Worship Weblog

The second meeting of the Zeeland intergenerational worship group discussion included
· 2 United Church of Christ – 2 pastors, 1 male, 1 female
· 5 Christian Reformed Church – 2 female teens, 2 female worship coordinators, 1 male pastor
· 2 Reformed Church in America – 1 male pastor, 1 female children’s ministry director

1. It’s been a month since we last met. What are some of the remembered “takeaways” from last month’s discussion? (individual responses)

·“I am still thinking a lot about what the book says in the preface (on page xix) about the difference between multi-generational vs intergenerational. I think this is a very important distinction.”

·“I am thinking most about our two teenage representatives. I think I have learned the most from them. I love the way they speak about the church – I am very encouraged.”

·“I think I have spent the most time in the last month thinking about the importance of sharing faith stories. Testimonies in worship helps to make things real.”

·“I love what was spoken last month about having testimonies on Thanksgiving with an open mic. We used testimonies during a capital campaign, but we have not used them as a part of a regular worship service. I still am grateful that this was shared last month.”

·“I am thinking about the chapter we read and the discussion we had on “seeing”. I think there is much we don’t see. I noticed at a church that we attended on vacation that children were playing as part of their Sunday school time in another room during worship. In my own setting, I would probably be annoyed or distracted by it. When I saw it there I was touched; our conversation and the chapter on seeing helps me look at that with a different lens.”

·“I most remember that one of us said, ‘we cannot have intergenerational worship without having intergenerational connections outside of worship.’ I thought this was a keen insight.

·“I have been thinking with gratitude that we are talking about this topic together. I like that we care about this enough to talk about it.”

·“I’ve been thinking about the importance of beauty and space – especially for kids. I think we need to respect them enough that when we do their ministries that we give them good stuff in a nice space and don’t just give them hand me downs.”

2. Let’s spend some time on sharing success stories. Where have we seen intergenerational worship happen? Where have we tried to do it and failed? What are some examples of these that could be helpful for all of us to learn from? (individual responses)

·“My colleague recently changed my prayer of confession that I wrote and gave it more age appropriate vocabulary so that kids could get it. The truth is, she improved my prayer and I think this is a good example of better inclusivity.”

·“Recently in a sermon one of the texts for the day was Jesus drawing people to himself. Because of our conversations, I found myself trying to come up with a way to help kids get it. I used the image of a magnet; something I probably wouldn’t have done were it not for the group discussion.

·“as a high school person, I feel more included when my pastor tells stories or uses visuals.”

·“recently, an elderly person wrote me a handwritten note of 3 of her favorite hymns and a request that we sing them some time in the future. It came with a bit of a complaint-feel, but it was a gracious complaint and an attempt to say, ‘here is some of the music that I like…it’s not that I don’t like the new’, but it was an attempt to create a place for conversation. It felt like there was either a bridge or connect in that.”

·“I like it that our church has open singing time where people can choose a hymn or a song. The catch is that you can’t just pick a number, you have to say why you like it for us to sing it. It helps to hear other peoples’ stories as to why a song is meaningful to them; it seems like that builds bridges.”

·“our youth group meets once in a while for church ed with other adults to discuss topics. What I really like is two youths and two adults who do not really know each other sit at the same table and talk. This has helped us feel more comfortable around adults when we worship together. I would like to do more of this.”

·“Parker Palmer talks about teaching as creating the space where a community of truth can emerge. I hear that last idea and I wonder kinds of things I can do to put together groups that are intergenerationally discerning.”

·“recently we had a middle aged mom and an 8 year old (unrelated) do a prayer of confession and song together. It was really a good generational blend. The thing is, when it was done, the people clapped because of a kid doing this. It was their way of affirming her, but they would not have clapped for anyone else doing it!”

·“I recently attended a church where a high school (or middle school) choir sang a capella. Their part in the liturgy was perhaps the highest and loftiest of all – it was amazing, impressive, and beautiful. The liturgist who followed them acknowledged them by saying to the congregation, ‘wasn’t it nice to have the children sing for us this morning’ to which people applauded. His attempt at affirming them not only made distance between them and the congregation by calling them ‘children’, but it changed their role of leading us to performing for us. I was angry about this.”

·“I think we need to avoid things that create distance and separation between ages. That may mean including adults and youth in services and planning without having youth services. What would happen if we created intergenerational worship planning groups?”

·“I need Sabbath and space to help me integrate services, otherwise, I am tempted to do things that can actually create distance.”

For our next (and final meeting): September 21

Things to do and chew on in the next month:

·Consider putting into practice any of the learnings or actions we have heard about and then come back and tell us how it went.

· Keep a log or journal of the next 5-6 Sundays and pay attention to practices that mig
ht fit in one of three categories:

1. Intergenerational – truly integrated and inclusive habits for all ages

2. Multi-generational – habits that include more than one generation but that might be regarded as too specific or specialized (creating the kind of separation we spoke about.)

3. Intergeneric – not specific or inclusive enough

·Be thinking about worship words, actions, and practices that either create or bridge the distance that we spoke about. Keep your radar on and your antennae up as to successes and failures in the matter of distance.

·Pay close attention to the sacraments in the next month – particularly words, actions, invitations, distributions, etc – in what ways can our words and actions be more sensitively hospitable to the generations so that the playing field is leveled?

·As you reflect on your time in this group – a group intentionally designed with denominational, generational, and gender diversity – think about what kinds of groups, spaces, or places that you can make in your own context that reflects diversity in your context. How will you keep the learning and sensitivity to these things growing?

short link: cicw.cc/blog/200