I love how students at our church sit with their families during worship, scattered throughout the sanctuary. I love how many of our students are regularly serving in our children’s and nursery ministries. And I love how this year we planned a church-wide mission trip where students would have the chance to minister alongside various generations from our church.
I love and appreciate these things, but not everyone seems to.
I’ve had parents come and ask if I would consider encouraging students to sit together during worship, rather than sitting with their families. Other parents have decided to keep their students from serving so that they wouldn’t miss time with other teenagers. And that mission trip we planned for this year? We had to cancel because we didn’t have enough interest—not only from the congregation in general, but from students in particular.
When it comes to implementing meaningful intergenerational integration, I’m a struggling youth minister. Maybe you are too.
Integrating Teenagers into the Life of the Church
One of the core strategies of our student ministry is intergenerational integration. We base this value on the conviction that youth ministry is for the teenage years, but the church will last for all eternity. So, we seek meaningful ways to help students connect with other believers across the generations. As obvious as this conviction seems to me and many other youth ministers, it isn’t as obvious to everyone.
In recent history, many youth ministries became siloed from the other generations such that teenagers were almost exclusively experiencing church life with other teenagers. Without a sense of connectedness to the entire congregation, many students equated moving on from youth ministry with moving on from the church altogether. Fortunately, many church leaders have identified the shortcomings and pitfalls of segregating the generations. Intergenerational integration is essential for helping teenagers to belong not only to the youth group, but to the church as a whole.
Stumbling Towards Intergenerational Integration
At the same time, some parents, students, and even some pastors are resistant to bringing the generations together through greater intergenerational integration. For parents, sitting with their teenagers during worship can be distracting. And students often seem to have more fun sitting together during the service, or at a program designed just for them at the same time. And some parents don’t want their teenager to miss out on a youth gathering by serving during that time, even if it’s just once a month.
Students should absolutely have time in age-specific ministry settings. These ministries allow relationships with peers to strengthen, and they provide opportunities for teaching content aimed directly at teenagers. But students also need interaction and relationships with those younger and older than them. Students benefit from ministering to those who are younger than them because it places responsibility on them for the spiritual and physical welfare of others. Students also benefit from learning from and observing older believers who spiritually invest in them and model the Christian life for them.
Biblical Basis for Intergenerational Integration
The pursuit of intergenerational integration has compelling biblical precedent. In Joshua 8, when Joshua renews the covenant after crossing the Jordan, we read that in addition to the elders, officers, and judges, “the women, and the little ones” were also present (v. 35). All the generations were present and included in this covenant renewal worship service.
Similarly, in Nehemiah 8, the people gather together to hear Ezra read the Law. This reading eventually leads to another covenant renewal. Present for this reading of the Law are both men and women and “all who could understand” (v. 3). Once again, all the generations had gathered for this historically significant moment of worship.
When we turn to the New Testament, we find a similar practice among God’s people. In both Ephesians 5 and Colossians 3, Paul gives instructions for both parents and children. In a time when these letters would have been read aloud as part of the church’s corporate worship, the assumption is that both of these generations would have been present.
Finally in Paul’s letter to Titus, he gives instructions to older men and women and younger men and women. His instructions are specifically about how these generations are to relate to one another and pursue spiritual maturity with one another’s help. The assumption then is that there will be significant enough interaction between them for this to actually happen.
These passages point not only to the benefit of intergenerational integration, but also to the biblical conviction behind integrating the generations.
Keep Pressing On to Include Teenagers
There is clear biblical precedent and great practical benefit for pursuing intergenerational integration in the church. It may take time to help explain and persuade others who are not yet convinced or haven’t necessarily seen it done well before. This will require a posture of humility and grace.
In my context, some parents and students simply didn’t understand why we were doing certain things and not doing other things that they had expected. As best as I could, I explained that we were in pursuit of deeper relational connection across the generations.
Some still disagree with some of the things we’re pursuing. Initially, I found it discouraging to experience their pushback. But resistance and even criticism are inevitable in ministry. In the midst of this messiness, I am trusting that God can use purposeful convictions communicated with gentleness in order to change hearts and minds. By his grace, I pray more more teenagers and adults in all of our churches will see the importance of integrating the generations.
One thing that has helped the challenging conversations in my context is that we had already formally articulated intergenerational integration as part of our ministry strategy. Having a vision and strategy helps to give direction and purpose to the things you do. It also helps provide a basis for deciding which things not to do. Craft a vision and strategy that includes the importance of intergenerational integration, and then cast your vision in a gracious and compelling way. By God’s grace, I have seen some small wins to celebrate along the way in my church’s journey toward more integration. I encourage you to look for and celebrate the small wins in your own ministry, because we cultivate what we celebrate.
The Gospel Compels Us
Undergirding intergenerational integration at the deepest level however is the gospel itself. The good news of the gospel is that people who were far off from God and one another have been brought near. Whether that distance is the result of racial or generational differences, the gospel brings people together under the Lordship of Christ. By God’s grace, he has brought down the dividing walls of hostility and separation through Christ (Eph. 2:14).
If you are a youth minister struggling with intergenerational integration, take courage and press on. Remember that through the gospel, Jesus is in the business of bringing together those who seem far apart.
For more resources related to gospel-centered youth ministry, check out the Rooted Youth Ministry Podcast.