Here’s a challenge to all: Let’s plan to be radically countercultural in how we encourage faith development. Let’s cross the generations as we learn and grow together so that seniors, millennials, children and youth teach and learn from one another.
Hardly radical, you say? I believe it is. In the past, faith formation was offered through structured learning for segregated ages. We called it Sunday school. Given the numbers of children who went through that system and are no longer engaged in faith as adults, clearly that model did not work well.
Today, trends in the church growth movement emphasize focusing on one particular demographic. Millennials, seniors or young adults are deliberately targeted. We also use models where experts share their experience and knowledge with the less knowledgeable. These models often segregate age groupings assuming people learn best and communicate best with their peers.
But the reality is that everyone is a teacher and a student. Our experience of Christian community is not complete if we mix only with those who make us comfortable. We have so much to learn from one another especially when we put generations together, a phenomenon that is happening too infrequently.
Placing age groups together in worship, study and mission provides full sensory experiences, not just intellectual cognition. Mixing people intergenerationally means everyone can be both student and teacher. I have watched the ministry of babies to seniors and I have seen seniors care meaningfully with young parents. I have seen youth doing mission alongside adults and both have been enriched. Just this week I spent time with a 17-year-old as we discussed the differences between altruism and perfectionism. Both of us are still ruminating and learning from that discussion.
True intergenerational experiences are not easy to create. It is not about adults watching children do crafts. It is not about children being seen and not heard when around adults. It is not about youth entertaining us. Real intergenerational experiences help all ages (or certain mixes of ages) sincerely learn from one another.
There are plenty of websites and programs that can stir our thinking about intergenerational learning. The deeper question is, do we care enough to do so? Are we prepared to do the hard work or are we more inclined to stick with the familiar patterns? Are we open to sensory activities, movement and play? Can we let go of long-held views and ways of doing things? Do we really believe in working for community or do we put more emphasis on our individual need?
I have seen a number of congregations doing Messy Church and Children in Worship and fully intergenerational worship services. We have the capacity in any size of congregation. Start now. Begin one new activity where all ages share an experience together. From a meaningful worship time to serving dinners to the disadvantaged, we are at our best when we do it together.
Acts 2:17: “In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams.”
