“This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘Once again men and women of ripe old age will sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each of them with cane in hand because of their age. The city streets will be filled with boys and girls playing there.’” Zechariah 8:4-5

One of the challenging parts of my job is coming up with a game that a 6-year-old, a 16-year-old, and a 36-year-old will all enjoy. For part of the year at First Church, we put together an event called “Wednesday Family Night” when kids, teenagers, and parents all share a meal, conversation, prayer, and fun.

Some weeks, it’s hard to come up with an activity that engages everyone. It’s much easier to send the kids to the preschool, the parents to a Bible study, and give the teenagers some dodgeballs. However, even though that would be less complicated, it might be a whole lot less effective—and perhaps less biblical.

Research data from Barna Group and Fuller Youth Institute agree that there is one factor most strongly correlated with youth staying in the church and developing resilient faith in Jesus. That factor is a sense of belonging—not a hip, cool youth group, not smoke and mirrors; no, not even contemporary music (though, trust me, I’ll hang with Chris Tomlin and Matt Maher any day). The factor most likely to keep a student or child connected with their faith is that they feel they are part of the church, not just part of the youth group or Sunday school.

The only way for this to happen is to build intergenerational relationships. One of my favorite quotes is from one participant in a survey by Growing Young, a book that documents research from Fuller Youth Institute: “As a 29-year-old, I want a small group led by a 45-year-old with 60-year-olds and 15-year-olds and both genders. I want to learn from a high school freshman, an 80-year-old grandmother, and everyone in between.”

We live in an increasingly fractured world that pits groups against each other: Republican vs. Democrat, conservative vs. liberal, and old vs. young. How often do you see a joke in the newspaper or on your social media feed in which a Baby Boomer is complaining at the local diner about a Millennial wasting their money on avocado toast, while a Millennial complains at the rooftop bar about a Baby Boomer not understanding how hard it is to buy a home these days?

However, the Bible doesn’t pit age groups against each other; it unites them. The verse at the top of this article quotes Zechariah’s promise of a restored Jerusalem, in which old men and women lean over their canes while young boys and girls play in the street—all together. The picture of God’s restored community has all generations in one space. The New Testament church reflects the same pattern in passages like Titus 2, which describes young men, old men, young women, and old women all in one community.

In John 17:21, Jesus prayed that his future followers (that’s us!) “may be one… so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” In other words, in a fractured world where grandfathers and entrepreneurs aren’t supposed to get along, the church should stand out in high relief as a place where a 29-year-old, 45-year-old, and 87-year-old can gather to share laughter, memories, and worship. Seeing a diverse group of his followers as one, according to Jesus, is the only way the world can believe that God sent him.

Intergenerational events can be programmed, but intergenerational communities cannot. Intergenerational community—a sense of oneness across generational divides—can only be built by many individuals working together. It only happens when a 74-year-old takes the time to introduce himself to a 16-year-old. It only happens when a 42-year-old slows down to listen to the life story of an 82-year-old. It only happens when we put down the weapons that our culture tells us we should aim at the other generations and take time to understand what it’s like to be in their shoes.

Our church aspires to be intergenerational, one that looks more like Zechariah 8 than the avocado toast comic strips—that’s a tall order! And if you’re reading this article, we need your help: inviting someone for a meal, listening to someone’s story, or simply saying hello. It all starts with you. I wonder what small step you might take in the next month to help make your community circle at First Church just a little bit more intergenerational.

by Pastor Steve Clark