Children & Family Ministries gracestlukes.org/childrens-formation

Intergenerational Ministry: An Introduction & Invitation

In the winter Messenger, I wrote about Intergenerational Ministry and attempted to connect it to the very source of the Church’s life and mission: the ministry, example, and teaching of Jesus! Jesus in Mark 10:13-16 and elsewhere sets the Church as an example of intergenerational ministry. So as it relates to children, intergenerational ministry is as old as Jesus, though I think a solid reading of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament lends itself to a way of lifelong faith formation that was not divided by age groups. The faith of Israel was a faith lived with the whole people of God. So how did a faith community rooted in family life and intergenerational community become so divided?

The short answer is that the American church has, over the last 300+ years, become generationally segregated in a way it might never have been. The Sunday School Movement, which began in the mid-1700s’, was an attempt to increase literacy and knowledge for children. Beginning in England, the movement was rooted in good desires and motives, but, as it developed, its structures have led to the separation of families for formation (and in some cases, worship) and to the subcontracting of spiritual formation to “professionals,” priests, pastors, and other leaders within the institutional church. In many ways, the move from faith formation primarily happening in the home to faith formation primarily (and allegedly!) happening on Sunday in peer-divided spaces, has left many parents ill-equipped to disciple or educate/form their children in the Christian faith and has contributed to the decline in church attendance and participation. There are other cultural factors for decline, yet a strong case exists for monogenerational ministry being a strong contributing factor.1 Many engaged in ministry and the study of historical and theological patterns in church life are calling for the creation of a more integrated intergenerational parish life.

Understanding Jesus’ ministry and the short history above does not mean we can readily accept or understand easily what we should do or change in response to the call. We may want more connection or we may like the way things are. The call of living faith, wherever we are, is to wrestle and grow into the mission of our community, which is: “to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ.” (BCP, 855). One way to do this is by intentionally becoming more intergenerational. Yet, there is often a disconnect between our head, heart and hands. So while the challenge involves action, it also involves language and desire.

The challenge with language is that we can become so familiar with certain ways of speaking and thinking that language which sounds new or is new to us either sounds suspicious and/or loses its transformative power. So, what does intergenerational ministry mean? How can we become more familiar with it? A helpful definition is: Intergenerational ministry occurs when a congregation intentionally brings the generations together in mutual serving, sharing or learning within the core activities of the church in order to live out being the body of Christ to each other and the greater community.2

GSL is currently in the liminal space between multigenerational, cross-generational, and intergenerational ministry. Our parish has intergenerational moments, like children reading scripture, “Youth Sunday,” and we are experimenting with some intentionally intergenerational events this Lent and summer. Yet, for the most part, different generations of people cross each other in passing without strategic intentionally planned events, spaces and relationships where 4-year-olds, 40- year-olds, and 60-year-olds are “serving, sharing, and learning together within the core life of the church.” During the formation hour, adults, be they parents or not, have their spaces and the children have their spaces to be among peers. Our Sunday Eucharist is planned and offered as worship, with adult participation primarily in view, though this is being transformed by the presence of more kids and youth. This is not all bad and some of these ways of being are important! Children and adults of every age need places to learn the faith in developmentally appropriate contexts and the liturgy of the church has important work to do in stretching our children and in deepening mystery. Intergenerational ministry is not a movement to stop all age-segmented formation work or to stop the fantastic choral offerings GSL is known for. It is a call to introspection and balance. It is a recognition that children and adults need one another! Without older adults actively connected to them, kids can miss out on the fun wisdom and experience of those who have walked the road of faith for some time! Studies show a clear correlation between the absence of intentional relationships with multiple Christian adults and the rise of those leaving our churches at adulthood. Without children, adults can miss the chance to see their faith with new, younger and often more wonder-filled eyes! Gifts abound when we bring the whole church together! This process requires careful listening (to each other and the Holy Spirit), mutual accommodations, and collaborations between the