Dr. Nancy Going writes about The Faith of Adolescents and how young people must be integrated and central to the life of the congregation.
But how do you DO that?
Assessment
How would you rate your efforts in developing a youth-friendly and youth-involving congregation, building intergenerational connections between youth and the congregation?
Have your whole team take the assement here
Reflection
- Reflect on the results of your assessment with the church staff and youth ministry team.
- What strengths did you identify? What areas of improvement did you identify?
- How “youth-friendly” is your congregation today? How connected to the church community do you think young people feel today?
- What barriers do you face when it comes to connecting youth with the community and building intergenerational relationships? What steps can you take to overcome these barriers?
- What are the one or two priorities that you need to act on now?
Strategies for Becoming More Intergenerational
There is no one way to connect youth with the whole church community. Each congregation is a very specific community with its own unique identity, history, traditions, people, and geography. Customize these ideas for your community. Use them to spark your own creativity. There are many ways to build a youth-friendly and youth-involving congregation.
See 30 ideas of ways to become more intergenerational in your congreation.
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