Generations in Faith Together
Generations in faith together
Intergenerational ministry takes place when people from at least two generations intentionally gather for the same activity in the name of Christ, interacting with one another in ways which reflect mutual respect and appreciation.
Every church can be intentionally intergenerational in its ministry and faith formation experiences. In the book Generations Together, John Roberto talks about five essential components of congregation life – caring, celebrating, learning, praying and serving – that are at the heart of every Christian community. He says: “When a congregation commits itself to building a culture of intergenerationality through these five elements, each element becomes a sign of and instrument for the full experience of the body of Christ by all ages and generations.”
CARING
Cultivating caring relationships across generations in the congregation and community and becoming a life-giving spiritual community of faith, hope, and love.
CELEBRATING
Worshipping God together at Sunday worship that involves all of the ages and generations.
LEARNING
Engaging all ages and generations together in learning experience that teach scripture and the Christian tradition, informing and forming disciples of all ages in Christian identity.
PRAYING
Nurturing the spiritual life of the whole community through the congregation’s prayer ministry.
SERVING
Involving all ages and generations in service and mission to the world, especially to the poor and vulnerable and in the works of justice and advocacy.
Congregations are discovering that bringing generations together provides benefits and blessings on a variety of levels—for the congregation as a whole, for families, for individuals of all ages, and for the wider community.
Val Schirmer from Trinity Lutheran Church, Pasadena shares their story with us…..
When Grow Ministries coined this definition they were truly expressing one of the great gifts our God gives us: Generations in Faith Together. We are people who are given an amazing privilege to live in the family of God where young and old, rich and poor, Aussies or friends from far-off countries are brothers and sisters together.
We experienced this when we came together to pray, plan, choose, create, encourage, paint, talk, advise, eat, laugh and work together to create a set of Christmas banners for the walls of our church. Words cannot express the ‘buzz’ and the blessings of togetherness, love and care we experienced. We finished with eight lovely Advent and Christmas banners.
PRACTICAL IDEAS TO HELP YOU…
GIFT events provide an opportunity for people of all ages to explore God’s love for them by sharing the gifts of relationships and faith. We encourage congregations to host a GIFT event once a term. For 2017 the themes include Lent, Pentecost, My Bible and Advent. You can also purchase resources that focus on Baptism, Prayer, Trinity and Martin Luther. We encourage you to investigate your own ideas and create events that work for your congregational context, just as Trinity did.
The Lent GIFT event encourages the sharing of Lenten rituals and traditions, as well as spending time together making resources that can be used at home during the weeks of Lent. We have developed a kit of suggested activities and templates that you can use with your congregation.
FREE GIFT LENT SAMPLES
CREATIVE IDEAS FOR CELEBRATING LENT IN WORSHIP
ORDER YOUR COPY HERE
GIFT DOWNLOADABLE E-RESOURCE – To download the e-resource you will need to create an account. Once you have ordered and paid, click the MY ACCOUNT button on the top bar of the website and head to My Downloadable products.
