What Is The Church: Being Intergenerational

Rev. Ron Kwon

(Associate Pastor (Delta Hi-C) at Toronto Young Nak Church & KPCA English Presbytery Moderator)

“We must recall that the Church is always one generation away from extinction.” These were the words of George Carey in 2013, former Archbishop of Canterbury with the Church of England. At the time, he was emphasizing the need for establishing more impactful youth ministries and also more evangelism from the Anglican Church as they had been facing an alarming annual decline in church membership since 1965. Yet, nowadays, it is still proving difficult for many churches, small or large, to build, to support, and to maintain youth and education ministries. With education ministries established to serve and equip a particular age group, such as youth ministry, it easily became the benchmark of the Christian experience for many who grew up attending. “We used to do this in children’s ministry…We sang these songs in youth…College retreats were so powerful.” However, the opposite is also true. “I didn’t like that pastor…Bible study was boring…There was conflict with other students.”. These specialized ministries, while having some necessity in forming the next generation of believers, have also inadvertently catered to their needs and fostered division amongst the different generations in the local church.

Children, youth, and young adults alike in these ministries lose sight of their belonging to the larger congregation. It begins with a physical disconnection by having children and youth separate from the adults. And why not? Don’t they need their own space? Yet, they are often left to do ministry on their own with their ministry leaders. As such, the particular ministry becomes their own congregation and own church-within-a-church. This typical church ministry structure, unfortunately, denies the next generation the opportunity to forge and value intergenerational relationships with adults and seniors that will carry forward when transitioning from life stage to life stage. These relationships can provide stability as the cultural trends and the world rapidly change around them. In addition, they never experience intergenerational relationships that can develop into adult friendships that complement and or supplement discipleship in the home. Voices that differ from their parents are sometimes easier to hear when it’s a trusted adult who provides a safe space. In this way, the next generation can glean treasured wisdom from faithful adults, both young and old alike, who have been following Jesus longer and had similar questions or doubts at during the same life stage. Moreover, they can also experience the humility and genuineness of the adult generation when adults admit they do not know the answer nor have everything figured out or that they have failed miserably only to have God redeem and restore them.

While some churches are making changes to be more intergenerational, it must become more than the next generation of believers serving and performing and getting recognized by the main adult congregation a few times out of the year. Children, youth, and young adults must be taught and shown that their status and value as church members does not initiate once they have passed all the stages of getting baptized/confirmed, graduating university/college, getting married, having kids, and so many years of attendance. Rather, they need to be visibly integrated from an early age into the main worship, fellowship, ministry activities, leadership, decision-making, discipline, and whole life of the local church. This necessitates many hard conversations and requires pastors and leaders who can navigate and act as a bridge between the generations and even language in the case of Korean immigrant churches. Yet, the onus is on all generations to meet one another where they are in the same way God came down into humanity in Christ Jesus. It takes planning, time, and incarnational presence. As the next generation witnesses these actions from the parents’ and grandparents’ generation, the hope is that God will sustain and mature their faith, grow their love for His Church, and transform them to be part of His mission to the world.