Leaders explore ‘multi–generational church’
Parishes from Down and Dromore were well represented at the first of two Children’s Ministry training events in the Belfast area organised by the Board of Education, Children’s Ministry Network and the Sunday School Society.
The speaker was Martyn Payne (right), a former teacher, who has worked for CMS and for the last 13 years, BRF (Bible Reading Fellowship). The venue was St Patrick’s, Jordanstown.
Martyn’s topic was Exploring Multi–Generational Church for the 21st Century – very relevant as many churches consider how to bring all age–groups into the Sunday worship service.
A growing body of current research has affirmed the importance of intergenerational faith sharing and nurture within a church. In this interactive session Martyn explored this thinking and the biblical rationale for the all–age approach, sharing stories and ideas from his work with BRF’s Messy Church team. Resources were available from The Book Well and our own Children’s Development Officer, Julie Currie, was also on hand to offer advice and comment.
It is a complicated, highly context–sensitive issue and it was clear that there is no ‘magic bullet’ for making multi–generational church work well. There was, however, much merit in exploring the ideas and being prompted to re–imagine our worship services with all generations in mind.
Revd Jacqueline Mould (Belvoir) Revd Chris Pollock with Youth Worker David McIlroy (Saintfield). L–R below: Donna (Ballybeen), Revd Ken McGrath (Kilkeel) and Julie (Down & Dromore)