Seeking to belong

In the latest update from the Faith Action Programme, the Rev Jonathan Fleming highlights work taking place to engage young people in church life.

HOW can churches be supported to develop missional activities and attitudes that will lead to younger generations being brought into the heart of church life and leadership?

This is a question that a Focus Group has been asked to wrestle with as part of the work of the Faith Action Programme Leadership Team (FAPLT). It is probably wise to say from the start that we do not have the answer! Why? Because we all need to be asking the same question in our own unique contexts.

The Focus Group was formed as today, more than ever, young people are seeking to belong to authentic communities where they feel seen, heard, and valued. While traditional approaches to worship and mission have sustained the church for generations, there is a need to explore creative ways to reach younger generations and help them find their place within the body of Christ. Our Focus Group understands that integrating young people requires thoughtful, intentional shifts in church practices and attitudes – shifts that celebrate and invite their unique contributions.

The Focus Group was tasked with looking at both Intergenerational Church and the under 40s age category, but it soon became clear that Intergenerational Church is not the same as attempting to reach a particular demographic. In an Intergenerational Church setting, it is about being a part of the same things at the same time; it is about engaging with people because we have something to offer them rather than tailoring things to reach a generation in a bid to “save the church”.

So have we come to any conclusions yet? Any building project needs a solid foundation before construction can begin and in order to begin to answer the question asked of the Focus Group, we needed to do the same. Becoming an Intergenerational Church is a paradigm shift that is needed within the church and this would form the foundation upon which we can build but it does not answer the key question of how we reach every generation with the good news of Jesus and in particular the younger generations that are missing from so many of our congregations.

The call for missional activities that resonate with young people stems from more than just an interest in maintaining attendance; it is about nurturing a new generation of disciples who feel inspired and empowered to live out their faith in community. Across many churches, there is a growing awareness that the traditional modes of worship, leadership, and engagement are no longer connecting with young people’s lives, values, or spiritual journeys.

What has become clear from our discussions thus far is that there is no ‘silver bullet’. For too long, we as a Church have sought to provide technical solutions to problems rather than adaptive ones. When a situation has arisen, we have reacted with doing or providing something in the hope of a quick fix, when we should have perhaps taken time to ask ourselves why we are in the situation in the first place and what needs to change at a foundation level before beginning to build upon it. As we seek to shift from a “doing things for” to “being with” approach in the life of our congregations, the need to ask such questions is crucial, for if we do not take the time to reflect, then we risk repeating the same pattern all over again.

Some questions that we ought to ask ourselves repeatedly can be found below with an example shared by the responses of one Church of Scotland congregation in Inverness:

How are we worshipping together intergenerationally?

“We have Intergenerational services once a month between October and March. We have all-age Bible breakfasts, where people sit at tables eating croissants and fruit, talk about their weeks and catch up, then do bible studies together. We’ve found that although we invite a mixing of ages at tables, the kids often choose to sit together with (maybe) one or two adults joining them. We also have services where the kids are leading with adults helping, rather than vice versa. When we share Communion, it is always for all ages – the whole family of God.”

How are we doing mission and outreach together intergenerationally?

“From April to September, our monthly all-age services focus on mission – on getting out and being a blessing to the community. People of all ages get involved in different things – in creative, artistic things to bless others with; in manual labour to clean up parts of our local community; in serving large community sporting events in Inverness by helping with the take down of all the event villages. All ages mix together to do these things.”

How are we making disciples together intergenerationally?

“Our youth group, shared with another local Church, has about 25 young people. Each of them has the opportunity to have a monthly mentoring time with a mentor who will bring them support and discipleship growing up, in groups of two to four per mentor. The young people learn from their mentors, and vice versa, as they engage in a range of activities and sharing life together.”

How are we making decisions together intergenerationally?

“At a church weekend away, we consulted our congregation on plans for our first church building, including the children and teenagers. Again, we could have done more age mixing here as we ended up with the children and young people at one table.”

Did you notice that that there was an acknowledgement in some of the responses that more could have been done to blend different ages together?

These responses were chosen to illustrate one key point – this congregation has started to do things together intergenerationally, but fully acknowledge that their work is not perfect.

In some contexts, churches have felt the best way to think intergenerationally is to start a new worshipping community altogether.

In January 2023, Crossing Together launched a monthly time of intergenerational worship based on the four spiritual styles of Word, Emotion, Symbol, and Action, as well as a shared meal together to meet the anticipated diverse spiritual needs of participants, help feed hungry families during the ongoing cost of living crisis and build and maintain community. These times of worship now include an average of 25 participants of all ages, the majority of whom are unchurched or dechurched. Since the formation of Crossing Together there have already been four baptisms!

Readers of Life and Work should be no stranger to the concept of Intergenerational Church, thanks to a six-part series produced by Suzi Farrant and Darren Phillip, authors of Being Intergenerational Church, published by Saint Andrew Press, both of which are recommended for readers and congregations.

As a team, we hope and pray that many will begin or continue to ask the questions found in this article and to discern how God can work in us and through us to see younger generations being brought into the heart of church life and leadership.

The Rev Jonathan Fleming is a Vice Convener and Mission Support Programme Leader of the Faith Action Programme Leadership Team and minister at Greenock: Lyle Kirk.