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Grace and peace,
Earlier this week the Episcopal Church Foundation sent out their Ministry Tip of the Week email, often these are very interesting; this week, I wondered if the email was actually being written about St. John’s. The opening line of the email said – This week’s tip: Allow all ages to come together to worship, serve, and play.
The information continued to describe how research shows that intergenerational discipleship, intergenerational formation, and intergenerational worship are more effective than the age group segregation that was common in my youth, and is still common in many parishes today. The email went on to say “the traditional ways we have approached Christian formation and discipleship, organized by age and stage, have contributed to new generations who do not identify with their religious tradition and leave.”
St. John’s has been focusing on intergenerational discipleship for many years. We intentionally began with creating meaningful relationships, across generational divides, through our Prayer Partner Ministry.
Next, we re-worked Vacation Bible School (VBS); as I mentioned recently “this is not your parents’ VBS”. VBS at St. John’s is not a drop-off babysitting camp, this is intergenerational formation. There are activities and learning for different generations, and across generations. It is important to note that this learning is not elders imparting knowledge upon the youth; rather, we learn together and we learn from each other, regardless of our stage in life.
Following the revamp of VBS, the next project was Sunday morning Christian formation. The traditional classroom learning format shifted to discussions and activities across the generations with learning coming from all generations.
St. John’s has grown in part due to this approach of discipleship, we are ahead of many, if not most parishes, and they are learning from our leadership. You can read more about how ECF views this topic at this link; if you have been a part of St. John’s for a while, this article may read like "a look in the mirror".
I would be remiss if I did not also remind everyone to join us for VBS on 26-29 July! Also, if you are of the adult generation, we need prayer partners to match with some young disciples – this is truly a fulfilling ministry, and all we ask is that you meet with your prayer partner to share how you can pray for each other (the rest that happens is just magic).
My wife tells me that I am old now, I prefer to think of myself as intergenerational.
Fr. Henry+
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