This article is part of a series on Intergenerational Formation Insights written after a literature review by the Roots & Wings: Intergenerational Formation Collaborative grant team in the spring of 2025.

Beginning with Discernment

Why are you interested in exploring intergenerational ministry? What needs in your church context might this approach address?

Discerning answers to questions like these is critically important as you begin to pursue an intentional process of welcoming all bodies to worship, formational activities, or your church’s life overall. Naming your why will steady and sustain you on the long and winding road to congregational change. It will help you to clarify your goals, prioritize your activities, build support, and address resistance.

And, yes, you might face resistance: The age-and-stage model of ministry is deeply ingrained in our church (and secular) culture. Designing church life around the needs and hopes of all ages might feel like a loss for adults, who are accustomed to being the focus of church life. And if intergenerational ministry includes children in your context, it might be noisy, messy, and somewhat chaotic.

Given these dynamics, a compelling vision for intergenerational ministry must be grounded in our tradition’s most foundational beliefs and practices about scripture, theology, and sacraments. A literature review by the Roots & Wings grant team surfaced the following ideas, which are not exhaustive but a starting place for discernment.  

1. Intergenerational Ministry Is Scriptural

Concerns about how God’s people share faith with one another, across generations, permeate scripture. The following is a sample of significant passages for prayerful reflection.

Unity in the Body of Christ

In 1 Corinthians 12:12–26 and Ephesians 4:11–16, Paul describes the body of Christ as one, needing all of its parts to actively participate. The full body includes people of every age. No one “ages in” or “ages out” of the body of Christ; all are valuable.

• “The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you,’ nor again the head to the feet, ‘I have no need of you.’ On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable . . .” (1 Cor 12:21–22, NRSV)
•  “As each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.” (Eph 4:16, NRSV)

Teaching across Generations

Developing and sustaining faith in God requires modeling and teaching across generations, in the home and in the wider community. It also requires sustained repetition over time as described in Deuteronomy 6:6–9:

“Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise.” (Deut 6:6–7, NRSV)

Faith Transmission through Relationship

Faith transmission happens over time in deep, ongoing relationship. In “Intergenerational Christian Formation: Bringing the Whole Church Together in Ministry, Community, and Worship,” the authors write, “In order for this progression to be possible, the generations must be together, not just occasionally or sporadically but often” (72). This invites us to consider whether episodic intergenerational events or programs are enough to lead to the knowledge of and hope in God the psalmist imagines:

“He established a decree in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our ancestors to teach to their children; that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and rise up and tell them to their children so that they should set their hope in God . . .” (Psalm 78:5–7, NRSV)

Children Are Precious to God

The gospel of Matthew (18:1–6; 19:13–14) highlights that children are precious to God and essential to the kingdom of heaven, which requires that Jesus’s disciples let go of power, identify with children, and remove barriers to faith for one another. Children are integral to the community of faith not as future leaders but as valuable members in their current stage.

• “Unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. . . . Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.” (Mt 18:3, 5, NRSV)
• “Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom belongs.” (Mt 19:14, NRSV)

Jesus’s Disciples of Various Ages Learned in Community

Jesus’s disciples of various ages and experiences learned how to follow him through lessons, observation, and hands-on experience. Likewise, all generations today need to share life with one another to grow in Christlikeness. Johannah Myers writes in “All Ages Becoming: Intergenerational Practice in the Formation of God’s People,” “Jesus called his disciples not to go to school but to experience a way of living, the way of living Jesus himself embodied. . . . A call to discipleship was a call to learn a way of living and to join a community of others who were also learning about this life” (77).

“The twelve came to him and said, ‘Send the crowd away . . .’ . . . But he said to them, ‘You give them something to eat.’” (Luke 9:12–13, NRSV)

2. Intergenerational Ministry Is Theological

How we organize our common life—worship design, communal practices, formation and fellowship activities, and more—reflects what we believe about God and humankind.

Imago Dei

We are each made in the image of God. Mimi Larson, in “Engaging Children in Worship: Perspectives to Consider” writes, “All children already—from the day of their birth—bear the image of God in all its fullness.” Respecting the dignity of every person as an image-bearer requires more than simply “folding” a person into a system designed for only one group. It requires the design itself to be respectful of all bodies of all ages.

