Abandoned girls were taken into brothels and used as prostitutes. It is likely those widows found such abandoned children and placed them in good homes so they could receive proper care. If today's church had a group of godly widows with the same preoccupation, its younger women would greatly benefit. God wants those kind of widows to be active in the church, not retire from it. Many view retirement as a time of self-indulgence, but Scripture points toward ministry.
Spiritual enrichment needs to pass from one generation to the next.
There is no evidence that the church leaders ordained those on the widow list or that the church financially supported them. The issue of financial support stops at the end of verse 8, and the issue of qualifications begins in verse 9 . Therefore verse 9 is not saying a widow has to be at least sixty to receive financial support from the church. There is no age limit for that. Rather, this verse is saying a widow was to be at least sixty years old to be listed as an official church helper.