Intergenerational Ministry
Acts 2:42 “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”
This is an explanation of how the early church operated in those days just after Pentecost when the gift of the Holy Spirit descended upon those first followers of Christ. Church gatherings included everyone: young and old, rich and poor, slave and free-persons. All who proclaimed Jesus as the Christ, the son of the living God and Lord of life, Savior of us all, prayed together, worshiped together, ate and shared fellowship together. They cared for one another and the widows, orphans, the weak and the lame together. If one had plenty, they would share with those who had little. Their gatherings became a family of the faithful, not just a community of worship.
Today, there is a movement within the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) called “Ministry Across Generations.” This movement is conversations and actions that connects the whole body of the church to the whole mission of the church. It’s about connecting Children, Youth, Young Adults and Families back to the church. Studies now show that only 1 out of every 10 youth will be active in church 10 years out of high school. This means we have to start asking tough questions. It is estimated that every youth or child needs 5 FAITHFUL adults outside the biological family to help them learn how to be a faithful adult themselves. Most teenagers can only name 3 adults whom they actually trust.
Our job as the church is to reach and connect with those young adults who walked away, their children who have never been in a church, to the ones who stayed in church and the ones who just want to learn how to do faith at home, all to the world that we need to serve as God’s people. If we truly want to help our children and youth grow up to be faithful people, then we must help our adults reengage in faithful acts every day. We are called to heal broken relationships: to be Christ’s body and to help a hurting world together.
Intergenerational Ministry is about all of these things: modeling ourselves after the early church followers of Christ, connecting the body of Christ, and all its varied parts, back to faithful lives that serve a hurting world, and building relationships as we learn and grow together. No one seems to have the magic cure for the mass exodus of an entire generation from the church, but I am convinced that we will definitely not find the cure unless we find ways to strengthen faithful living and loving relationships within our congregation. Meeting one another and sharing life’s journey, while seeking ways to serve a hurting world as we study God’s holy word and strive to live that calling daily…ALL of us, together…just might be the best plan for finding that miracle cure.
Join me, please, in this journey.
Blessings,
Tracy