the industry,
employing approximately 1,500 team
members and serving over 2,500
individuals annually. With locations in
New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois and
Washington, Heritage and its affiliates
provide rehabilitation and skilled nursing
services, memory care, independent living
and assisted living. Homestead Stables
provides intergenerational equestrian
opportunities as well as boarding,
training, lessons and a therapeutic
riding program. In addition, child care is
provided at two campuses, allowing for
intergenerational programs.
Heritage Ministries has a fascinating
history. Ultimately, the ministry emerged
out of the “train-wreck conversion” of
Walter Sellew, who later served as a pastor
and bishop in the Free Methodist Church.
In 1886, the groundwork was laid for an
orphanage, which would later be known
as The Gerry Homes. The orphanage grew
to include an “Old Persons Home.” These
ministries were born out of a series of
visions and reflected the call of James 1:27,
“Religion that God our Father accepts as
pure and faultless is this: to look after
orphans and widows in their distress.”
It is amazing that within a short
time frame, The Gerry Homes actually
endeavored to care for both orphans and
widows at the same time, on the same
grounds. I often wish we could sit down
and learn some of the ingenuity of the
saints in those days, so that we could
apply it to our times. After some years
of “bridging the generations,” changing
regulations led to the ministry focusing
on care for the elderly. Throughout those
early years, 1,848 children were cared
for during the operation of The Gerry
Homes. Perhaps one of the largest lessons
we could learn from Bishop Sellew, and
other early leaders, is that providing for
the physical and spiritual needs of others
does not require an age limit on either
end of the spectrum.
What can we learn from the current
day practices of Heritage Ministries?
As a relatively young, but getting older
chaplain, I take a lot of notes. I learn a lot
of things from those I seek to serve. As
I have lived among and served amid the
saints at Heritage Ministries, I’ve learned
the value of community and commitment.
Community
Throughout our senior living
residences, at all levels, I see residents
living in community with one another.
What a privilege and blessing it is (Psalm
133:1). Encouragement is deepened and
multiplied when someone offers it to their
neighbors on a daily basis. Conversations
and relationships thrive when they are
fostered over time, for the long haul.
When life slows down deliberately, or
due to circumstance, or a combination of
both, it becomes easier to listen, care and
lovingly remember the life details of those
around you. There are small, intentional
acts of living in a community in which
many of our seniors thrive as shining
examples for us to emulate.
Rolling Fields Elder Care Community
— a Heritage senior living community
located in Conneautville, Pennsylvania
— has provided many examples of the
thriving community that can occur in
the arena of senior care. Chaplain Kathy
Petteys shares, “I remember my first
reaction to the Rolling Fields community.
I thought, ‘This is an amazing community.’
Family and friends were in and out all the
time. We had a community music fest
where the local community was invited
to come during the summer months.
Our elders would come out and be a
part of the music. Rolling Fields also
had a small fair once a year with games
and food, and all were invited from our
community. During the warmer months,
the Amish and Brethren communities
would come to sing praise to our Lord
“When life
slows down
deliberately
or due to
circumstance,
or a
combination
of both, it
becomes easier
to listen, care
and lovingly
remember the
life details of
those around
you.”
+ Because of COVID-19, outside
visitors are restricted from entering
senior communities.