Lynne McNeil learns more about work that crosses generations within the Church – and finds congregations already embracing the idea.

IN May last year, the General Assembly received and accepted a joint report from the Church of Scotland Guild and the National Youth Assembly on the subject of intergenerational work.

But just what does ‘intergenerational’ mean and what was it all about?

Essentially it means people of different ages working and learning together within churches and communities.

Mary Reid, who was part of the joint working group which investigated the work, explained the report represented the fruits of a close working relationship between the Guild and the NYA, which goes all the way back to 1994 when the NYA was first set up and was further strengthened when NYA became an honorary Guild group in 2013.

The report, which took two years to prepare, had equal membership between the Guild and NYA.

Mary said: “Initially, the working group set about researching intergenerational work (online, books, personal contacts, etc) – we were in no doubt that new approaches were needed in the Kirk, and the experiences we read and heard about in the course of our research convinced us that intergenerational work had much to offer. On this basis, we submitted our interim report to the General Assembly of 2016.

“But we needed to know how far intergenerational work was already being developed within the Church of Scotland – and decided to conduct a survey.”

She explained: “Our survey went out by email to all congregations around the time of the 2016 Assembly. I think paper copies went to all commissioners, and were also handed out at ‘Heart and Soul’ during Assembly week..

“We asked congregations to tell us if they were involved in intergenerational practice, to give us a brief description of what they were doing, to say what they perceived as the benefits and to mention any challenges they had to overcome.

“Fifty responses were received – we were a wee bit disappointed with that number, but in fact there was a very good spread geographically and in relation to the type of parish, and also of activities described, so we had more than enough to work with!

“We were surprised and delighted by the wide range of intergenerational activities described, the joy expressed by respondents at the successful outcomes of these ventures and the ways in which challenges were dealt with and overcome.”

She believes the report could lay some important foundations for the future.

“NYA and Guild members have seen for themselves how intentional intergenerational practice opens up new avenues of thinking for everyone involved and leads to increased understanding and respect between those of different generations. Our hope is that this approach will become embedded in the life of the church at all levels. We believe that presbyteries, and the councils and committees of the church, could be leading the way by considering how intergenerational practice might impact positively on their particular spheres of work.”

Emphasising the importance of the work, Mary explained: “I don’t think there can be many parishes where people are not concerned about the Kirk’s lack of impact on people under 60 – especially regarding parents and families. Some congregations are making this a priority and are already a long way ahead on the intergenerational road. For them, we hope the report will confirm and encourage them in what they are doing.

“But there are still churches where offering juice as well as tea and coffee after the service on Sundays is about as far as they have ventured in the intergenerational direction – for them we hope that they will be inspired by the experiences of other congregations and will take the report as a starting point for moving ahead.”

Mary explained that those involved with the investigation into intergenerational work and ministry hope it will become an underpinning principle in all of the Kirk’s work.

She added: “Our working group was very clear that not every intergenerational initiative will necessarily result in increased attendances at Sunday worship (though that can and does happen) but the evidence shows that this approach will enrich congregational and community life and increase the impact of the church in the parish area.”

The experience of intergenerational work in congregations

“At Alloway Parish Church, we don’t really have intergenerational work under that label, we just encourage the Church Family to work together,” says Julie Griffiths, the church’s Church Family and Schools Worker.

As young people move from Bible Class, they are encouraged to take on responsibility for part of church life, from helping in the crèche to acting as Church Officer and has seen the ethos of ‘Help Unity Generations’ (HUG) blossom.

Julie explains: “We have many community projects as outreach and Missional work; Stepping Stones, bereavement support; Musical Memories, singing afternoon for dementia sufferers and their carers; Parent and Toddler Group, etc. The congregation are encouraged to volunteer and support all of this work, and in doing so we see many generations pulling together to share God’s love with many.

“There are also many groups and activities organised by the church which bring the Church Family together as one, badminton, Friendship Group, Wednesday Worship, craft group, carpet bowls, fundraising activities, including the support of our partner school in Malawi, etc.

She adds: “There have been some challenges particularly around the young people being involved in volunteering, but we make sure everyone knows each other and that full training is given to them, and expectations are set out and clear before anything is achieved.”

The Rev Tony Stephen is minister at Banchory West Church, about 17 miles from Aberdeen in the Dee Valley.

“We believe ‘it takes a whole church to raise a child,’ he says.

Since the 1990s, the Church has actively encouraged working together across the generations.

“It all starts on a Sunday morning where our time together in worship is designed to include and involve each and every generation in times together and for part of the time in age groups. Then during the week the Guild might cook a meal for the youth group. The youth group might help paint a senior member’s house, or arrange a games event for all ages. Members of a house group might serve coffee at the Toddler group. Elders will invest time in the weekly youth group. All generations join teams like the music band, the back to work group, the food bank, the house groups, the Friday coffee morning, and then we also have our annual whole church weekend away – and lots of informal time together in the community day by day.”

He adds: “Our approach is rooted in the scriptural model of a faith community that take seriously its responsibility to be a community of faith that passes on the faith. The model in scripture is of a community of all ages that worships, celebrates, mourns, questions, lives and worships together. That’s our goal.”

At Milestone Community Church in Birsay, Harray and Sandwick in Orkney, communion and Messy Church is the glue that brings the congregation together, according to minister, the Rev David McNeish.

“We see communion as an all age activity that brings generations together. Our Messy Kirk involves people in every decade from 0-80s. Our youth group helps to lead activities for the younger ones and with parents and grandparents, along with helpers of all ages, it is a joyful mess. There are also great links between our primary school and local care home that help equip children with an attitude of caring for life,” he says.

All age communion was a particular challenge, he says.

“For some the idea that children can be part of communion was a challenge but it quickly became apparent how keen the children were to participate and on one memorable Sunday, they were asked what they could see on the table – spotting bread and wine they not only said what they could see, what it meant and why it was there. We were literally led by our children into the presence of God.

“We didn‘t mean to involve everyone in Messy Kirk – but as the children grew older they didn‘t want to stop coming and we had to adapt to their desire to continue to be involved.”

View the joint Guild/NYA intergenerational report at http://bit.ly/2zBDHvg