On two evenings last week, over 70 people gathered to talk about intergenerational worship. Hosted by Caroline Deakin and her team at St Peter’s Church in Weston-super-Mare, Tracey Hallett and her team in South Petherton, alongside members of the Go Team, both evenings were interesting, inspiring and encouraging.
Intentionally Intergenerational is a fresh way of approaching ‘All-Age-Worship’, which moves away from separate teaching and songs for children and adults, aiming to bring people of all ages and faith stages together to meet with God and experience church in a way that is accessible, engaging and fun.
Tracey and Caroline are working in two very different contexts, at different ends our diocese, with different congregations, styles of worship and their own unique strengths and challenges in bringing the community together.
Tuesday and Wednesday evening were a great opportunity for people who are interested in leading intergenerational worship to come and hear their approaches, and how they are working with their church congregations to make their worship more accessible to the community around them. Notably both parishes have seen numerical growth in their regular worshipping community, especially amongst families with children.
Rev Caroline, Vicar at St Peter’s WsM talked about the importance of being intentionally intergenerational saying
“It’s about changing culture and challenging what people believe church should be like.”
The final encouragement from Rev Tracey Hallett, Pioneer Priest and Rector of 3 parishes in South Somerset was to simply,
'‘Give it a go’'.
Those attending were able to share their own experiences of intergenerational worship, meet others who are trying out different ways of leading services, and ask questions to those hosting, while experiencing a taster of what intergenerational worship can look like.
Cathy Bond from Locking Castle Church commented,
“It got us thinking about being more intentional with resources we already have but how to scale up and make them more available for all. Being as accessible as we can in our environment.”
Curate in training, Lucy Blows added
“It struck me that the grown-ups enjoyed the activities as it helped them to listen and take in what was being delivered; A good reminder of the diverse needs of our congregations.
“We need to be willing to stick our necks out and try, however small, and not fret about money or reasons not to, because if it is what God is calling it will work. Best to start small and watch it grow rather than fret about perfection before you have begun.”
If you are interested in developing intentionally intergenerational worship with your church and community, do get in touch with your archdeaconry Go Team Adviser.
A list of links to ideas and resources shared at the events can be found online