LEADERSHI
LEADERSHIP
T
he sun was flickering sparkles on the frosted earth as we turned into the church parking lot on that February Sunday. Almost immediately, our eyes were drawn to scores of signs that read,
“ONE!” Everywhere we looked we saw “ONE” signs. As we walked into the sanctuary, the purpose and meaning of the ONE signs began to
M U LT I G E N E R AT I O N A L W O R S H I P
clarify. For years, the congregation gathered at three different times: 8:30 a.m. for the Legacy “Traditional” Service, 9:30 a.m. for the Blended Service, and 11:00 a.m. for Contemporary Worship. In addition, the teenagers and children met in separate spaces during the Blended service. In all, this 2,500 member church struggled to get attendance at any one of these services up to 500. This Sunday was different. EVERYONE was meeting together
ONE CHURCH. ONE CONGREGATION.
at 9:30 a.m.—as ONE. For weeks, the pastor’s sermons proclaimed: “ONE Faith, ONE Baptism, ONE Hope, ONE bond of Peace, ONE Calling…” and that day, the entire assembly was ONE in Worship. The praise team included 10 singers of various ethnicities and ages—an elementary child, middle and high school students, a young married couple, a middleaged mother, and a senior adult grandpa. A very large choir was equally multi-generational and
culturally inclusive. The pastor’s sermon unpacked Ephesians 4:6: ONE God and Father of ALL; above all, through all, and in all. Congregational participation was “off the chart.” Worship singing
Principles of Multigenerational Worship
began with an elementary-age child singing “As The Deer.” Congregational singing included every stylistic preference imaginable. After about 45 minutes of a well-crafted time of worship through song, Scripture, and a short reader’s theatre, the worship leader began praying. Before speaking the “Amen,” the senior adult grandpa concluded the entire service with “I Love You Lord,” complete with a four-fold musical rendering of “Amen” by the choir.
PART 1
But the most powerful moment came during the baptismal celebration right before the sermon. At this point, the congregational engagement was exceeding my wildest imagination. A member of the congregation read a short, well-crafted salvation testimony as each candidate walked down into the baptismal water: 1) a young boy with Downs B Y
V E R N O N
W H A L E Y
Syndrome; 2) a young mother delivered from drug addiction; and
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