Benefits of an Intergenerational Church

There is much to be gained from integrating the lives of young ones into the corporate body, not as a separate ministry, but as a cohesive whole. Families learn together in these environments in order to provide a basis for further conversation and learning led by the parents.

Intergenerational worship is a wonderful opportunity for children to participate in portions of the teaching and hospitality. Ministry projects undertaken by individual house churches are done with the whole family in mind. Children may not always understand everything that is occurring within each and every moment during the service, but they are learning witnessing the body of Christ in action (Romans 12:5).

What do parents and children gain from family integration?

Parents:

Learning to lead their families as spiritual heads
Establishing family spiritual disciplines such as Bible study and family worship
Breaking down the barrier on discussing spiritual matters
Sharing a community of faith that believes in raising healthy families
Modeling lives that follow Jesus
Teaching children to respect adults and adult activities
Teaching patience and self control
Follows in the footsteps of 1900 years of the church where children were included as part of dynamic and growing churches

Children:

To be mentored by the people that they love best, their parents
To exercise respect, patience, self control and to learn socialization
To reject the cultural norm that peer relationships are more important than family
To see children their age responding positively to the worship and message of God
To love and respect people of all ages
To participate when called upon in a group setting
To witness the body of Christ in action
To contribute their gifts to the whole body of Christ (I Corinthians 12:1-27)
To become equipped for evangelism and ministry

Why is intergenerational church necessary?

The church in the United States is facing a crisis. George Barna's research (a firm specializing in data on religion and society) from 2013 indicates that 59% of twenty-somethings have stopped attending Christian churches, even though they were active at church during their teen years. Other research has found that 2 out of 3 of our empty-nest parents have at least one child not walking with the Lord.

Our contention is that this is because they have grown up without being part of the church. But, God is turning the hearts of parents to their children, and the hearts of children back to their parents. God is inspiring fathers to become the living spiritual leaders of their families and renewing in mothers the priority of their ministry at home.

By modeling faith and teaching our children to fiercely obey God with their whole hearts, we hope to be and to rear generations that will shake the nations for the glory of God.

We value discipling our children and helping them live out the words, works, and ways of Jesus by helping them understand their identity as God's sons and daughters. The Bible clearly teaches that parents have the primary responsibility for teaching children morals, ethics, the history of faith, the faithfulness of God and spiritual disciplines.

Scripture to consider: Deuteronomy 4:9-10; 6:1-4 and 11:19-21.