Building an Intergenerational Faith Community
Twenty-something Pastor Josh Loveless raises some insightful questions in a recent Neue Quarterly articile, “The Rebellion of the 20s ministry: Maybe it’s time to repent of our segregated services.” ( Neue Quarterly, Issue 2, Winter 2009).
“I’ve often wondered what would have happened if our church leadership invited the voices of our 20s leadership team to speak about what they are feeling about the future of the church. I wonder what would have happened if old men had embraced the visions of young men and young women. I wonder what would have happened if the young men and young women embraced the dreams that God had given the old men. I’m left to wonder how our story might be different.” (29)
In many ways, this is the process that began in the round-table discussions at the M7 Conference. The Church of the Nazarene invited 400 university students to join a discussion about the future of the church. These round-table discussions provided these young adults a collective “voice” that has been heard by denominational leaders. The denomination has provided the opportunity for this voice to be discussed around tables in congregations throughout the United States and Canada. How will this “voice” be received? How will these young adults impact the church today, tomorrow and in the future? It may depend on how well we listen to each other and to the Holy Spirit.
Loveless continues: “remember how passionate Peter was in Acts 2 when he quoted the prophet Joel? ‘Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.’ When we speak of the church, all of us have different ideas about what that actually means. Peter’s message that epic day is a reminder to all of us about one of the pieces that is essential to the movement of the Church: A collective intergenerational voice that is sensitive to the Spirit of God.
“For the first time in history we have five generations alive at the same time. What might that mean for how we invite each generation to a seat at the table to teach one another about theology and ecclesiology?”
“Part of what has become broken is the language we’ve adopted in the Church to define younger generations. The phrase the ‘next generation’ has been thrown around a lot. Pointing to an idea that this group of people will one day be a contributing member of the church community. Languages can be limiting, but we have to find words that inspire who we are supposed to be in the present. This ‘next generation’ is spending money, making music, writing books, making websites, educating children, making children, and they are doing all of this right now. They aren’t standing on deck. They are on the field hitting home runs right in front of us. And yet this is overlooked.” (29,31)
Jon Middendorf, senior pastor at Oklahoma City First Church of the Nazarene, provides direction and encouragement as he shares the story of his church (Listening Inside Out, p. 82).
“At Oklahoma City First, our young people are bringing their imaginations to our calendar and budget meetings. We are listening to them as they bring opportunities for us to minister as the people of God, the body of Christ. While many are forecasting the end of denominations, we are seeing loyalty and commitment from our young adults, provided that they remain confident of our intentions to shape our budgets and ministries according to the mission of Christ.”
What is God saying to you as a pastor or member of YOUR local congregation? How does your congregation demonstrate Christ’s love to one another and to your neighbors? What is the next step for you and your congregation? Are you willing to take that step?
(For more information about Oklahoma City First Church of the Nazarene you may visit www.okcfirstnaz.org. For additional information about the Neue Quarterly visit www.neueministry.com or www.relevantmediagroup.com.)
March 16th, 2009 at 8:37 am
Hey David!
Great blog! Thank you for the shout out for Josh’s article in Neue. I just wanted to share the link for a free preview of the premiere issue of Neue Quarterly if anyone is interested in checking it out. Josh is our Managing Editor for Neue and you can find more articles and blogs from him at NeueMinistry.com.
http://www.neueresources.com/quarterly/preview/
Thanks again David and keep up the great work!
grace and peace
Chad from The RELEVANT Crew
April 12th, 2009 at 10:14 pm
I have to admit that I have been very guilty in the past of believing that churches could only grow by focusing on the youth. However, the methodology that I understood was to change the music to ‘contemporary’ and I focused the majority of my ministry on younger families. I have learned the error of this. We still have contemporary music, but I spend much more time with the ‘older folks.’ Nevertheless, I am convinced that our style of worship has little to do with reaching people. I think different generations certainly appreciate different styles of music, but I believe the older generations are seeking fellowship more than anything and I beleive the younger generations are also seeking fellowship, but we would probably use a different word for it. We might say that they want to be connected. None of this has anything to do with style of music or the target audience. What it does mean that our focus should be on people and getting them connected (fellowshipped) with others. This can be done in a contemporary setting or traditional. The Mormon church is a cult and yet they are growing rapidly, but there services would be considered very traditional. Their growth is coming as a result of getting people connected to others.