Senior Correspondent: Charles Bayer
“Religion — A Blessing or a Curse?” “Who Keeps Them Poor and Unemployed?” “Has Racism Really Disappeared?”
A quick sweep through his headlines proves that Charles Bayer doesn’t shy away from asking difficult questions.
As a contributor to Senior Correspondent since 2010, Bayer regularly shares his thoughts on politics and environmental and social concerns.
Bayer spent much of his life in what he calls the “church world,” working for many years as a congregational pastor and seminary professor. He subtly reconciles his beliefs through powerful and persuasive writing. By pushing for change on issues that are important to him, he attempts to bring us closer to the world he thinks God intended, but he does so in non-religious terms in order to reach a broad audience (Read: "Is the Story a Treasure?").
“I deal with the political world,” he says. “It’s the same message but not in religious language.”
Bayer was once a contributing columnist for a newspaper in Missouri and has written 10 books. Today, in addition to his work with Senior Correspondent, he also writes a column for a newspaper in California and publishes a blog called “The Bayer Necessities,” which has several 100 email subscribers. He and his wife, Wendy, have lived in Claremont, California, since 2001.
Through his work as a pastor and professor, Bayer dedicated much of his time to helping others, which still continues to send him across the globe today. He recently returned to China to see the changes that have occurred since he helped those who were forced to the countryside re-establish churches following the Cultural Revolution. He has also traveled to Kenya with the organization Church World Service to assist in developing access to clean water for remote villages. Bayer’s teaching, where he was committed to preparing theology students for a future within the “church world,” also took him around the United States and Australia.
His advocacy for social and environmental change is nothing new. He once served on City Council in St. Joseph, Missouri, and during the Vietnam War, he was involved with a number of protest groups. As reflected in his writing, the strong push for environmental change is due to Bayer’s credence that global warming and climate change are today’s critical issues.
Bayer is steadfast in his beliefs. Like his fellow Senior Correspondents, he strives to share his opinions with the world because he knows they are valuable.
“I’m not a kid. I’m 84 years old,” says Bayer. “I’ve got things to say that I think a lot of people want to hear.”
About Senior Correspondent
Senior Correspondent is a venture of Signal Hill, a Cary, N.C.-based leadership and communications consultancy. The award-winning Senior Correspondent delivers unique perspectives on U.S. and world news, politics, arts, sports, travel, health, technology, money and work across multiple platforms. Senior Correspondent’s mission is to amplify the voices of older adults for the good of society. The free Senior Correspondent app is available now on Google Play and at the iOS App Store.