The Trinity

God is inherently relational. This not only tells us about who we are, but what is required of us in relating to God and others. In the perichoresis, divine dance, of the Trinity, we see love, mutuality, diversity, and unity.

In “Incorporating Children in Worship: Mark of the Kingdom,” the authors write, “Perichoresis is the inner mutuality and power between the three persons. The Greek word chorein means to “make room” or “go forward,” and  peri signifies reciprocity. Succinctly, perichoresis is the “dynamic process of making room for another around oneself’” (59). This divine dance demonstrates how we might work towards a type of unity in the community of faith that honors diversity (such as age) by making room rather than a type of unity that requires uniformity.

Ecclesiology

In Christ, we become what we are in communities of love, unity, peace, and justice (see Galatians 3:26–29 and Colossians 3:12–17). In “All Ages Becoming,” Wilson McCoy writes, “The vision of church presented is that of an ‘in Christ’ community where distinctions, which can easily cause divisions, are reconsidered in light of this new ‘all-consuming unity in Christ’” (52). This vision of Christian community requires intentionality, relationality, and ongoing effort, which could include regularly listening to children as programs are planned and decisions are made, forming all ages to support one another in discipleship, and practicing generosity in navigating the conflict that may arise when a church endeavors to truly respect the dignity of all people.

3. Intergenerational Ministry Is Rooted in Sacraments

The Catechism in “The Book of Common Prayer” describes Holy Baptism and the Holy Eucharist as “the two great sacraments of the Gospel” (858). In each, every person present (of every age) is essential, beloved, and called.

Baptism

From start to finish, from the presentation to the prayers, baptism is a communal experience. In it, we commit to respecting the dignity of every human being, supporting one another’s faith development, and sharing “the royal priesthood of Jesus Christ.” While middle-aged and older adults are accustomed to being the focus of church life, baptism calls us to consider how the young and the very old are valued and incorperated into the full life of the faith community. Baptism also assumes that all members of the body of Christ have an existing relationship with Jesus, which means that disciples of all ages have insights to share about their encounters with God.

Eucharist

The Catechism tells us that being “in love and charity with all people” is “required of us when we come to the Eucharist” (“The Book of Common Prayer,” 860). In his first letter to the church in Corinth, Paul is clear: “So then, my brothers and sisters, when you gather to eat, you should all eat together” (1 Cor 11:33 NRSV). This invites us to consider how we might form all people to understand the story of Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection remembered in the eucharist. In “Being an Intergenerational Church: Practices to Bring the Generations Back Together,” Suzi Farrant and Darren Philip write, “If we bring the generations together in a spirit of mutual discipleship and allow the whole family of God to participate in the family meal, the learning that happens in all directions as people share in God’s feast together will be transformative, life-giving and life-long” (99).

Questions for Discussion

Consider taking one or more of these categories to your formation team, clergy, or vestry for prayer, study, and conversation. 

• How do these ideas about scripture, theology, or sacraments challenge your beliefs and practices? How do they affirm your beliefs and practices?
• What might you add or subtract from the above list of scripture, theology, or sacramental connections to intergenerationality? 
• How is God inviting you to new ways of forming and supporting all of God’s beloved disciples, together?

References

Allen, Holly Catterton, et al. “Intergenerational Christian Formation: Bringing the Whole Church Together in Ministry, Community, and Worship.” IVP Academic, 2023. 

Clifton-Soderstrom, Michelle A. “Incorporating Children in Worship: Mark of the Kingdom,” edited by David D. Bjorlin and William H. Willimon. Cascade Books, an imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2014.

Farrant, Suzi, and Darren Philip. “Being an Intergenerational Church: Practices to Bring the Generations Back Together.” Saint Andrew Press, 2023.

Larson, Mimi L. “Engaging Children in Worship: Perspectives to Consider.” In “Thrive – Ministry of the Christian Reformed Church in North America,” 2021.

McCoy, Wilson, and Johannah Myers, contributors. “All Ages Becoming: Intergenerational Practice in the Formation of God’s People,” edited by Valerie Grissom. Abilene Christian University Press, 2023.

Featured image is by Tim Cooper on Unsplash