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One of the visions for our church community is that we would mix generations, and not separate them out by age group. This age separation is somehat unique and mainly exists in Western cultures. Normally, in a community, there is a wide variety age spans. In the earlier schools, all ages learned together in a single room. But our society loves to categorize people and put them into age groups.
It is healthier to have all ages mixed and learning from each other. That means no special program aimed at one age group. Yes, Sunday School classes have to be learning appropriate for the younger ages. And there may be differences in topics of interest. However, in churches, for years, we have been used to this segregation and unconsciously still do it.
We now have an eating club, and someone asked me if the children were welcome. My first reaction was that eating out is an adult affair. But then I realized that was segregation by age. So now, all ages are welcome. It is a parental decision whether or not to include their child.
Yesterday we were playing a variation of Family Feud in competing teams. A five year old wanted to be on our team. I was thinking that the child would make us less competitive (at a church fun event! Oh, how the sin of competitiveness keeps showing up!) But the five year old had the correct winning answer in our category...Disney movies.
I was visiting a smaller congregation last night that had a sort of open mike time. First up were two children, each playing violin. I guessed their ages at about six and nine. They were greeted with loud applause. Next up was a man in his eighties. He sang a solo in a voice that had weakened a bit with time. Next was a singer with beautiful grey hair, maybe in her fifties, sixties. So it continued, people of all ages sharing what they had to share.
That is the best of intergenerational churches...all ages sharing what they have and supporting each other! |
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