In the spring of 2025, the Roots & Wings: Intergenerational Formation Collaborative grant team conducted a literature review. As part of that literature review, the team identified five characteristics, or “hallmarks,” of intergenerational worship: intentionality, relationality, dignified reciprocity, flexibility, and empowerment.

In this “Hallmarks of Intergenerational Worship” series, I will explore each hallmark in turn with special attention to practical steps for increasing that characteristic in public worship.

Empowerment in the Context of Worship

One of the books I read for our team’s literature review was “From Inclusion to Justice: Disability, Ministry, and Congregational Leadership” by Erin Raffety. Although the book is not about intergenerational worship, I realized that disability justice leaders have much to teach us who are involved in ministry contexts, and a lot of their work applies directly to engaging and valuing all ages actively and equally in public worship. One of my most powerful takeaways from the book is the idea that not only can everyone receive ministry during worship, but everyone has gifts to offer in worship. Ageism and ableism do not determine our gifts. All of us—young and old, disabled and non-disabled—can be fed, and all of us can serve.

While the dictionary definition of empowerment focuses on the authority given to someone to do something, I believe empowerment in the context of intergenerational worship has more to do with liberation. It is the process of unbinding, releasing, and setting free the gifts of the community on behalf of the community. Empowerment begins with the core conviction that everyone has gifts to offer in worship and involves working to invite, equip, and support all members of the worshipping community to engage deeply in worship and offer their gifts as fully as they desire.

Scholars and practitioners who specialize in intergenerational worship emphasize the importance of empowerment in various ways. Joe Azzopardi and Kayle de Waal directly highlight “empowerment” as essential to flourishing intergenerational ministry (“The Generative Church“). In chapter 7 of “All Ages Becoming,” Robert Pendergraft discusses how to use universal design for learning to plan intergenerational worship. He identifies eight “ramps” for this work, including “Participation-Empowering All Ages to Participate Fully.” In the same book (chapter 3), Gareth Crispin emphasizes “participation” as core to the foundation of intergenerational ministry. And Holly Catterton Allen, Christine Lawton, and Cory Seibel discuss the importance of offering opportunities for “all generations to participate in worship leadership” (“Intergenerational Christian Formation,” p. 184).

While experts may use different language, they agree that everyone who enters a space of public worship is a child of God with unique gifts. A vibrant intergenerational community actively invites, equips, and supports all members in participating fully and sharing their gifts during worship, empowering their participation and leadership.

Practical Steps to Increase Empowerment

Every church context is unique and there is not one “right” way to practice intergenerational worship. The list of ideas below is not prescriptive (or exhaustive), but meant to inspire your imagination for helping worshippers connect more deeply as fellow members of the body of Christ in a specific worshipping community.

Empowerment by Invitation

• Notice Then Affirm Gifts & Interests: All members of the community can start to notice the gifts, interests, and passions of fellow members. It can be as simple as noticing someone has a strong singing voice when they sit next to you in the pew. Creating a culture of noticing and affirming the gifts and interests can lead to a culture where people feel empowered to offer those gifts more freely.
• Make Small Invitations: All members of the community can invite others into small pieces of the work they are doing on behalf of the community. For example, someone scheduled as an oblation bearer recently asked my three-year-old if she would like to join in carrying the bread to the altar during the offertory.
• Make Personal Invitations: When inviting someone to serve in worship leadership, make the invitation as personal as possible. It is empowering to feel seen and known, called by name. For example, “Zara, I heard you like to garden. I wonder if you might be interested in joining the flower guild.” Or, “Jose, we are looking for additional mentors for our youth acolytes. You are so patient and have such a gift for encouraging others. Would you pray about the possibility of serving as an acolyte mentor this year?”
• Pray the Directory: When considering how to invite more worshippers into leadership roles, pray through the directory. Read every name. Ask for God’s guidance in the process of calling forth new leaders.
• Clear the Barriers: Consider what barriers might prevent worshippers from stepping into leadership roles. Is there a clear process for getting involved? Are the current ministry teams welcoming of new members? Are there opportunities to try new roles without committing for the long term?

Empowerment by Equipping

• Offer Everyone Many Choices: Often youth who desire to serve in worship are explicitly or implicitly given one option: acolyting. But just like adults, youth have unique gifts, passions, and needs. We can better empower people of all ages to lead by offering a variety of options for their discernment.
• Make the Roles Smaller: Breaking larger worship leadership roles in to smaller pieces allows more people to serve and provides new worshippers (both newcomers and younger members) opportunities to learn a little bit at a time. For example, the role of acolyte might be split into many smaller roles: one person could light and extinguish the candles, one person could carry the cross, and a third person could receive the elements from the congregation and hand them to the priest.
• Offer Time to Practice: Even for very small roles, consider how worshippers will be trained or have an opportunity to practice.
• Teach through Apprenticeship: In chapter 4 of “All Ages Becoming,” Johannah Myers describes how Jesus taught his disciples by inviting them into his day-to-day life. The disciples learned through observation, conversation, and hands-on practice. Likewise, our churches can offer opportunities for apprenticeship. For example, someone interested in being a greeter might be paired with an experienced greeter whom they shadow for one service, serve with for another, and have shadow them for a third.
• Teach the “Why”: The logistics of serving in worship matter, but the experience is so much more meaningful when we understand why we are doing something. Whether through apprenticeship, practice times, trainings, preaching, formation classes, or brief moments after worship (like Shawn Strout describes in his Building Faith article “Why Do We Say That?: A Priest Gets a Congregation Excited about Learning Liturgy“), empower worship leaders by explaining why we do things the way we do them.

Empowerment by Supporting

• Check In & Receive Feedback: Most worship leadership roles operate in a “set and forget” fashion. We schedule the lectors for the next few months and check that assignment off our lists. In addition to making sure logistics are covered (i.e. lectors receive their readings), we can consider how to check in on the experience of worship leadership and invite feedback from leaders. This can be a simple quarterly email checking in and inviting feedback, a 15-minute gathering during coffee hour, or a more formal reflection process. It might be led by a member of the church staff, a vestry member, or the person scheduling worship leaders.
• Affirm, Acknowledge, & Celebrate: Consider how worship leaders will be appreciated by church staff and the congregation. This might include a commissioning each September, a celebratory luncheon, or inclusion in the Prayers of the People. When encouraging a culture of appreciation for worship leadership, consider modeling gratitude for service rather than focusing on performance. For example, “thank you for helping lead worship today” rather than “good job carrying the Gospel book.”

Do you have another idea for increasing empowerment in intergenerational worship? Let us know! Reach out to Sarah Bentley Allred, Project Director, Roots & Wings: Intergenerational Formation Collaborative.

Featured image is by Alexandre Alex on Unsplash