
#113: Charles McGowan
From New Canaan Society Franklin Podcast by New Canaan Society Franklin
February 14, 2025 · 38 min · Episode 113
About this episode
Charles McGowan discusses the opportunities and challenges of late adulthood.
We are living longer than our grandparents. Are you ready for the gift of being older? “Late adulthood” said a recent article in Atlantic Monthly, “is a time when the potential for grandparenting, mentoring, and volunteering peaks. It can be a time when zero-sum goals such as social competition and personal ambition yield to positive-sum pursuits such as building community and nurturing relationships.” Are you ready for it? Sounds good to me! What are the opportunities, pleasures, challenges, and heartbreaks of growing older? Charles McGowan, who is in his mid-80s and a dear friend of many of us, will be with us Thursday to give a glimpse of what’s ahead. Charles is a retired Senior Pastor of churches in Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee -- most recently at Christ Presbyterian Church. After retiring from the pastorate, he founded McGowan Global Institute with a mission of helping churches thrive. Ten years ago Charles and Neil Anderson told us what it was like being primary caregiver for their wives. Alice McGowan began her life in heaven nearly seven years ago. Whether “late adulthood” is years off, just around the corner, or if you are in it now, you will enjoy and benefit this…
People in this episode
Guest: Charles McGowan
Topics covered
- late adulthood
- grandparenting
- mentoring
- volunteering
- growing older
- community building
- relationships
Keywords
- aging
- community
- mentorship
- caregiving
- relationships
- wisdom
- experience
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: McGowan Global Institute, Christ Presbyterian Church
Books & works: Atlantic Monthly
Places: Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Nashville
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