‘Intergenerational’ – it’s a whole church mission
Beckie Dotson is Intergenerational Missioner for Sutton Hill and Woodside parishes. Here she explains what that looks like on the ground, and how thinking intergenerationally infuses everything they do.
'Intergenerational' - to some it may seem like a scary word that makes us shrink on the inside, to others, it may be the once-a-month, all-age family service and all the work that goes into it, that we just dread doing. How do we engage our youngest members, whilst making sure that everyone takes something away from the service? For Sutton Hill Church, it has been a seven-and-a-half-year journey and one that has taught us so much. For this church, it is a weekly affair that extends beyond the border of a Sunday morning worship service. It may be that the job title of one member of the congregation is Intergenerational Missioner, but it would not be possible to do if the church was not on the same page.
‘Intergenerational Mission’ is now a term that we try and fit into all aspects of the mission that we feel called to as a church. On a Sunday morning, we try and create a space where everyone feels included. You will quite often see a small group of children, playing in the children’s area that has been set up in the main worship centre, filled with a range of toys and books that will share messages of God’s love. A creative table, for adults and children alike, who like to listen whilst doing something else, maybe a colouring sheet or something else that again helps them to listen. We all know people who struggle to sit for long periods of time without a distraction and we know that everybody learns in different ways. Some weeks, you might catch us watching a Bible story, we might act it out totally unprepared. We might be doing actions to a well-known worship song, or finding ways to share what God has done in our lives or how we have seen Him work. Psalm 22 v.29-31 is a passage that tells us how we should share about the works that the LORD has done for all generations and how we should tell these to children who are not yet born. From the youngest child to the oldest adult, we have something that we can learn from each other and this happens because of conversations. Each week there is an element of worship that gets everyone involved. Over Lent, we created an intergenerational worship space for each week and built it up for Easter Sunday.
For us though, it’s not just about worship on Sundays but asking how we can engage in our community and schools. We want Jesus’ love to be shared with anyone and everyone and for people to know that this is a place that all are welcome and that it is a safe place. We have contact within our deanery with six primary schools and we try and engage with them as much as possible. The way that we do this is by putting on Experience Harvest, Experience Easter and It’s Your Move sessions. Across the weeks, you will see all the churches working together on this. There will be a mix of ages of volunteers, and we all come together to put something special on for the children in our schools.
For some of the children, they are not used to older people and so it is a wonderful opportunity for them to learn from them and engage with them. The older people love the opportunity to share with the children and have been known to say what a joy it is to be part of. Our youth church meets regularly on a weekly basis and shares God’s Word together and has created spaces that bring people together to worship and pray together in different ways.
We try and create opportunities for these things to happen, to foster a space where the generations come together and share as easily as breathing, to realise that we all can learn from one another, regardless of age. Church here is a place to be celebrated, to share life together, in all its diversity. A place where everyone comes together and at the end of a service, you can join us in refreshments, and we share together about our week. Thinking and living ‘Intergenerationally’ is becoming a way of life here and our toddler group and craft groups that we are starting, pictured above, are further example of places where you will find generations coming together.
- ENDS -