The Family of Faith

Last week I wrote about children and nurturing their worship life. I’ve been reading web pages and books from my shelf about creative ways to make worship accessible to them. To be honest, it’s kind of exciting to see what other people are doing to enable worship to be meaningful for our youngest participants.

The church is meant to be a critical haven of support where all generations find a place. Everyone at every stage of life adds to the celebration and can make the experience more relevant and engaging for others. We learn from each other, and the example of worship and witness of diverse people is powerful.

I was blessed to be raised in a church where there were numerous programs and activities for children. There was also much to do for other age levels as well. Worship and events like potlucks, pageants and picnics brought us all together. Sometimes there were marked differences among us and sometimes we easily felt as one. I still have many surrogate aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters and grandparents in my home church. My own family here in Canada is quite small so these people filled the void.

The culture around us seems bent on dividing and stereotyping the different generations. Somehow millenials are assumed to be lazy and entitled, and baby boomers are now told “K boomer!” with eye rolls by those who are younger and find them out of touch. This erosion of our ability to embrace the humanity in each other is concerning. It creates a sense of blame and fuels discontent and anger.

Division is not helpful and the church has a powerful opportunity to counteract it. We can speak into the value of each person being made in the image of God, and to the ways that Jesus lifted up people of all ages, from stopping the youngest child being shooed away by the disciples to the oldest widow. People with all different chronological years are used to show the kingdom of heaven in diverse and beautiful ways. No one group has a corner on the market of theology or wisdom or revelation. Instead we should be actively looking for how Jesus is shining through each of us. Together we can better discern what God is asking of us and where we are being led.

The kids at the church where I’m now leading worship are so amazing. They are completely themselves, ready to tell me and show me things if I will take the time to notice and give them my attention. They model joy and friendship and fun. They bring energy and enthusiasm and questions. We will work on the whole ability to be still and quiet thing so that we can hear God, but that will come.

At the same time, I’m moved by the parents and their dedication to buck the culture and actually bring their children to church, even when they themselves have struggles. Their faith in the church and the need of their kids for Jesus inspires me. Young singles and youth inspire me by their choice to come and seek community and identity. And the middle aged adults and seniors each have inspiring stories to tell. I know some of these stories and look forward to hearing others. How awesome to have all of these stories and ages gathered in one place. How amazing it would be to have someone from every generation in a circle and these stories being shared.

We can take the gift of all of these generations being together for granted. We can take the stories and the impact of the church family on people’s life trajectory too lightly. May we not fall for generational stereotypes or allow any generation to over-ride the needs and contributions of others. May we celebrate when we do have all ages represented in our worshiping communities. And if they are not, may we celebrate those that are there and reach outwards to invite others in to make sure that our family is complete.