Worship Weblog

Vancouver Book Group – First Meeting

Posted by cicw

Friday, October 9th, 2009

Book Groups

We invited 34 book groups across the U.S. and Canada to meet and discuss The Church of All Ages and its implications for their worship, and to share their notes here.
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Our group: Graduate theological school worship planners, Children and Families Director, Director of Intergenerational Ministries, Worship Pastor, young mom/film animator and a journalism student. Our two younger group members were unable to attend the first meeting.

We resonated with the definition on p. 11, that intergenerational worship “is worship in which people of every age are understood to be equally important.” Discussion took various tracks emerging from that statement:
One congregation had come to the conclusion that they need to recognize worship as an authentic outpouring of who they are in their diversity, and not just plan through ‘adult lenses.’ (Sherry) They have tried to plan specific intergenerational events and seasonal services. Example: a Maundy Thursday service in which the whole family could participate, rather than the usual ‘adult only’ type of Maundy Thursday.

People of every age are equally important but often planners target a specific age bracket. Planners are often ‘off the mark,’ and the so-called targeted age group is not at all in tune with what the planners had thought. (Andrea) Example: the use of contemporary music that is thought to be for youth, when in actually, it is more for the boomers.

There is a sense among us that the older generation is often ignored and neglected. Example: transitions and decisions that new retirees are facing are not so different from the life-changing decisions that young adults are making. We should look for places of ‘overlap’ and thereby seek to bring people together. (Andrea)

There is value in the children being with the adults and having opportunities to serve the larger congregation. We must recognize that children have gifts and their participation in leadership is not just for their benefit, but for that of the whole body. However, there is a strong need for children to learn about worship at their own level so that they have better understanding and desire to join the larger congregation later. Just because worshipers throughout the church building are not physically in the same location, doesn’t meant that they are not worshiping ‘intergenerationally’. (Luz)

The worshiping community faces barriers and differences that are just as important as age differences. Examples: learning styles, languages, socio-economic, emotional and spiritual stages. Unfortunately, the emphasis always seems to come back to musical style. Intergenerational worship is not ‘new’ but has been a part of worship throughout from the beginning of time. (Brian)

It seems that generational gaps have become smaller and that there are more of them than before. Does that make being ‘intergenerational’ more challenging? Perhaps it is more important to address is whether we have lost sight of the true purpose of worship and have bought into the consumerist mentality of the world.

The overarching theme of our discussion: Our theology of intergenerational worship is bigger than just one morning worship service.

Tags: bgvancouver, Book Groups 2009, intergenerational