WAY2GO Magazine July 2023

Finding Shelter Togeter

I don’t know about you and your church, but for mine our yearly church camp is one of the highlights of our year. It doesn’t really matter where we go or what we do, the point is that we’re all together.

Church camps are such a natural and more relaxed way for all the generations to connect and grow together. On camp, the limitations of our normal church programmes and services are removed and there is the opportunity for all to experiment with worshipping and learning together in new ways.

Some churches deliberately choose to not have a separate children’s programme at their camps. This forces them to rethink how their teaching, worship and other activities are organised in a more intergenerational manner. The outcome is new and deeper connections with others with whom they may not usually interact.

As church members are exposed to different ways of doing things in the relaxed environment of camp, they become more welcoming and engaged in some of these intergenerational activities when they return to their weekly services and other programmes.

This edition of the WAY2GO magazine will look at two ideas you could use when it comes to gathering all together at church camp.

Liz Eichler Children and Families Team Leader, SUNZ

Human Bingo

WHAT TO DO:

• Ahead of time run off enough copies for one each (you will need pens too).

• Explain that the aim of the game is to write a different name in each square.

• People need to ask questions to find the person that goes in the square. Model this by reading out one of the squares and asking what the question is, e.g.: loves to sleep in (Do you love to sleep in?)

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is left-handed loves polar bears or fantails does not drink coffee has run a marathon loves to sleep in loves to read books always carries cash is a twin or triplet has a pet knows the first line of the periodic table has never played Minecraft has been snowboarding reads the newspaper wears contact lenses cuts their own hair speaks two or more languages has played a sport hates spiders plays a musical instrument

• People can complete the sheet by themselves or work in pairs. Parents may decide to help their younger children, older children could help those less mobile, more proficient readers could help those not so, etc.

rides a bicycle to work or school can count to ten in Te Reo Maori

likes watching cricket

loves Hokey Pokey ice cream

is the oldest or is an only child has broken a bone

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• You can choose to finish the game when the first person has completed their sheet or let everyone finish.

• After the game, you could discuss any surprises you uncovered.

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Moving In

WHAT YOU NEED:

• A3 paper with or without floor plans of a house on it

• Lots of magazines

• Scissors

• Felt pens

WHAT TO DO:

• Split up into groups 4 or 5 with a range of ages

• Either design the floor plan of a house they will share together or use one you provide

• Look through magazines and cut out what they want to furnish their house with

• After a certain amount of time announce that they are going to have to move in with another family. Two groups work together to join their houses.

DEBRIEF:

• If you designed your own floorplan, what did you notice as a group as you did this?

• What about when it came to furnishing your house? Who did you notice doing what?

• How did you feel when you heard you had to move into someone else’s house?

• How did you make decisions about what to keep and what you had to leave behind?

• Was there any conflict? How was it resolved?

• How did you work together to make the best of a demanding situation?

• Were any voices heard more than others? Less than others?

• How can you take this learning and apply it to your church situation?

Steps

Has talk of an Intergen Camp started you thinking intergenerationally about your church? What this could look like for you can be as varied as we have churches.

Late last year a group of children’s ministry enthusiasts gathered in Mathesons Bay to develop new intergenerational resources to offer the church of Aotearoa New Zealand. The result was Intergenerational Steps. (There is also a podcast to come. Watch this space).

This guide is for those who are already exploring the benefits of an intergenerational journey within their faith communities and are wanting to be more intentional.

This document assumes that, as a church community, you have already done research and thinking around intergenerational ministry. Please contact Liz Eichler, liz.e@sunz.org.nz, for a digital copy.

* People are connecting and building relationships across generations.

* The Body of Christ is serving, sharing and learning together.

* Everyone has the opportunity to give and receive, and we honour the knowledge in the room.

* We use language that is inclusive and easy to understand.

* We welcome all. We are generous in how we include everyone, especially newcomers.

* We respect the traditions of our church as we explore practical ways to include the whole community in the faith practices of our church, i.e. How will we share communion as a community?

* Remember that there will be something for everyone, but not everything will be for everyone.

“Every age has gifts we need and every age has needs we gift.”

Rich Melheim

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1. YOUR GUIDING PRINCIPLES

These guiding principles reflect an Intergenerational Faith Community:

If you are currently exploring the ‘why’ of intergenerational ministry, please contact us here at Scripture Union. We would love to chat.