They’re affectionately called the Galloping Grannies. The term has never been used in a derogatory sense. In fact it’s a term of endearment to describe a group of widows at Orillia Community Church who are young at heart.

I think that’s great. Even though the average age is seventy-something these widows are all go, a significant part of the church on the move. They pray earnestly, study and teach God’s Word, encourage others, visit the sick, bake and cook meals for people in need, practice hospitality, reach out to their city with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, excel in generosity, and cheer the church along. As if that isn’t enough, they even try to keep their pastor in line – a formidable task at the best of times!

But that’s how it should be. In 1 Timothy 5:10 the widows are encouraged to be well known for their “good deeds, such as bringing up children, showing hospitality, washing the feet of the saints, helping those in trouble and devoting” themselves “to all kinds of good deeds.”

Which raises a question. I wonder if the Galloping Grannies have washed the feet of their pastor?

But back to the topic in hand.

We can’t leave this subject without mentioning some of the other things the Word of God says about widows. For even though the widows are called upon to be incomparable in good deeds, the church in turn, is called upon to be incomparable in looking after the widows. James 1:27 tells us that the “religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is … to look after widows and orphans in their distress.” In 1 Timothy 5:3 it says we must “give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need.” And in Titus 2:3-4, the church is reminded to “teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good.  Then they can train the younger women …”

Which brings us back to the pastor. I wonder if he’s doing his bit in looking after the widows? I wonder if he’s taken the time to wash the feet of the Galloping Grannies?