Worshipping with Older People - a new booklet by Rochester's Older Persons' Officer, Dot Hooker and Lay Reader, Sue Brooks - looks like being a runaway success.

Published last Autumn, the booklet aims to offer guidelines for good practice to anyone leading worship with elderly people, and to highlight the range of services that can be held to mark events or stages in people's lives.

The idea for the booklet came from feedback following a series of 'workshops' on the subject of dementia held two years ago. It includes material covering themes such as Rites of Passage, Marking Milestones, and Bereavement.

Clearly the booklet has met a real need. "We've advertised in the dioceses of Rochester and Canterbury and further afield as well", says Dot Hooker, "and interest has come from all over the country, including the dioceses of Chichester, Bristol, Leicester, Liverpool, Newcastle and Norwich. As for those requesting it, they include incumbents, fellowship leaders, pastoral assistants, Church Army officers, and retired clergy. We're really pleased to be of help in this way."

Sue Brooks says she's received several letters of praise and commendation from the contacts she has passed the booklet on to. Mannes Tidmarsh, a founder member of The Christian Council on Ageing, commented, "I think it is a splendid piece of work - succinct, imaginative and practical and very comprehensive. May I show it to the CCOA group who are working in this field - not as a 'crib' but as a model of what can be done?"

Copies of Worshipping with Older People cost £1.50 each (cheques payable to CSR), including p & p. Write to Church in Society, 60 Marsham Street, Maidstone, Kent ME14 1EW. Telephone 01622 755014 with any questions.