The Next Big Ministry

Intergenerational minister – Someone who dedicates their ministry to re-connecting a disconnected and disjointed church.

Through many years of age-divisions and sub-divisions…age graded ministries and fellowship activities that isolate and insulate us from one another…we have created a fractured community that ultimately disconnects us from the very people we need the most. It keeps the older from the younger and puts up walls so high people can’t scale them when they hit 18.

The church desperately needs to be reconnected. We have to turn the tide of 2/3 of our young people leaving in their young adult years. That is going to take connection points and relationships before they hit 18 and that means an intentional redesign of the way we educate, the way we see transformation and the way we minister as a whole. We need the least mature to spend time with the more mature. We need the youth group that is tucked away in some remote room in the building to come back and reconnect with the rest of the saints. We need people in positions of influence to no longer allow us to do what we do if left to ourselves – isolate ourselves into homogenous groups of people who see little need for connection outside our clique. We need someone who will fervently and convincingly call us back to what Christian community is all about…a diverse group of people learning and living together in Christ-centered community.

I believe intergenerational ministy is the next “big thing” because isolation and insulation have been killing us for decades and people are just now getting bold enough to call it for what it is. That doesn’t mean you scrap your youth group or fire your youth minister. It does mean we get more intentional about creating environments for them to connect with peers AND environments for them to connect with those more mature in their faith.